Have you yet started to make your plum puddings and mineement, Chri-stabd, for the Christmas month is upon us, and, though pence and goodwill' are not strong fea tures old custom must be preserved, and the tradition of the Season's sweet course maintained where possible, I am thinking there will be a good many puddings of the Cratchitt proportions this year—very small puddings for very large fami~ Vies—but with all and sundry their the Foreign Women's Home will help hhestessos here, This will take place the home of Mrs. H. M. Mann, 193, Route Cardinal Mercier on December 2 at 3 pin. Tiekels for a table of four will be $5, and on sale at the same time will be articles made by the occupants, and goods, previous sales of the Home, will be Christmas fare will east them more, A good deal more.
1 have a compradore's price-list side at the moment, and the cost of raisins, currants, sultanas, peel and so forth Is atrocious. Some of tus will go mighty thin in that line this year!
with the war victims it will 4 force majeure, with others It will be sheer protest against prevailing unnecessarily high prices, In lots of eases this is a shocking imposition, and wicked exploitation of an happy situation. True, when the supply Is limited the price must Ko up, but many articles have been raised for no valid reason, for the shop~ Keepers are retailing old stocks at ridiculous figures and there can be no explanation other than an inherent villainy and an unscrupulous seizing of opportunity.
Further, a lot of the' stu we are getting is' not fit to eat, Meat Is not what it was, and though bread has not advanced in price, yet much of it is almost uneatable—dark, glutinous stuff, 'The cakes and pastries are' likewise not good and a quick oven and a dash of flavouring will not hide inferior ingredients, "After trying, several, I have found one or two good vakerles still in. existence but, no names, no pack drill!
If this state of affairs is bad for the average citizen who has not been unduly pressed by the present situation, imagine what it must mean for the unhappy people who are reduced in Income but not in appetite, and who have hungry, growing children vound the board. The poor consumer is always the worst hit in times Ice these, and when prices go up they do not go down again in-a hurry.
Granted there is a shortage, and uncos ave difficult for the seller as well the buyer, but many feel that retailors are exploiting the present disposition to take anything at any price
piles: for fear of a sudden cessation of sup
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.