Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1921-05-05
AUDUBON FOLKS
ENJOY THE CLIMATE
FORMERLY CONNECTED WITH
AUDUBON POST OFFICE-NOW
IN SUNNY CALIFORNIA
Los Angeles, Calf,
April 80, 1921.

nave 6uJOgGu lCClOlllS INC ANbbVAo
of Mr.. Shelley and Mr.. Bailey in your
paper and while l agree with them
that here is a nice place to live, l,
however, do not agree with them in
all of their statements, when it
comes TO cheap living and the such,
and will try to give some figures to
substantiate my claim. In the first
place was told that one could buy
small residence properties for very
small price. Well, possibly that
could have been done a few years
ago, or perhaps only about eighteen
months ago, but l found that when
/ started looking for a small place,
that was to pay from two to three
thousand dollars more than | had
been told such places could be
bought for. l paid $1,000 more for
my place than it was originally sold
for by the builder, and it has recent
ly peen pointed out by one OF the
daily papers of the city that there
exists a gigantic building material
trust here which controls all mater
ials and extract from 100 to 1000
per cent higher prices than would
be asked if such materials could be
bought outside the trust. The arti-
Gle says in part: THE trust,
through it's harsh hand Of outland-
ish prices, has the home builder by
the throat, sitting home growth
here to an alarming degree, or sand
bagging for tribute the unwary per-
son who dares raise a roof over his
head. No branch of the building
material concerns. unless is it the
cement trade, is outside the gigantic
trust, which STILES competition and
holds prices extraordinarily high. Con-
tractors who try to avoid the trust
are frozen out and shut off from all
building supplies. Their jobs are
tied up and their contracts leopard
lied or yoided so that the work
must go TO builders within the pow
err of dictation from the trust. Out
side material is barred. And build
ing trades supplies shipped into Los
Angeles to the trust Immediately I'M
dergo some mysterious process
whereby prices are pyramided from
100 per cent, up. Lumber shipped
into Los Angeles by car loads by
Independents at cost of $19
thousand feet costs S45 a thousand
when purchased from the trust, and
1t is next to impossible to ship in
the lumber or to use it when IL ar
rives because of the octopus-like
power of this far-flung monopoly.
Lath can be cut from high grade
smooth lumber stock, greatly super
Tor to the rough stock found in the
regular lath, S11 cheaper than the
price demanded by the Building
Trades Trust. An independent con-
tractor proved that, when he pur-
chased the lumber and had the lath
cut himself. The trust wanted S27
usual manner for SIG. Hardwood
flooring in the past week jumped
95 cents square yard. Ordinary
hardwood flooring which a week
ago cost you $2.10, now costs you
$3.05. Overhead cost of this COM
modify decreases, but the retail
price continues to soar"
And the article goes on to tell
further how the trust is divided into
zones and that you will have to pay
trust prices, no matter where you
buy. Mr.. Shelley states in one of
his articles that he paid $3.50 per
month rent for a furnished bunga-
low, and l don't know how many
persons were in Mr.. Sheley's party,
but surmise that only himself and
wife. Well, their tickets, suppose,
cost them about $3.50, and say that !
their living expense and sightseeing |
expenses were on the average IS a |
day for four months-that would be
$500. which would make a total of |
about S145O for four months in CAL |
Ifornia. Now, l am sure that Mr.. |
Shelley considers the trip we'll worth |
the price, and | agree with him in |
that respect, but when people out |
here write back to Audubon about |
the "cheapness" of things out here,
must absolutely disagree with |
them. Wouldn't anyone back in Au-
1ubon be glad to build a Bungalow |
and furnish it, to rent for $50 per
I would say, yes, because
it would be sufficient income for a
family to live on.
Now, Mr.. Bailey wrote something
about low taxes. I have paid taxes
here and can speak with some au-
thoTity. | will say, however, that
in the south part of town or the
east part, or in Huntington Park
where Mr.. Dawson lives, taxes are
not quite so high as they are in 9TH
er parts of Los Angeles. /, unfor-
purchased my property too
near the aristocratic, and conse-
quently have to pay higher taxes.
The taxes on my little place was
$66.01, which l consider nearly as
high as a like property would be
taxed in Audubon, possibly a little
less. In regard to auto licenses;
these are 40 cents per horsepower,
as Mr.. Dawson paid, but he has not
yet paid his taxes on his car, and
when he does he will find that these
will be about $25, or possibly $50,
so he will pay as much or more
than back in Iowa.
Now, next comes the vital ques-
ton of living costs, something that
] tried to get line on before / came
out here, but / was not successful
in that. My living expenses in Au-
dubon from August LIST, 1919, to
April 80, 1920, were s899.S0. which
included better than 500 paid for
coal, but included no taxes except
my auto license. Ny living expenses
from August LIST, 1920, to April 80,
1921, in California were $SS3.25,
not including any taxes, so l don't
see anything in this to substantiate
Friend Bailey's statement that one
can live for half of what one can
back in Audubon. / take the months
from August to April because these
are the months l have been located
in my own home here. My gas bill
for eight months from Sept. Ia to
April IA was S23.34, or nearly SO
per month on an average. l find
the least l paid was $1.65, last Oc-
tober. and highest was SALT, paid
last March, and then we have not
heated as many rooms as the aver
age family does, as we have spent
most of the time in one room during
the cool weather. Next comes light
bills. These are much lower than