In the twelve months period from February 14, 1939, to February 15, 1940, prices of some commodities have been more than doubled. Salaries have not risen accordingly. And so belts have been tightened and the Shanghailander faces the future uneasily, for there have been no signs that the rapid rise will stop, or that the good old days are about to return.
Comparing prices last year and today graphically illustrates what the ordinary man in the street is up against. Much has been written about coal and the fabulous sums which are asked for this commodity nowadays. Suffice it to say that in 1939, on February 14, best anthracite sold at $50 a metric ton. Today it is $174 or the same amount—more than three times its price only twelve mantis ago.
An even bigger increase is seen when the prices of number one house coal last year and this year are compared. In 1939 this commodity sold at $43 a metric ton. On February 15, 1940, $270 were being asked. Thus this commodity has increased in price well over fivefold. Number one kitchen coal is now $230 a metric ton. Last year it was $42. The prices speak for themselves.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.