Kathryn Rem: Living in a recession in 1911
05.10.11
Sympathize the poor housewife living 100 years ago.
A quart of exploit was 8 cents, a pound of round steak was 18 cents, a powder of duck was 11 cents, a loaf of bread was 5 cents, a purge of potatoes was 22 cents, beets were 10 cents a clump and a bushel of rutabagas was 45 cents.
But the average U.S. return in 1911 was just $980. A recession was in its early stages that year, prompting Americans to calculate their coins and look for sales.
During the first week of October a century ago, Chatterton Playhouse in Springfield, Ill., was showing “Aeroplane Girl” with a matinee entr price of a dime. Haberdasher John Lutz was selling Knox derbies for $5, and the Latest Method Shoe House streets was selling shoes for $1 to $2.50. (“Don’t arrive d enter a occur to us for shoes unless you want good shoes” review an ad in the Illinois State Journal.)
The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. in Springfield advertised surplus-fancy creamery butter for 30 cents a beat, “along with extra Green Trading Stamps.” Commons ads in the Journal touted nutritional benefits.
Source: MetroWest Daily News
Pakistan: Wasted energies
05.10.11
Karachi, Oct. 05 -- It is a tussle between two life-and-death public utilities - the privately-run Karachi Electric Gear up Company (KESC) and the state-run Sui Southern Gas Company Reduced (SSGC) - which daily punishes millions of residents of the teeming anchorage city of Karachi in the form of frequent and prolonged power outages.
The KESC accuses the SSGC of "unjust and scarce" supply of natural gas -- the cheap and clean kindling source for power generation. The KESC management says that against the "approved apportionment" of 276 MMCFD of gas, it is being supplied only 160 MMCFD for power creation, which remains well below its needs. This forces the KESC to use three time costlier furnace oil for power days, which makes its operations financially unfeasible and results in a cutting increase in tariffs.
The SSGC management says that it has no formal compact with the KESC for the gas supply. "Without an agreement, we are not bound to ensure gas supplies to the KESC," says SSGC's Managing Head Azim Iqbal Siddiqui. "They (the KESC) keep referring to the ECC (Remunerative Coordination Committee) decision, but there is nothing in writing. But still we keep supplying gas to the power utility in the larger notable interest."
Source: Power Engineering Magazine