COST OF LIVING.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2052, 12 April 1907, Page 1

COST OF LIVING.

LONDON AND CHRISTCHURCH.

A Christchurch resident, sent Home to a lady friend residing at Acton, London, the return lately issued by the Labor Department showing the prices charged in the four chief centres of the colony for commodities of common consumption, and asked her to supply, for the purpose of comparison, the prices usually charged for similar goods at Home. The result, says the Times, is distinctly interesting. Bread, which certainly ought to be as cheap in the colony as it is in the Old Country, is 3d for the; 21b loaf ill all the New Zealand centres, and 2-J at Acton. Butter varies from Is Id to Is Id a lb, and from Is 2d to Is 5d a lb in London, but Now Zealand butter can always be obtained (here at Is a lb. Jam ranges from 5d to Gd pel* lh in New Zealand, but a 31b tin can be bought for Is 2d in any of the London grocers’ shops. Flour is retailed from 2s 7d to 2s lOd for 251 b in New Zealand', and at from 3s 2d to Is for 281 b at Home; but for Is a housewife can get a couple of pounds more in London than she can ,iu Dunedin. Raisins and currants are slightly cheaper in the-colony than they are at Home, and oatmeal and rolled oats are practically the same price. New-laid eggs arc substantially cheaper in London than they are in Christchurch, and “fresh” eggs arc about half the price. Tea, which still boars a duty in Ircetrade Britain, is, on,the average, Id a lb dearer at Home than it is in the colony, while coffee, on the other hand, is from Id to 6d a lb cheaper. Sugar is about the same price in the two warkots; but kerosene costs nearly twice as much in Acton as it does in the colonial towns. Milk shows little difference, the price varying from 3d to Id a quart in England as it does here. Bacon is also about the same. Coal may be bought at 15s to 26s a ton in London, and gas is supplied at 2s 9d per 1000 feet. Home-grown meats arc from 50 to 75 per cent dearer in Acton than they arc in Christchurch; but frozen mutton may be bought at 5d per lb. and beef sausages at the same price. Manufactured goods are, of course, much cheaper ill the Old Country than they are here, and rents, speaking generally, are quite 50 per cent lower.