Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 40, Number 57, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 March 1908 — COST OF LIVING IN GERMANY. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

COST OF LIVING IN GERMANY.

Foodstuffs Advanced Greatly in the Last Ten Years. Germany Is no longer:the paradise of American and English families With incomes Just large enough to starve bn genteelly at home, says the New York Sun. Ten years have brought great changes in the standards of life In Germany, not only in Berlin bat In the smaller cities. Roughly speaking, the cost of living has Increased by a third to a half. In the matter of rent and servants' wages Berlin is still better than New York. Comparatively few families In Berlin boast the luxury of an entire house—even fewer, perhaps, than In New York. The rest live In wohnungen, or flatß, like their American compeers. The yearly rent for an apartment of four rooms in a desirable locality in Berlin varies from $375 to S4OO. Ten years ago the prices in Berlin were a fourth less. There are ceinplaints in Germany of the degeneration Of domestic servants, but at least a fair knowledge of cookery is a general possession, and in the second place, strict sight on the part of the police prevents absolute disregard of the sacredness of contracts. The minimum monthly pay for domestic service is $5. Even this is an increase of at least $2 within the last decennium. Turning to the cost of foodstuffs, the outlook is less encouraging. Almost without exception, articles of dally consumption have increased in price from a third to a half in ten years. As an example, mutton, which previously cost 12% cents a pound, now costa 25 cents Butterhas risen from 20 to 33 cents a pound, and eggs from 15 to 22 cents a dozen. This increase has been partly the result of deliberate legislative effort to Improve the condition of the peasantry by the imposition of protective duties on the products of the soil. In general, Berlin holds the same relation to other German cities as New York to American centers of population, but the cost of living in Hamburg and Frankfort Is more nearly on a par with that of Berlin than the cost of living in Philadelphia or St. Louis with that of New York. An exception in this connection must be made in favor of the cities of south Germany.

the young arctic recently rescued by the expedition under William S. Champ.

Anthony Fiala,