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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (July 5, 1908)
.- THE1 OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAI, PORTLAND. SUNDAY MORNING. JULY -, 1903 ii ILLIOM i . . How a Great Community Stints and Splurges at Its Table 0 iV wf A regard the modern American city as a Gargantua, beside which the iollv riant of old Rabelais, for all ifew devouring of whole roasts, flocks of fowls land pasties innumerable, was but a puny apol pgy for hunger, with the appetite of a butter fly and the capacity of a beetle. . This Gargantua of the new world every summer suffers from a falling off of appetite Uhkh would be alarming if it weren't nat ural. .-The hundreds of thousands of roast tur nkeys, chickens and geese, the vast droves of cattle, the huge herds of pigs', the enormous mass of pies that greeted his greedy nostrils with delectable odors are as far from his summer thoughts as the first husband is from a oioux r alls divorcee. . ' 'He longs for tliem no more. 'All he asks h a lemonade jug underneath the bough, or buttermilk that came from some real cow. I With these, to paraphrase Omar, Gargantua finds paradisjfenow. But wmnhe forgets his abstemious reso lutions which is about three times a day he. breaks for the nearest table and leaves Omar on the bleachers with the pink lemon ' . ade. v . The Gargantua, in whom are comprised :the appetites that make up the modern Amer , ican city, from the million and a half of Phil adelphia, the two millions of Chicago, to the four millions of New York, manages, even in summer, to spend a million a day for.his meals and more. ' ' Here is how he spends it. 1 i HIS summer. Just when the Meat Trust made the horrifying- discovery that It would have to charge a cent or two more a pound on dressed -beef because the disloyal cattle raisers hadn't raised enough beef to go around, the great cities made their discovery that they didn't care for meat '. They could save money by being vegetarians, flsh erlans, eggariS-iia and Fletcherites. Everything wai too high, anyway. Nevertheless, while the national outcry against ' meat prices was loudest and the national resolve of vegetarianism was strongest and the national neces sity for economy was sharpest, these were the dally tncat records, per million of Inhabitants, for one great eastern city: ; Beef 1400 head, or 1,680,000 pounds, at H -cents per pound, dressed, with 975,400 pounds killed locally and 704,000 pounds shipped dressed. Vaal 1500 calves, or 140,000 pounds of veal, at 7 cents per pound; all killed locally. i Pork 8000 hogs, 1,300,000 pounds ofpork. at centa per pound; 7J 4.000 killed locally and 546.000 ship ped dressed. Mutton and lamb 12.000 shepp and lamln. 1,080,000 pounds, at 7 cents per-pound for lamb a.iJ EVi cents - ior luuiiua, vvv,vv yvuui4 nuicu luL&iiy ana 4 43,duu hipped dressed. Gargantua 'will not quite starve this summer, ac cording to those figures. And from being to per cent, less than they were when he made his first strike aaralnat meat diet UDon the rise in nrlrn fi,t,ir .v.- v - - - ' ' r " spring, tas total was men only 40 per cent, leu than ilia normal consumption of meat during the early m ra tter weather. THYfsTr 17 ' A TTTi Y A THY A T-i ,Ji iff rt.ll I I I .J.vlI v I rU n't I lw ? . IIS I I Jm mrXmh tlMMRu mlmmrL 1 II 1 1 I sf Wall' ;FV-,W-W.VAfr jaklk . I f f Alsf ,'.'.T, Ski.'l' V.W "TIiV ': V I K iff tmL 4JL III 'J ill :f111 LM'"" "; rr ' Peag for week heldf at IS cents per quarter peck! string beans at 20 oenta per quartsrt new potatoes at U cents per quarter; old potatoes at 9 cents tomatoes; I and 4 centa apiece: lettuoe, 4 and centa; srgplanU, I to !0 cents; asparagus, 10 to 30 centa par bunch; strawberries. U to 10 cants per quart. The only cheap vegetables were cabbage and radishes at I cents per. bunch. Gargantua, then, did not sate hli appetite on graeti stuffs; be could sot afford to be even a vegetarian. Tet 'h a be. Only when the trail led to that most ancient standby, the million waa buying SO per cent., mors bread than It did In 1907. " ' When -all was said and done, the country's seven bU Hon dollars' worth of farm products, as well- as the vast and generous bounties of the rivers and 'seas, afforded but one sure dependence to the millions who own the world's greatest granary. , .- , It was the wheat; man's first and last dependence,' from the old days when Joseph stored It In Pharaoh's barns to this latest summer, when It fed as In our dire ? 1 4' t TKE.-i.r. r i - Hr" with its abstemious resolves, the prices at which the re tailing butchers secured their meats were: For dressed beef of good quality, from 10& to 11 cents, per pound, 2V4 centa higher than it was during the corresponding period In 1807; for beef of poor quality, from 94 to 10 cents. 3 cents higher than the price for 1907; for dressed sheep, most of them good, 12 cents per pound, 4 cents higher than 1907; lamb, all good in quality, from M'.i to 14 cents, Shi cents higher than 1907; veal, all good and a local product largely Independent of the western range, 10 to 11 cents, the normal price per pound; pork, all good qual ity. 12 cents, 3 cents higher than 1907; stewing chicken, 16 cents, being no change from 1907. The meat-eating million went on its strike of 50 per cent, reduction because of the retail prices the butchers asked them. Gargantua is a big, hearty, heavy-flstod fellow who slugs the man next In line and lets him pass it along What made him hit out was the near and expensive fact that rump steak was costing, at tle butchrr a. zo cents, against 20 ,cents in 1907: sirloin. 30 eents, against 25 cents; rib roast. 2i, against IS and 20; chuck. 12 and 11. against 10 and 12: brisket. 8. against 6. Mutton was 16, against 12. Tor leg: while chops were 25, against 18 and 20. T,amb chops were SO to 35 against 19078 extreme lilfe-h uf 25. leg Of lamb. 20. against 16; rack. 25, against 18. and shoulders. 14, against t and 10. Veil remained unchanged. In pork, bacon was IS and 20, against the normal of IS. and bellies remained at 14. while regular ham, which was 15 in 1907. was only 12 this year. But chops were 15 cents, against 12 of 1907. and shoulders were 14, against 10. The weather wasn't favor lng salt pork or, for that matter, veal. v Wholesale dealers In fish could not recall a year dur ing the last haif century when the demand for fish was greater. That was where the million -went first, after the quarrel with the butcher. But spring storms kept down the supply, and the scant supply, in fhe face of the overwhelming demand, kept up the prices; and vitally Important fact a' man will eat a pound of fish for every half pound of meat It crowds out of the dietary. The favorite roe shad of the million cost, wholesale, from 55 to 65 cents; buck shad, 15 to 25 cents; sea bass, g 'and 9 cents; porgles, 5 and 6; catfish, iO and. 12, weak fish, 9 and 10; squid favorite of the foreign poor 4 arid 6; halibuClO and 12; butterfish. 12 cents. And the hungry American people all-along the sea board, paying winter prices for these varieties on the basis of the retail advance of 25 per cent, above the wharf rates quoted, left to foreign appetites and to those nicely particular connoisseurs, the fish dealers, the most ex quisite fish of all, the whiting, available In tons, and sold wholesale at 1H cents per pound, retail from 3 to 5 and t cents. v But the new Gargantua has still much' to-learn from Europe. Meanwhile, Ignorant and wroth, he tried to forswear fish as he forswore meat, and turned to veg etables. But - .- "Suffering bank presidents!" exclaimed the typical "commission" merchant "They want the stuff for noth ing. They'll turn away from the finest when we ask the prices we must get to make a profit, and come back to buy It, when It's half spoiled, three days later, at rates that don't pay us and don't pay them." Everybody was getting mad, but the biggest mad was the million's. It will spend royally, when It has the money; but when It hasn't well, cabbage was only the last resort, even as low as S to 6 cents per head. Very healthy, cabbage; but It calls for pork, and, to say the best of It. cabbage is liable to be cloying. 1 9 i i v 1 v necessity and promised afresh such a crop as the nation has seldom welcomed In the past. The millionaire among the million who. whatever might be lacking In the bills of fare of the remaining S999. was bound to take affectionate care of his share of Qargantua's stomach, walked In to supper queer hew the old-fashioned word has come into Its own again at a "correct" hotel, and put gilt trimmings with ailver service all over those prices which his neighbors found so heart breaking. To be temperate, and eat like the common peo ple, he could order: Blue points, 25c; cup of chicken consomme. 30c: crab meat Dewey. $1.40; roast beef. 80c; potatoes, Sarah Bern hardt, 40c; asparagus, Jl; radishes, 15c; Gorgonzola cheese. 25c; baked Alaska Ice cream, 75c; cafe Ture. 20c; apolU naris water. 25c: chamnaenp 15 2S- niarfair il'iimn),. -n. cigar, 3oc, and waiter s tip because one must economise (".I iiiiw, in inesa nara times c. A modest repast, costing, all-told, no more than t9. But the million's millionaire is very far from being the million's real self. The true Gargantua. this spring anj summer, was a very different sort of a bird, as, from 8 to 8 o'clock In the morning, he emerged from the front door on hi hustling rush to the foundry, the factory, the store or the office. EVEN EGGS DWINDLED He was not hungry then. As a rule, even where neither foundry nor factory, store nor office had any use for him. and where he was only starting out to discover somebody who might have a Job to offer, he was "rilled up." tioruj of him were thanking lucky stars for the bread, coffee and potatoes that did the tilling; others carried, in their Internal economies, the two soft-boiled eggs to which the usual three of breakfast had fallen, and. In their ears the plaints of wives who could not understand how, Jusc now, when we have to depend on eggs so much, they should shrink- to the size of guinea eggs. Along about noon, when the whistles blew or the boss nodded, the 999,999 turned to dinner pails or meekly slid homeward to the table where, in default of wages, the baker's faithful product held its unaccustomed placo Bf honor. But many still found themselves able to go to the familiar restaurant and tire re, in form, at least, rival the millionaire's patronage of nls "correct" hotel. With the strain easing, with the beloved face of "pros perity" showing an encouraging smile or two at every other corner, the real Gargantua the 999.999 of the city's million should remember for a long time to come that Abou ben Adhem among his neighbors. If, during the months of the lean kine, out of the herd of butchers, bakers and candlestick makers there has been one who loves his fellow-men, that one has been the restaurant keeper the ordinary, cheap working man's restaurant keeper. He had to pay high prices. Just ss Mrs. Gargantua had to pay them in shop and market. Yet he held his nerve bna showed his sporting blbod. For to him came the hordes of men whose wages could not afford meat enough for the family appetite. From his bounty few such restaurants parned profits they secured, for 15 or 20 cents, full meals of coffee, bread and butter, one good vegetable and a generous cut -of meat that was not so tough, even In comparison with tha millionaire's extra order at 80 cents. The city's million, half a dnnen years ago. lived pretty . high on the wages It struck against every now and then. This year much of It has formr-d the bread line, from old New York to hrand-new Frisco. And now, like the emperor who tackled ham'and eggs while he wes exiled from his grandeurs. It has discovered for the first time what an appetite It really owns. 1 Suppose the Kaicr AYusfache HEROIC RESOLUTIONS Herolo -rMolutions, eay enough to make, are not always kept to the letter, when it comes to ordering cabbage. Tet It waa undeniable that this Homeric appetite f the city's mlllida had dropped off 40 rr cent, in the matter of meats; and. as for the abattoir figures ad tfee statistic of shipment, great quantities of the t'M W,B to curing biuM for preservation and shlo aitfat te other communities; much of the vei went to the neighboring million, re.ldent In the country dis tricts round Uie rrut distributing cnttr- - rreciable Prcnlar4 of ih tf. muiim Ie4 .Imlia routes before It reached the red Une wair. u humanity Ust avenue to warns storage. r. li"?'. ,hl" PPo ob wnlcn the Amerl S !ifc' ,o rrdl Hslfr It did not .ud- J..Li"OK because all the faxtorle haan't ..UP. " trust hded higher prices II??. orklng evertime ee ointL rflTTi. riLST-S" u""ftd until everylmdr starred - lTn hfrt I.TIir -W,n,d ull through thus kS?LTSZl.Urti"1 wmght Erie b. Mylars: prtcn w.re put oa te tb l.., i te MUte woe opent their mmro a.iiV U tia rvpreaeetauve eltz. whea the Ut :7- A :i Cff:: (InvadEs America ? . -,tv i' '. u f V'! ;,- hi 1L-i ' -- ' a" ..".-. v 9) t-crrf rrayYrr.ro rrre SEE the kaiser's new style of moustache I It used to soar straight upward; it could soar riiOe eoaringly than any mous tache known to fame, and never turn a hair, until the kaiser landed in London to call on his Uncle Edward. Then, suddenly, it tot a twist alonjr the hori zontal diverting from the vertical, at a fixed alti tude on a level with the r.ostrils. at an anle of ninety degrees. The new shape was about that of the horns of a Texas steer. Berlin is twisting it? upper-lip decorations until the long horns seem almost as dangerous a! the big hat trims. Paris is discussing ihe danger of this latest German invasion. Suppose it in vades the United States! . IT 1. no Idle fear. Humanity 1 hlpVi in the pretence of royalty's wfcimi When King Inward was prince of Wales Jid was iLHmj :u t.s a L,jre. tae UviilstJ world li4 ta bum io b:tric imck. When Queen ctor.a rto.ed that the scrawniest shoald not escape the burr.i,.ai.r.g horrors of decoliete. great-grandmotner. faenficed the fichus that hid the scrd i-etlca,of their jouth. - Mere t baa all, whn the kaiwr said to bis mous tache. -Hoch der Kaiser- hoch it was. getting hocaer and cocher. so to speak, ur.tii It remrix put his es out and even the fierce Tarislans had to follow suit. Taey y.U.d for la ravaacbe from under niou.tacbes that were perpendicular popularlsaUons of the k&i.er'a Whenever a foreigner blows over this way, Ameri cans get an idea of the power of a great Idea. Every one of their moustaches taovi the kaiser's tyrranous Influence. Whenever one of our native sons has acquired an auto and the "bug" that Inspires the plain American to become haut ton and likewise facile prlnceps which mean that he Is the reej article In society the fir.t thing that happens, after he cuts his old acquaintances, is the perpendicularity of his mous tache When It was only that, and nothing more tbo re- fneratlon of oar canaille scientifically termed mtl ionalres vulgares was easy. A cake of savoa santaL that favorite French toilet soap which coots half a ' dollar and stick, like the millionaire s poor relations,' a little water to start Its stickiness working, a couple of firm twists by the fingers of that powerful, horny hand, at last emancipated from Its accustomed toll and you had an American imitation of a German baron or a Trench count fit to hook an heiress on either barb, if you only could induce it to keep its mouth shut But the metamorphosis te the long horn is not going to be eo simple, albeit the Texas steer Is in digenous to the soil, like the millionaire. In the 'first place, a big proportion of Americans have been so busy raising money that they haven't really had time to devote their genius to the User art of raising whisktra Plenty of them simply ripped off the crop, mornings, with the old rasor dad gave them on their twenty-first birthday, and let it go at that. With others, soap, and the muscles they developed la those early days, sufficed for the kaiser's former brand of moustache; hat this mow one well it takes the finest kind of valet to pat it into shape. Em the barbers axe not certain, yet. whether it aught to call for the hot Iron or a cold twist. Then. too. there are the haira Any little old moustache would do for the "kaiser" of last spring. Bat the "kaiser" of this summer requires a total linear measurement of no less than half a foot Of lata tha kaiser has been showing a fondness for the society of American millionaire i. Pterpont Mor gan has to swap yacht visits with htm, and Carnegie aad be discuss the reformation of the English lan guage. Harrtmaa Is due nest for the class of captain emeritus of Industry whose degree Is confe-red In sn Invitation from Wilhelm to hoard his yacht and talk It over, and he real, good chum - Common courtesy to a reigning monarch, whose position Is so overwhelming that his Invitation eraeaats to a oemmaad, woVild require that they snatch his moustache. Caa they lie It? "a Tee. ell three ef th.rai lHarriman beet of all. What the rest of as trtay look like Is raarr than the majority ef a can rvets entll the blow falta . But. above, we eee what three famous Americans nay reeesablo wbaa tha kaiser's fashion lavades Ajgsartcsv . .
