A PROBLEM

Thames Star, Volume LII, Issue 13933, 11 July 1919, Page 4

A PROBLEM

COST OF LIVING IN LONDON (By a Married Soldier.) , •''What! as the ooiat of livuing: ion Lomdon?-' Tiiat is what I wanted to know wihemi senit to Loaklai* frbmi Franca on \h& A.I.F. education sohienw. Somei people could tcill 1 nia v/bmb the cost of laving wne before tihe; wair, others, whiaib fti was dtaring! ttihe wa.r, but nobody seemed itioi haivtei the iniotranjatioan righitl uip tlo d&tb- I wanted tio know abotufc the cost of living- five impaithe after the war (April, 1919).< It was impoTtainiti for 1 me to know, otihei*wisei, whethea" 1 my aiwny pay would be puffioiemitl to keep* my wife, myself., amd Elbfcle boy of foam* oiver the.. seiVeifal months tihaitl mlay elapse* before I shall bo reiady to* emibaik on th.c transport for home. I deciided 1 ttoi find out for myself, and this is how I proceededl: My wife amd I engaged a modesti suatle* ami an apartment house), with atttendJainioe -r-thlo landlady to doi tthe cooking and we to soiptply the wherewithal to do it with. My wife did the shoipping;, and we bath kepitt separate accounts of thei Tiairious iitemoisi, from the butcher, baker, grocer, and . daiTymaini, etlci. When the last, meal! of the seventh" day was oiver we iinrniediaitiely set to. work on our lititie problem of aiwthi-' and' the retsultt showed our tioitial amount for the week's rations to be exactly £2 14s 2|d. on e pound each for my wife and myself, 14 shMnga for 1 tlie foiuir)-yeair 1-oid oliald. j No ait(ttesm,p'it! was made to live edlther j [in luxury or very cheaply, our idea| being to live a® well as the aiverage I peiwmi eipecitisi ttn live, cheek the eocactti cost for onus Wf.ek, and take ithlaifc as -the standard for our fufuro gu,id!ance. However, it was living 1 m kixuiry as compared to th© livinig) of i men on, aatlive servibei, on* about equal i ta officer's meisis with the liquor cv* ! oulfc. Thesei aine the items that appeared om oiur week's fotod accoiunlti: Bread, meat, blaioo«;, fish, vegetables, "~ apples, oranges, jami, mairtnaladfe, i buittetf, milk, tlea, eggs, sugia,r,' rice ■ and flour. Some of the prices paid I j canno* forgeti, 2s 3d per pound for; muibtotni. Aiti home im Australia at one | tiimie we used to: seU. it by the tiar- l case artl 3d per piound, Milfc at 3s 4d j (per We piaad 2s 6d pcr J poound I for bultiter, 7d pier pair for hen. eggs, i and a ■shilling; iper ponnd; for jaait. j Incidentally, on© lititie iproiblem oc-, cura toi me. My people in Ausibrafli'a are p'rodudinlgi miuititon. At present, as neaif aia I oan: teanni, (they aa'e get;- j ting somiething! like sdxpence per pound for iiU Here people are payingl : 27 penioe iper pound' for ib. i What becomes of thie lsi 9d per pounld differencei bebweem itheise two.prices? That ie the liom'ig( shaire, perhiaips, but where is thei Komi. Worked ouib.' a® showm here the basia or food coisrtJ of living- in. England i! some pound per ; week Pit adults a(b, tOxe presenib tsme—how ' much, less inf Australia? Vhe cast, of j housinigt, clotthiing;, and aimnjsemein.te j all batve to; be reckoned in:'the total j cio'sifc of loving 1. There wai cea-tiain ' e.laeiticnjty, howeiver, iii these things. and people cianl es:eroise a..little inu genuity io keeping 1 their .cost down to salary limits. A ciou/ple of roiOims in. an apartmienit houise will cost fnorni 25s per week upwards. . Th^oise; eanployed around the A.l.F."He!adqnarters may reduce their livingl expenses a lititlLa by drafwing their ' Qfroici^ri-es from thie A.I.F. ration eitore. But im my case it is moib conveiniietnlti- With refesomable eoom/oany, I thiink we shall i make ends meeti unitlil our anxiously awaited turn comets for emibiarkaitiion:., Then. Austrailia will do me for a land toi live in.—ChrisiticMirch, Press.