Show Hppunn THE COST OF LIVING it HAS INCREASED 44 PER CENT IN LAST TEN YEARS Meat Has Gone Up 50 Per Cent In Those Years Farm Products HigherDrugs as a Rule Lower Chicago It costs more to live any whereln the United States than it did ten years ago nut comparisons of Chicago price Increases with those discovered by the national government show that the law of compensation has not been altogether oft tho Job hero For Instance coal hero Is hIghera full 100 per cent higher than ten years ago But if you have no coal and catch cold through lack of It you can buy quInIne to euro your cold much cheaper than you could in 1898 On tho other hand coffee Is cheaper on tho Chicago retail market than it was a decade ago but tho drugs most I in favor for curing indigestion which coffee sometimes causes are costlier than they wero then Meat has gone up scandalouslyIn fact 50 per cent in three years Oh very well Vegetables and canned goods are about us cheap as over and tho logic of the household expense account ac-count is making more vegetarians than appeals to sentiment ever did The government figures show a high er price on tho whole in 258 commodities commodi-ties that enter largely Into the living of all tho people In 1907 tho percentage percent-age over 1906 was 57 per cent and 444 per cent higher than 1897 tho year of lowest prices during the 18 year period and 295 per cent higher than the average for tho ten years 1890 to 1900 For farm products taken as rile tho increase was greatest namely 109 per cent for toad 46 per cent for cloths and clothing 5C per cent for fuel and lighting 24 per cent for metals and implements 61 per cent for lumber and building materials49 per cent for drugs and chemicals 83 per cent for housofurnlshlng goods 68 per cent and miscellaneous 5 percent I I per-cent Chicago lumbermen say the governments govern-ments estimate is about right for tho increase in Chicago market prices for their wares Increasing depletion of tho forest they say has kept the price ascending gradually and the average increase in cost which enters into ordinary living expenses Is around 5 per cent Furniture and house furnishings have soared and experts on tho Chicago Chica-go market say tho governments 68 per cent is too low to serve locally i Not less than 15 per cent they say has been the Increase here This Is i due to scarcity of material especially oak to higher cost of tho materials I = for Iron and brass furniture and to higher prices of labor Drugs and chemicals of such sort as to affect tho cost of living were higher high-er say by 5 per cent In Chicago last year than In 1898 but they have fallen until they are about where they were and In some Instances such as quinine lower than ever Tho higher prices wero caused by the scarcity of root and herb diggers the lower prices by the financial panic As to canned goods peaches sold in 1897 for the same as they did in 1907 while some canned products were much cheaper ten years ago The cause for this was that fruits and vegetables vege-tables were plentiful last year while the production was much larger Last year beans were scarce and higher Up to the time of the panic buying did not drop off but since then prlccb have been dropping until they are about as low as they were In 1896 The cost of preparing food products Is much higher now on account of tho Increased cost of labor also tho increase In-crease In the farm products that go Into them Sugar Is higher this year than In 1907 while coffee Is cheaper Tea Is as cheap as it has been in several sev-eral years Staple commodities are not high this year In tho grocery line In many commodities tho prices aro 10 per cent lower than they were In 1907A A leading clothier says that clothes lire higher than In tho last two years and that this should not be This Is partly duo to tho scarcity of wool but Is In part duo to existence of clothing combinations to keep prices up Cotton Is no higher yet tho manufacturers manu-facturers are In combination to main tnln hluh nrlrna Ton years ago wool suits were 10 per cent lower than they are now and wero made of as good material and as well made but without with-out the same degree of care as to style Higher labor cost higher wool prosperity pros-perity and combinations among manufacturers manu-facturers are the reasons he gives for the higher prices of clothing Shoes are cheaper on tho average than ever they have been but are only five per cent cheaper than at their highest point in 1907 They have however gone up in price 15 per cent in the last 18 years but to compensate for that they are better made The Increase In cost of shoes Is due to the high price of hides which have Increased In-creased In 18 years 150 per cent Shoes are relatively cheaper than the hides from which they are made this seemIng seem-ing paradox being due to Improved moUioMs of manufacture The price of meat has been soaring for the last 18 years and It is generally general-ly conceded that this has been due to the going out of the range cattle and tho consequent scarcity of beef cattle and the combinations among the packers pack-ers who have virtually a monopoly of the business having driven tho small country and town butchers out of business busi-ness This spring during a period often of-ten days pork and beef stock took an upward flight of 30 to 50 per cent and the average for tho year is fully 2f per cent higher than last year which was 25 per cent more than the year before Prosperity and high wages as well as the scarcity of cattle are given by the packers as being responsible for the rise In prices In the last ten years |