Cost Of Living Is Much Increased

COST OF LIVING IS MUCH INCREASED

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NECESSAIRES OF LIFE ARE DEARER THAN LAST YEAR

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Products Selling at Figures that Would Have Seemed Fabulous Twelve Months Ago

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     It cots just about a third more to live now than it did a year ago. Large as this fraction may seem, the statement ins borne out by a comparison of prices of commodities of the two seasons. The great staples which are regarded as the necessaries of life are all higher. Cattle, hogs and sheep and their products are now selling at figures that would have seemed fabulous a year ago.

     Wheat, corn, oats and hay are generally away ahead of their quotations at that time. Fruits and vegetables, though recently they have declined somewhat, have maintained a uniform level of high prices that have been regarded as little short of phenomenal. Potatoes have sold for half a year at $1 or more a bushel; bread has advanced or bakers have depreciated the size and quantity of their loaves.

     In canned fruits the market in one line after another has been cornered and prices boosted. In Chicago lately canned tomatoes have been advanced 10 cents; peaches that were overabundant and a drug on the market last fall are now selling in canned form at the same prices they did when the crop was almost a total failure.

     More than any other necessity, however, meat has advanced until it is almost beyond the reach of any save the wealthy or extravagant. 

     The only thing that has not advanced in proportion to the cost of living is the price of labor. In some lines an advance of 10 to 15 per cent has been allowed, but in most lines the rate of wages remain the same as a year ago.

-----Exchange.