18 " 0/9
Oil 0.16 " 0/8
Sugar 0.18 " 0/9
Milk 0.12 " 0/6
Soap 0.08 " 0/4
Butter 0.20 " 0/10
Firewood 0.08 " 0/4
Total $5.25 21/2
An analysis of one item alone will show how little room there is for
waste. _Bread_, $1: for a family of five, for seven days, one dollar's
worth of bread will give each a daily ration of 2.8 cents; and if they
eat three meals a day, each may consume per meal 9.5 mills' worth of
bread, a little less than one halfpennyworth. Now bread is the heaviest
item. They will get less of meat per mouth each meal, and still less of
vegetates; while the smaller items become too microscopic for
consideration. On the other hand, these food articles are all bought at
small retail, the most expensive and wasteful method of purchasing.
While the table given above will permit no extravagance, no overloading
of stomachs, it will be noticed that there is no surplus. The whole
guinea is spent for food and rent. There is no pocket-money left over.
Does the man buy a glass of beer, the family must eat that much less; and
in so far as it eats less, just that far will it impair its physical
efficiency.
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