Nebraska Newspapers

    O’NEILL FRONTIER
D. H. CRONIN
Q^NEILir NEBRASKA
*. Enormous and still Increasing profits
1 asm part* cl with those made Is 1114 are
I being made In the German coal. tram.
paachinery. textile paper, glass end
V teectrlcaJ Industries, according te an
1 firticle In Duesseldorf Lokal ENtiiag.
The paper quotes the reports of numer
ous companies, among them being one
Which paid a dividend of M per etmt
v pad a bonus of M per cent. Its shares
which wars quoted in Berlin at 1*7 at
} tee end of 1419 are now *40. A 1* per
‘ dent, dividend declared by the Kasom
girn gpitmtng works of Du« ssrldnrf was
inly 10 per cant, of the profits as rued,
psys the German newspaper. In the 10
gears previous this company had reg
yOarly deatatwd a dividend of only • per
emi Tbs writer of the arttoU points
awt that hut «or the evidence of such
figures Germany could more effectively
Buts resisted the demands of her oppo
nents that tee make full reparation te
tee allies.
A report Owns Wall street aaya busi
ness Is so dull that ths brokers on the
fme exchange have resorted to check
in to stay awake. Enough excitement
E created on a recant dull morning to
ths brokers through most of ths
by two Innocent and lnoffenstm
goldfish. A member of the exchange
pvweented the organisation with a new
tenglcd ticker, wherein the tape runs
bscfc of a transparent globe of water.
Which greatly magnifies the figures and
numerals so that they may be read for
fit feet or so. The ticker reminded one
ef the brokers so much of a goldfish
bowl that he procured two shiny little
teh and thrust them Inside The effect
pf goldfish swimming unconcerned In
and out over the quotation strip was
enough to furnish excitement for most
ef the day.
figures are said te Show that the
trunk of a traveler through Germany
has about as much chance ef being laft
tetact as a bottle of "hooch" at a
bootleggers' picnic. According to tbs
efroHai figures published la ths Berlin
X«ekal Anseiger. cease of thievery of
baggage that bad been estabHsbed dur
ing WO were: Band baggage T.tO
; freight oar contents. JXjOOO
these -L te 1TA40 caste
ef this
stolen by raOrond
thievery, profiteering
and bribery. 5.TE railroad employes
wars discharged during the year WO."
MR, wkich'hns’basn tetyedocMMnto"the
West Virginia ta^riatute. provides that
If any hafhend or wife sopsat* another
perron of being unduly familiar with
Mo or her mate they may appear be
teas a teeth* of the peace, rwenr to the
teats te ths cate aad then esnd a writ
ten warning te the person lavishing the
* ■ la aesnt
te
tew mSrnltS^gaa^ ef
ten char*> a fine of up to CEO shall be
trials arm soor. be made te
of a daily newspaper
i te flight—a new phase of
Journalism. Machines from
print editions of ths "Aerial
ta Wench and (hose team Eng
land wm print theta" copies In Bag
Batches of ths papers win be
by parachute In Boulogne,
Amiens end other attlas where
ere subscriber* The machines
PM! be squtppsd with wire!res
Nine American members of the Kos
sfssako air aquadraa, aO soldiers of
tertns* recently were awarded 40 acres
gf land each, near the Pollsb-Russtan
frontier as outlined by the Riga peace
treaty. Meat ef the young flyers of the
aeaanmn ere planning to return to
America during the summer. If they
fie not settle upon the lend within e
Specified time, their rights to the farms
wifi be forfeited, but as yet none of
teem have derided to settle down on a
Polite plot and lead the life of a peas,
ant.
The Duchess of Marlborough, who
Coosuelo Vanderbilt, of New York, has
bought a large tract of land on the
heights overlooking the sea, near Nloe,
where she Intends building a luxurious
villa. The report that the duchees la
to marry M. Balaan, a wealthy land
owner of the . Riviera, continues to be
circulated
ceifiuia aN uiarMo Bimunx orraiigB
ments, eliminating go ter aa possible
the necessity for frequent trips to con
suls eta, but because the United States
stoargea a fee of flO for vleelng the pass
port of a foreigner, Belgium retaliates
(y making an equal charge for Amer
icans, although travelers of other na
tionalities pay a much smaller fea
A stud} of the vital statistics of
Hawaii show that American men re
siding In the ’ territory are prone to
marry women of other races than their
•wn; and more than one In every six
American women residing there marry
Bawallans. Korean women alone re
(■se to mix blood, and not a single case
mt a Korean woman’s marrying a man
mt another race has been discovered.
As the first step In the campaign of
Horweglsn workmen to resist the ex
pected plan of the employers to reduce
wages, representative of the workmen’*
committee have formed a district coun
cil for the taking over of all Industrial
concerns In the country.
A bill In the Hungarian national as
tiembly provides that any correspondent
of any foreign newspaper be held re
sponsible and punished with' five years
at hard labor 1f the paper he represents
publishes any news Item or editorial un
favorable to Hungary.
The United States Is no, the only
country whoso diplomatic representa
tives abroad aren't able to speak the
language of the country to which .they
are accredited. Prance's ambassador to
the court of St. James oannot talk Bng
The first two days of the honeymoon
of MT. and Mrs. Samuel Gompers were
spent In Buffalo at an open shop ho
tel. The newlyweds ate In their room
mt food cooked In an open shop kitchen
•Ad were served by non-union Walt
Clothed tn rags, an old man was
picked up by polloee of St. Paul as a
vagrant When searched, his pockets
were found to contain H.M3 tn cash. $400
worth of Liberty bonds and a bank
kook, showing a balance of $300.
An English man with a fondness tot
figures says that one gets an average
mt SS.OOO words tn a newspaper for a
cent, and aa average of 717 for a cent
Jp a novel
To encourage tourist travel In Holland
this summer the Dutch government has
censored many of the passport restric
tions which American tourists mot there
• yea* ago.
. The Berkshire town of Otis, Maas.. Is
What fees he may possibly collect.
A department of educational measure
SMBts which will classify students ac
) cording to tateUliMtee. *U> be estate
, tested in tte DnluBb ruh>* tbor'
TO M HELP
Commission Will Go Out of
Existence Because Legis
lature Failed to Providr
For It.
Lincoln, Neb., June 1L—The Ne
/raska supreme court commission,
which hss been in existence since
ISIS wfll close Its doors at the end
of the fiscal year in September, as a
result of the legislature failing to
men!
OLD PACKING PLANT
DESTROYED BY FIRE
Fremont, Neb, June 11.—Fire
destroyed the old Fremont pack
ing plant located on the grounds
of the Fremont Stock Yards A Land
cnmpany a mile southeast of the
city. An elevator 100 yards away
was threatened, but a bucket brig
ade saved it. Fireman rushed from
Fremont to aid in quenching the
blaze, but the hose could not be
used because the plant was locat
ed beyond the fire limits.
The old packing plant had been
Idle for a quarter of a century. It
was established in 1887 and at that
pass the appropriation of $87,000 with
which it would have carried on the
work of the next two years.
The commission was first organ
ized when the work of the supreme
court became so heavy that it was
found impossible for the body to
handle all matters which came up
for' hearing.
The commission sat as a separate
board of judges and passed upon
whatever cases were given over to
it by the regular court When it
made a decision that decision, after
ratification by the court became an"
official decision of the court
No cases have beem passed upon
by the commission since the middle
of May, but there are at present for
ty casee on its calendar which will be
heard before the permanent adjourn -
time cost 875,000 to build. Eastern
packing interests secured control of
it and dosed It up. Since then the
building'has hot been used. It con
tained several thousand dollars worth
of valuable building material, but
aside from this was useless.
SUES MOTHERINLAW FOR
ALIENATING CHILD’S AFFECTION
Omaha, Neb., June 11.—In district
court here John Heetan. Cherry coun
ty farmer, sued hie motherinlaw for
$10,000 damages for alleged alienation
of affections of his daughter, Margar
et, fourteen, who has lived with her
grandmother here since her mother
was murdered by a farm hand In 1015.
Simultaneously the grandmother sued
Heelan for the keep of his daughter
tor five years.
! DISMISSED TEACHER TO
DEMAND YEAR’8 WAGE8
Blair, Neb., June 11.—A claim for
$1,125 salary and bonus has been
filed with the board of education of
Blair by Miss draco Ballard, county
attorney, for Miss Jeanette Jones, a
teacher, who was asked to resign
after having taught less than one
month In the Blair schools.
Miss Jones had taught during the
previous year in the same grade of
the BChools from which she was
usked to resign.
In case the board refuses to make
satisfactory settlement, Miss Ballard
has orders from her client to file
suit against the school district. The
plaintiff resides with her father, the
Rev. A, R. Jones, at Fairfield, Neb.
TO RAISE RATES OF
LONG DISTANCE CALLS
Lincoln, Neb., June 11.—The North
western Bell Telephone Company
Thursday filed application with the
Nebraska railway commission for per
mission to raise the tolls on long dis
tance telephone calls. Hearing on the
application was set for June 7.
SEVERAL PERSONS ARE
SHOCKED BY LIGHTNING
Omaha, Neb., June 11.—Seven per
sons were stunned or shocked by
lightning here, today, during a short
but severe electrical storm.
UTAH BARS CIGARETS.
Salt Lake, Ut.. June 11.—The South
wick anti-clgaret bill which pro
hibits the sale and manufacture of
clgarets ip Utah, 'has gone Into ef
fect. Enforcement of the Southwick
law is in the hands of the regular
peace officers of the state.
♦ ♦
♦ SACRAMENTO POST T
♦ WITH CARPENTIER ♦
a. a
♦ Sacramento. Cal.,. June 11.— 4
4 Georges Carpentier and Jack 4
4 Dempsey, heavyweight box- 4
4 ing contenders, were told in 4
4 telegrams sent them what the 4
4 Sacramento Post of the Amer- 4
4 lean Legion thinks of them. 4
4 Carpentier Is called "Com- 4
4 rade In arms." and is told “we 4
4 are with you win or lose." 4
4 Dempsey is called a "ship- 4
4 yard slacker, who preferred 4
4 to fight with his fists rather 4
4 than with the bayonet." 4
4 4
4 4 4 4444444444444 4 4 4
The Mother*.
The long unhappy night Is done
And God'B Beloved sleeping now
Forgets, since she has borne a son.
The pain that marks her patient brow;
And her dark curtains downward drawn
Refuse the peering eye of dawn.
But even now in this sad town.
And far more fearful than the night.
Dawn through the window trembles
down
On some pale sister-mother’s sight,
Who witli a weaker arm ins prest
Her new-born dead against her breast
—fcldwnrd Davison, in The Outlook
WANT “SKIP STOP”
SYSTEM ABOLISHED
Omaha Women Appeal to Ne
braska Rail Body—Hear
ing June 16.
ilMoln. Neb. June 10.—A commit
brash*. Railroad commlsion will hear
the application of the Omaha woman's
club to have the "skip stop" system
on street car lines abolished, in the
Omaha council chamber, June IS.
The commission on June 17 win
hear the complaint of General Omar
Bundy demanding better service and
lower fares from Omaha to Fort
Crook. ^
PREPARE TO ERECT
H08PITAL AT LINCOLN
Lincoln, Neb. June 9.—A commit
tee of the Nebraska district of the
Evangelical snyod of North Ameri
ca has authorized Immediate con
struction of a $100,000 denominational
hospital here. Over $20,000 has al
ready been raised by popular sub
scription. Thirty-one churches in the
state are supporting the hospital.
NEW8PAPER MEiN WILL
MEET AT NORFOLK, JUNE 17
Norfolk, Neb. June 10 (Special).—
The Northwest Nebraska Editorial as
sociation will hold its annual spring
meeting here on Jane 17. It is ex
pected that more than 100 news
papermen of this part of the state
will be In attendance.
BLIND MAN ACT*8 A8
TELEPHONE OPERATOR
Omaha, Neb. June 10.—Harry K.
Ronne, blind and partially paralysed,
is called the wonder man of Lush ton,
Neb. He Is operator for the Lincoln
Telephone and Telegraph company
and has been pronounced by officials
of the company to be one of the best
men in its service.
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ + J
t PRANP.P nFfttRATFS *
1
Maj. Bernard Flood, of New York,
former chief of the criminal investi
gation section of the A. E. F., who
was decorated in Paris recently with
the insignia of Chevalier of the Le
gion of Honor for services performed
during the war. The presentation
was made by Marshal Fayolle in the
presence of high officials. Major
Flood was formerly a detective of the
New York police department.
JAPS ARE TO OCCUPY
MORE SIBERIAN TOWNS
Bed Government Protests Ac
tion in Notes to British and
French Governments.
Copenhagen, June 9.—General
Kumura, commanding the Japanese
troops in the^Vladlvostok district, has
announced that the Japanese in con
sequence of the situation developing
in eastern Siberia, will be forced to
occupy various Siberian towns of
strategic importance, says a special
dispatch from Helsingfors.
The Russian bolshevist government
is said to have made an energetic
protest against this move, and in a
note to the British and French gov
ernments is declared to hold all the
entente powers morally responsible
for, Japanese Intervention in Siberia.
Sounded Natural.
From the Boston Transcript.
Medium—I hear the knocking of your
late wife.
Patron—That so? Who's she knocking
now.
Unqualified.
From the American Legion Weekly.
Flubb—How did Dudley manage to
escape jury duty?
Ivybb—His wife was drawn on the
same panel, and he convinced the judge
they could never agree on anything.
The chief distraction of the people In
Moscow is the opera and ballet, say per
sons wtio have just come out of Russian.
Tickets tor-seats are ostensibly free, but
are unobtainable without a “pull," or
emoluments. Russian motion pictures
are devoted chiefly to propaganda.
NEW BISHOP OF WICHITA.
Toledo. Ohio, June 9.—The Right
Rev. A. J. Schwertner, consecrated in
St. Francis de Sales cathedral Wed
nesday as bishop of Hlchita, Kan., will '
assume his new duties June 22, it was
announced last night.
8ERBIAN KING ILL.
London. June f.—(CIuk Peter of Ser
bia, Is seriously 111, according to a dis
patch to the Daily Matl from Bel
grade.
BELVIDERE BANK
TO BEiilDATEO
jtival of Failed Barge Institu.
tion Will Clear Its Affairs
Through Receivership
Process.
Linooln. Neb, June 9 (Special).—
Hugh A. Bruning, president of the
State Bank of Belvldere, has been ap
pointed receiver of the failed Farm
ers' State bank of the town. This
was operated by William Barge, wbo
has disappeared and wbo hasn't been
found. Bruning proposes to take over
the deposits of the failed bank, and
liquidate It through his institution.
Barge had loaned his brother, H. H.
Barge, some money for his bank at
Hoskins, which went to the wall some
time ago. H. H. Barge Is now in the
tt»!e penitentiary.
HOLD MEMORIAL FOR
DEAD NEBRA8KA JURIST
Lincoln, Neb, June 9 (Special).—
Memorial services for John B. Bar
nes, former justice of the supreme
court, and for many years a promi
nent lawyer of northeastern Nebras
ka, at the Monday session of the
court Resolutions reciting his fine
personal characteristics, extolling his
ability as a jurist and the extent of
the loss to the state by bis death were
presented by M. D. Tyler, of Norfolk,
Jacpb Fawcett of Lincoln; Clarence
A. Davis, of Holdredge; Jesse L.
Root, of Omaha, and W. V. Allen,
of Madison. Brief speeches were
made by Judge Allen, Chief Justice
Morrieey, Justice Letton, and M. D.
Tyler, at one time a law partner of
the deceased.
Judge Barnes took a homestead in
Dixon county in 1871, taught school
while he studied tor the bar, and was
afterwards district attorney, district
judge, supreme court commissioner,
supreme court judge and deputy at
torney general.
GUARANTY FUND WILL
RECEIVE AN ADDITION
Lincoln, Neb, June 9 (Special).—
Thirty-five thousand dollars will be
paid Into the state deposit guaranty
fund during the next few days. This is '
the salvage the receiver secured from
the failure of the First State bank
of Superior some yean ago. The
bank was the first one to tail after
the guaranty fund was established in
1911, and $84,000 was drawn oat to
pay the depositors at that time. ,
The fond just now has a credit of
$2,700,000, but there are banks in
process of liquidation that call for a
possible draft of a million on it.
However, a port will be repaid as the
assets are realized upon.
18 ELECTROCUTED WHILE
WORKING ON CITY BUILDING
Hanesbaw, Neb, June 9 (Special)—
Edward G. Hines was Instantly ele
trocuted here, when to working on
the roof of the new city jail, he came
in contact with a feed wire of 2,300
volts. It is supposed that he stumbled
over an iron rod reinforcement when
be became dizzy, for he had com
plained of not feeling well. In falling
he grasped at the first object near,
HlneS was wearing wet gloves and
was standing on wet cement, so all
chances for his safety were pre
vented.
SOME CHANGES AT
WAYNE STATE NORMAL
Wayne, Neb, June 9.—Prof, C. F.
Lemon, of Cumberland university,
Tenn, will take the place of head of
the biology department of the state
normal school to fill the place made
vacant by the resignation of Prof. H,
H. Hickman.
Prof. W. A. Lucas, of Nevlesville,
lnd, will take the place as super
visor of music from which Prof. C. E.
Fouser resigned recently to accept a
position in Northwestern university,
Evanston, III.
—4—
RECEIVER NAMED FOR
CLOSED OMAHA BANK
Omaha, Neb., Jane 9.—District
Judge W. G. Sears today appointed
Daniel W. Gaines, of Omaha, as re
ceiver for the Pioneer State bank of
Omaha, on application of the attorney
general in order to 'liquidate the in
stitution. Mr. Gaines expressed the
opinion that all claims, Including
those of depositors, would be fully
paid within a short time.
SOLDIER’S BODY LAID
TO REST AT LYONS, NEB.
Lyons, Neb., June 9 (Special).—The
body of Edwin Sundquist arrived
from France and was buried in Lyons
cemetery Sunday.
BEATRICE—Bonds for *1,000 each
were declared forfeited In the cases of
James Hrabak, Charles F. Jackson,
Thomas Churchill, George Baker, Herb
ert Bitting, Em Darwin and Roy
Baker, by Judge Colby of the district
court before final adjournment of the
February term.
MERRILL—Doris Packard, 8, is in
a serious condition, following a bite by a
rattlesnake.
Proper Length.
From Punch, Lop don.
"How long should spaghetti JOe
cooked?" asks a correspondent in a
home journal. About 28 inches, wt
think, is the right length.
FOUR AMERICANS TAKEN
BY BANDITS IN MEXICO
Mexico City, June 8.—Reports
credited to the Mexican war depart
ment today said four unarmed Ameri
cans had been captured between Par
ral and Starosaiia, presumably by
bandits.
The office of the American charge
d' affaires had no information on the
reported incident.
Business
Convex
1..
From an article by Rowland
Thomas, in the New York World,
Aa a result of Investigations Jar
completed into the prevailing bus
iness depression and the resultan:
living and working conditions foi
the average man or woman, th<
.World can definitely state that:
the cost of living, which made i
fairly sharp fall 178 per oent. be
tween its peak last summer anc
March 1, has net fallen appreciablj
further in the last three months. 11
Is still two-thirds higher than it wm
In 1914 and every dollar spent ti
purchase the necessaries of life h
worth only 60 cents, *m compared
with Its normal buying power.
Retail prioas of food and olothlrtj
have come down, respectively, KU
and 41.7 per cent, from their highest
wartime levels. Fuel and light have
come down 11 per cent. Rent still
stands at its maximum level.
Wholesale prices have come down
51 p*er cent, while- retail reduction!
were SOL The dollar which o»rcu
W. THE A, B.C, AND D OF 4
4 BUSINE8S SITUATION 4
♦ 4
4444444^44444444444
par ~
zto ■ ——***ri
290 -----.
250
240—
230--——
220-—
-—
200 -55 ~
180—-—--—
m"3Z"--- --
ill "
fpf
tent wkusu m.wu ttaorr
IfBCB meg Banana omtfiwaa
These four thermometers show. In
degrees on the same scale, the four
elements which are principally ln
vatvad In the creation and the work
ing out of the business slump, in
each ease 100 on the - scale repre
sents the condition In 1914, which
is taken as normal. "A” Is the
scale foi changes in retail prices,
the darkened portion showing con
ditions at present; *‘B'' shows the
course of wholesale prices from 1914
to the peak In 1920 and at present,
"C" represents the rise and fall In
average weekly earnings of the aver
age wage earner, and "D" the course
of employment, compared with 1914
as “normal.” A full explanation of
the situation revealed by these rela
tive figures will be found in . the
text.*-__
latex in wholesale trade it now
worth 65 cents, after going below 37
at its period of maximum deprecia
tion.
About 25 par cent of the factory
workers in the country have lost
their jobs since April, 1920* or be
tween 2,000,000 end 2,500,000 persons.
Factory employment now stands at
only 92 per cent, of its 1914 level,
which means that industrial labor
has been completely “deflated” of,the
wartime additions to its ranks.
Despite depression and despite re
current reports of wage cuts in many
lines, industrial workers who have
retained their jobs have suffered on
ly a 9 per cent, loss in earning capa
city in the course of a year, and this
apparent loss is more than offset by
the fall in the cost of living. The
level of average weekly earnings of
such workers is still very high, be
ing $30 for the whole country,
against less than $13 in 1914.
These statements abstract and
general as they have to be, will re
pay more detailed analysis, for they
indicate a condition of vital Inter
est to every man and woman who
earn an honest dollar and spends
it for necessary or useful purpose.
They Bhow that business, uncom
fortable as its situation still is, has
at least begun to convalesce.
For seven years Amferican business
has been sick enough to need a doc
tor. The trouble has been that econ
omic fever which financiers are as
customed to describe as inflation.
Inflation deranges all living and
working conditions in the country
where it exists, and upsets all earn
ing and spending, as well as buying
and selling, standards. It boosts
costs of living and costs of produc
tion, swells expenditures, incomes,
credits and bank clearings, multiplies
all price, wage and employment
figures, and does all this by depre
ciating the national money. It works
these destructive changes twice over,
first on its upward trend toward the
maximum, and again in its second
ary stage, as deflation, which is
only Inflation bound south Instead
of north.
Just as a doctor follows the course
of his patient’s illness with a clin
ical thermometer, It is possible with
properly selected statistics to fol
low the ups and downs in inflation.
In accompanying cut are four "fever
thermometers” which reveal bus
Mystery Explained.
The mystery of why a man’s coat
buttons are on the right side and
a woman's on the left is explained,
to his own satisfaction, by one re
searcher, who says this arrangement
permitted the man to thrust his fight
ing arm, his right into the jacket to
keep it warm, m buttbhing the coat
the man would instlnctly use his left
hand, leaving the right free. A woman,
however, buttoned, her coat with the
rigH pushing it over to the left natur
ally carried s child with the Ir" *rm.
I
in State of I
.escence. [
1 inesa conditions In the United Stats*
as measured by—
1 Bstan prices, which determine tb»>
cost of livuig for the average family
or man.
1 Wholesale prices. which as part «r
production and distribution costs are
tbe real determining haaip of re(alb
price changes.
*• Average weekly earnings of fact
or workers, who with their dspead
ents form the largest and by ter the
moat aensiUve economic group In the,
country.
, *• Employment In manfacturing es
tablishments. which In a general way
reflects employment, or lack of em
ployment. In all gainful occupations.
Ton can read those thermometer*
for yourself or study their reading*
In the following table, where for con
venience sake the “normal" levels of '
1914 and the “peak" levels of least
year are also set down. You can see
Just how much worse oft than it*
best and how much better off than
Its worst American business is now.
Normal Peak Pres. Doe. from Pit
. Juno, '14 1H» 1»1 Points P. a
Retan prices,
.*e.O tM.S 144 4 SJ 9.1
Wholesale prices,
avwwge .100.0 171.4 1*4.0 llt.4 4k*
Weekly earnlnse,
average . 100.0 m* 1*7.0 *0.0 Jk*
Factory Employ
..m»a bs.o k.o ».o at.*
Tar Envelop*
dollar ..*1.40 |0.« *0.40 *f0.U *lk4s
•Increase.
The wide variance between retail
and wholesale prices Is plainly shown,.
It win be noted. In the field of pro
duction, without which there could
be no consumption, the situation 9*
not so well defined, however.
Elimination of the forces mobilized
for factory work during the war;
maintenance, on the whole, of war
time wage levels; a precipitous drop
in the prices of raw materials and’
finished products at wholesale and a,
reduction of living costs pronounced
enough to constitute a bonus of 10
par cent, on all fixed salaries and
other incomes—these are the fmm
main facta which stand out.
Their relation to each other and ta
ttle whole Question ait working and'
living conditions In tbs United Staten.
wOl become clearer after an exam
ination of the course followed by the*
cost pf living, by wholesale prices,
and by average factory earnings,.
from tbe summer of 1914 ot the pres
ent, and the depreciation of the dol
lar, as measured by Its power to pay
for the living of Its possessor.
One thing Is clear from this look at.
these “skylines of business condi
tions.” Although the war which waa.
to result In an economic earthquake
for an nations began shortly after
midsummer In 1914, Us effects did
not- begln to be felt In the United
States tor 18 months. The cost of liv
ing Increased only imperceptibly, by
something like one-half of one per- .
cent, a month, while wholesale prices,,
generally regarded as the storm bar
ometer of general business conditions,,
hung around normal till October, 19U,.
before beginning their long climb sky
ward. Average tectorjr gamings, re
flecting both wage rates and em
ployment, were equally sluggish. They
bumped along just below or just above
the 100 per cent, line for 15 months
before responding to Europe’s call
for munitions and supplies.
Begining with 1916 the cost of liv
ing, wholesale prices, and earnings,
rose fairly steadily until the time or
the armistice in November, 1918, when
wholesale prices had reached a level
of 207 points, earnings had climbed:
‘Increase in TurchasiniTower
of the Pay Imfelopedollar!
to 170, and the cost of living stood at
165, or almost exactly its present level
With the armistice came a slight re
action, lasting three or four months.
But with the spring of 1919 the eco
nomic forces producing infection,
gathered fresh vigor. In the course
of 12 months both income and outgo
indices hurdled several minor peaks,
and reached their maximum points—
wholesale prices, 272 in May, 1920;
retail prices, 204.5 in July; earnings,
227 in June, which mark they touched
again last October.
Another point to notice is that,
wholesale prices, the element which
went up faster and furthest, all but
tripling, and reaching their "peak”
a full two months before retail prices,
were also the element to fall away
most sharply once the decline began.
By the end of 1920 wholesale prices
had fallen below retail prices, and ever
sinoe then they have been proportion
ately lower than retail prices.
Still another point is the long and
stubborn struggle factory labor waged
to keep its head above the rising tide
of living costa. It lasted four years,
and for two-thirds of that period
labor was the loser. It was not until
March, 1918, that the earnings finally
crossed its rival, and any further
proportionate increase became ’’vel
vet" for the recipient. Finally, the
depreciation of the retail buying val
ue of the dollar gives a rough but
approximately accurate measurement
of the amount of this ‘’velvet,’’ sa
compared with the portion of in
creased earnings which was at on e
eaten up by increased cost of Uvin {.
A young man who confessed to taking,
part In a recent mall robbery in Near
jersey, sought to justify himself last
week by explaining: ' I’ve been against
the government ever since I return. -L
from France -juid received a pa>t y
bonne of *00 for_my two years In the
world war.”
An odd straw hat Is owned by a cafe
keeper In Marienbad. Every stiaw i.i
It has been touched by the lips <f“
royalty, for the hat is woven from the
straws put In tbe drinks of the crowne-,.
heads of Europe who have freqn .uU-i,
! his cafe.