Cheese  is  a  food  rather  than  a  condiment  to  many  of  our
residents  and  citizens.  It  is  not  bought  in  half  the  amount
it  was  in  1916,  nor  are  the  varieties  offered  for  sale.  Taking
the  estimate  of  one  large  firm,  the  decrease  in  demand  was
such  that  during  the  months  from  January  1st  to  August
1st,  1918,  the  demand  was  but  a  small  fraction  over  the
sales  for  the  month  of  January,  1915.  Milk  cheese  was
suggested  in  the  summer  of  1918  as  a  valuable  article  that
should  be  used  more  largely,  but  the  suggestion  found  no
favor  with  the  foreign  born,  who  use  cheese  more  than  any
other  element  of  the  population.
All  substitutes  for  wheat  and  the  wheat  products  used
for  cereals  were  outrageously  high  in  1918.  Their  prices
have  fallen  but  in  no  proportion  to  their  abundance.  These
substitutes  were  many  of  them  just  as  valuable  food  nutri-
tives, but  their  price  was  prohibitive.
The  1918  estimate  for  living  includes  not  only  the  money
spent  but  the  money  saved  by  retrenchment.  Perhaps  in
some  instances  that  retrenchment  was  the  gravest  sort  of
expense  for  it  was  a  retrenchment  which  seriously  menaced
the  health  of  women  and  children,  affecting  men  in  a  lesser
degree.  In  every  family  expense  was  cut  down  a  third,  and
in  many  one-half.
