HARD TIMES IN HARDWARE.

Ohinemuri Gazette, Volume XXIX, Issue 3956, 12 August 1918, Page 3

HARD TIMES IN HARDWARE.

HOW " PRICES HAVE JUMPED

The fact that the price of wire nails to retailers has been jumped £5 per ton this week caused the Wellington Dominion to make some enquiries into the condition of the hardware trade generally in Wellington (which is a criterion, for the whole of New Zealand as far as prices are concerned). Previous to the war wir.^ nails could be bought' anywhere for 2%a per lb, or 51bs for Is—any size. One-inch nails are now being sold at 7d per lb ; 1%-inch nails at 8d; and 2-inch nails at 9d per lb, which will serve to throw some light on. the largely increased cost of build-ir-ig, and is a good and sufficient excuse for economising on any job where nails are concerned. The pre-

war price of g.c. (corrugated) roofing iron was £18 per ton; now it is Anything between £80 arid £90 per ton. Its export from England and America has been prohibited except under special permit. Wire of all kind's is also on the prohibited list, and is practically unprocurable. No fencing wire is procurable, and clothesline wire is becoming a relic of a previous age. Ordinary 2-inch mesh wire netting (commonly used in the construction of fowl runs) was, prior to the war, sold at 7s 6d per roll of fifty yards. The price to-day for the same article is about 33s 6d per roll. Rabbit-netting, which has increased in about the same, proportion, is practically unprocurable at present. All tools have increased in price by from 300 to 400 per cent., and are difficult to obtain from England and American manufacturers. One little complicated engineer's tool, which was formerly sold for 15s, now costs 35s to land. Household hardware, such as pots and pans, have advanced in price quite 200 per cent, and enamel ware in about the same proportion. Primus stoves, favoured in the country and at seaside baches, used to be purveyed at'from 12s 6d to 15s, to-day the price for a " Primus " is 38s 6d. Glassware and crockery have advanced tremendously in price.