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"DEAR" SWANSEA. ! :

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"DEAR" SWANSEA. WHY WE PAY WRE. RESULTS OF EXHAUS- TIVE INQUIRY. A Chance for Gower. A gentleman who recently left Swan- sea after aame years' resiatmoe, said, III his opinion, Swiarusea was a most expen- sive town to live in; takuiig all thui £ s into account, the most expensive he had avelr known." —("Daily Post" editorial extract, December 31, 1913). There a-re no two opinions as to Swansea being a much dearer town to live in fchsun the average, and the question naturally arises why First and ficremost, it is generally conceded that owing to the number of Jioosas beinj far short of the demand, rents far ectceed tiioce of the aiverage town. And it is in this regard <hat the most serious etra.in is made upon the housewife's purse. Not is this altogether Swansea's fault or lack of building enterprise, for the town proper consists of bu.t a narrow atrip of sea.- txoard surrounded by hills, a<nd industrial enterprise end progress has made large de- mands upon the development of the limited land available. With industrial activity in its many fav-et forms, the configOTataan of the borough which renders traiinway traffic anything- but simple, and the great need far '■workers' houses in the few available sites ready and near of azoess, the high ra/tes for labour pertaining in all branches, all contri- bute to add to the weekly l'tmts directly or indirectly. In few, if any, towns are rents so high as at Swansea; they run on an average anything from 5s. to lOs. a week zoom than in most other places. In a Lon- don subutb where a prominent Bwaonsea provision store manager lived for years he paid JB38 a year for house rent; to-day he would have to pay in Swansea £ 45. At Grimsby, a man now engaged at Swansea paid 8o. 6d. a week clear to-da v he is pay- ing here 16s., though his Swansea house con- tains a bath which the other did not. At (Wolverhampton a sax-roomed HOUSE AVERAGES FROM 5s. TO 7s. a week; at Swansea the figure is between 10s. 6d. and 13& at Birmingham the dif- ference is between 3s. and 5s. a week in the ■Midland city's favour, end other large cities and towns show a more or less similar dif- ference. Rates aire very little appreciably higher at Svarusa, thanks to the Municipal Reformers, and yet there is this difference. The reason in a nutshell. as indicated above, is the comparatively little land avai la.b Ie, "the groat and ever-growing demand, thainks to Swansea's prosperity, and the lack of a Suitable type of lower middle class house, whiÍoh necessitates a man living in 9 rooms when he would be content with four or five, provided they were built larger. A singu- lar drawback in Swansea hrruøes of this class, generally speaking, is that they have more rooms than is necessa-ry for the aver- age family, and the rooms are too small. This, compiled with the Jack of number, has led to evolution of the two and three-fsmily house. hlaits of different tylx, WlciUld, in the writer's opinion, have gone far in solv- ing the f Swq.r.«ea I A,4ri-- altv. A SOVEREIGN COMPARED. One of the best tests to judge a town's cost of living and to institute comparisons ir a broad sense is to see how far a sovereigns will go in providing the necessaries of life. Eliminating house rent, the writer took from personal instances a rough calculation as to a sovereign's purchasing worth, and the re- sult was as follows:- Swansea store purchases (food). £1 London 18/6 Grimsby 18/- Woiverhampton 17/6 Birmingham 18/- in London had is d, chtape-r than at Swansea; sugarkd. lb. cheaper, and best pickles ld. cheaper. But, according to a well-known Swansea authority who has been in the trade all his life, bacon, butter, and eheese are cheaper in Swansea than in 'Lon- don. One Swansea grocer turns over tons of butter a month at .1d. Ib. gross profit, rely- ing presumably upon that sale to effect- others and so secure his profit. It used to be an axiom sell sugar at a loss and get it back on tea, but then the big storehouses of Maypole, Home and Colonial, and Lipton's 8toepped in—disastrously to the old-fashioned grccer. Trade methods change under vary- ing conditions, and the custom now generally is to average the profits all round. « But this is peering more into the grocer's private trade than is the in tan t ion of the present article. Swansea, the writer was told, is discerning, and while, for instance, common cuts of bacon can be got for 6td. a.nd even less, the best prices reach Is. Id. and Is. 2d., and they cannot be got cheaper anywhere. Take cheese at 7d; where oan i this be beaten? And butter is much the same here as any othr large town. But WHY SHOULD PICKLES be more. Experts are non-plu--sed. ON prices are much the same at Swansea as else- where proprietary brands carry their own prices everywhere. But, says the grocer, it is not in groceries proper tt.at the difference of puchasing power arises, it is in cloth- ing. The clothier sayz it is not in his busi- ness, which is being cut to the finest point, but the provision stores that charge more. And the greengrocer—whom both had for- gotten for the moment-indicts the two! TEE FISH BUSINESS. I Fish at Swansea." according to the gen. tleman quoted at the head of this article, is exquisite the best I have been able to obtain in any part of ths world." But it is a. fact it is dearer in some respects than, for instance, in the Midlands, but no dearer than at Cardiff, Grimsby (excepting where fishermen make individual oatchee and hawk their barows round), or Bristol. Why dearer than the Midlands? (1) Beoauss generally commoner grades are sold in the Birmingha.m and Midland mark et* to the masses; and (2) the big commission business conducted at Milford, Grimsby and London ensures a ready market at more centrany and easily reached distributing centres. Big catches arrive at ports which admit of no delay in sales; Birmingham and London are favourite dumping grounds and the fish is sold for what it will fetch under the ham- mer. Prices all depend upon the supplies. Soles to-day may be la. 4d., and to-morrow 2e. a few days ago plaice was 4s. a. stone; on Wednesday it was from 6a. to 7s. Take Wednesday's prices; soles were sold in Grimsby Is. 8d. wholesale; Swansea's price was lB. lOd. Turbot 8It Grimsby wae Is. 4d. and at Swansea, la. lOd. fSwaiwea merchants paying carriage). At Yarmouth fish is no cheaper than Swansea, except in the herring season, when that el" of fish is much cheaper. Whiting on Wednesday was 4d. wholesale at the big fish centres; this is the average selling price at Swansea. Fish is good at Swansea chiefly by reason of the fact that ONLY THE BEST IS SOLD HERE I- the greater part arrives in trawlers at swan- sea port and only the best is sent from Mil- ford and Grimaby. At many other places where fish may be cheaper it is neither, as a rule, so fresh nor so good in ouality. An Actress's Purch I Fruit and vegetables, as a matter of com- mon knowledge, are much cheaper in the Midlands and many other plaoes, for the eimple reason Swansea does not grow either to any extent, and Gower supplies are limited while the price is maintained. One might say with truth that vegetables aver- age 25 per cent. cheaper in many parts of the Midlands, fruit being also cheaper there. It will be interesting though to give details of actual purchases made by one of the lead- ing actreSses in "The Quaker Girl" at Swansea within the past week or two. Turkey in Swansea was Is. 4d., while in Lon- don it was Is. 2d., and the cheapest Is.; beef (best), Is. 2d., same as London; Glas- gow, Is. 4d.; Hull, lOd.; butter, about the same in all towns almonds and crystallised cherries, 4d. a quarter in London. 5d. in Swansea; lettuce, a good sized one oan be got in London for Id., and this is the rule in other places at Swansea one gets a tiny one for Id. head of celery, -d. in London, 2d. fn Swansea; potatoes, 91bs. for 6d. in Lon- don, Swansea 7!bs. for fd., and indifferent at tbat; tinned fruits the same in every r town; chickens, 5s 6d in Swansea, compared I with 3s. in London and 2s. 6d. to 3s. in country towns. In this lady's opinion the cheapest towns to live in are Middlesboro', Hull, Derby, Wolverhampton, and the most expensive Glasgow. Tomatoes, she told the writer, were from 4d. to 8d. a lb. in Lon- don, while in Swanseo., she paid 6d. apples (russet) are 4d. in London and the pro- vinces generally. but in Swansea- they are 6d. And yet, though foodstuffs are often dearer in Swansea, and house rents much above the average, it is strange that one can get I Theatrical lodgings here cheaper tnan m Birmingham, Two bedrooms and a sitting-room in the Midland city average 25s. at Swansea the same accommodation averages 16s. to 18s. The reason for this undoubtedly is that Birmingham is a No. 1 tour, and bigger prices can be charged; Swansea is rapidly becoming a No. 1 theatri- cal town. Fruit, Vegetables and Meat. I Is the beef at Swansea inferior? Those in the trade say not, but the thrifty house- wife who wants the best at lOd. would say it is. The truth is Swansea has the best beef for which the best price has to be paid. Here, agarn, Swansea is a a disadvantage as regards its supplies for there is no near English rearing district and the rail freights prove a factor. Best Welsh mutton is super- ior to any other iind prices at Swansea are not higher than anywhere else. In the for- eign meat the following railway freights are informing From Liverpool to Swansea—48s. 9d. ton. From Southampton to Swansea^—50s. 6d. ton. From London to Swansea—50s. 3d. ton. From A von mouth to Swansea—26s. 3d. ton. From Cardiff to Swansea—4d. ton. ml i i new are one ton lots; larger quantities I are cheaper, of course, pro rata. Naturally these changes affect the price compared with I plaoes where the charge is only a few shil- lings. In the case of fruit and vegetables I Swansea again has no near cultivating I ground handy, and whereas the London mar- _I hot receives supplies largely from the home counties, Swansea, far instance, receives its potato supply from Ireland and Saxony, while the vegetables come from all quarters. Are the vegetables inferior? Again yes and no. No, if one pays the beet price, but for the average price of many other towns the corresponding articles at Swansea are in- ferior. RaiH freights prove an important factor and the average retailer wants a little more than Midland towns where rents are not so high. A retail greengrocer charges on an average 30 per cent. on the wholesale price; he can't charge more on account of competition, and if he charged much less his creditors might become anxious. A few quotations from, last week's "Fruit, Flower and Vegetable Traders' Journal are inter- esting :—Baldwin apple&Teeds, 25s. to 28s. per barrel; Plymouth, 23s. to a),g. Swansea, 25s. to 30s. Dublin, 28s. to 328. Oranges (420's)—Edinburgh, lis. to 12s.; Swansea, 12s. 6d. Leeds, lls. to 1Gb. Glasgow. 10s. 6d. to 12s. A Chance for Cower. It is generally admitted that with greater cultivation of farmers' produce near at hand Swansea would be able to sell better articles at perhaps cheaper rate?. Gower supplies but very little of what Swansea consumes, and as a big store manager told the writer, When a Gower man does come to us he can only give us half a ton of potatoes, and what on earth is the use of that when we have to import thousands of tons in the course of a year." Eggs and poultry again there are infinite fields for development. This g?ne genUeman told me he would not think twice of taking 100,000 or 200,000 fresh eggs at Id. a piece all the year round. Whv, he asked, does not Gower prodnoe thean ? The higher prices charged at Swan- sea for certain thingi-wal is shillings a ton dearer than in the Midlands, and cloth- ing, too, is a little dea-ret-seern to be due to (1) Swansea not being a good distribut- ing centre and having to rely largely upon supplies from a distance (2) the high ren. which affect the prices of everything, more or lees; and (3) the absence of local whole- I sale garden centres; and (4) the railway } freights on foodstrffs.

I," ALMOST." o

WELL DESERVED.I

IWHILST SKIPPING.

£ 49,QQQ TABERNACLE.

I"MAN NAMED JONES" I I I

-  I ACTOR S BROKEN LEG.I

I SIGNALMAN BLAMED. i - i

" PERNICIOUS INFLUENCE."

I "FOR A FUNERAL" t ———-———

I "WHITE HÓPE." I

I- THE SILENT MAN.

LORD ALFRED DOUGLAS; J

SWANSEA SHIP SALE AND PUB?…