£5 PIANOS

Southland Times, Issue 19522, 23 May 1922, Page 6

£5 PIANOS

GERMAN GOODS IN SOUTH AFRICA. A walk through a Cape Town warehouse full of imported German goods has revealed some startling facts in Germany’s war on Allied markets. A well-known Cape Town merchant says in the Capo Times: “Instead of Germany trying to capture the South African trade, I regret to say that she has had full possession of it for the past two years.” The goods in the warehouse were well made, and ranged drom pianos to saucepans. A German sewing machine was invoiced at 18s. An umbrella with steel ribs, apparently capable of withstanding any machine which would delight the heart of any housewife, was invoiced at lid. A small stove, which could not be bought in Cape Tdwn under 2s, was valued at 3d by the German maker, and a beautifully made carpenter’s plane, with no less than 12 blades, which could easily bring 30s here to-day, was priced by the German who had sent it at ss.

Street arc lamps were invoiced at 10s, whereas the world price is £2 2s, and a set of stewpans, invoiced at 4s 6d, costs Ils anywhere but in Germany. A tennis racquet, quite up to the British standard, was valued by the Germans at 6s, and a similar article of British manufacture could pot be procured under 455. A charming pianola cabinet, valued here at £lO, was invoiced in Germany at 20s. It possesses a revolving front and a dozen platforms. In the United States the same cabinet cannot be produced under £5. Other fine examples of the carpenter’s art were invoiced at the same paltry valuation. A sample of milling machinery, worth about £240 in England, was invoiced by the German manufacturer at £7O. A circular saw, a remarkable construction for cutting steel, with replaceable teeth, and having an extra supply of 120 new teeth, was invoiced at the amazing figure of 14s. In England the extra teeth alone cost £2 10s, and the saw £7 10s. Switchboards for motors worth £3 10s, were valued in Germany at Ils. Pianos, which could not be' made in the United States or in England under £4O, invoiced by the Germans at less than £5.