Mr. Lee Meriwether, who has given much attention to this special subject, cites a case in point, that of a coal laborer, who boasted: "No one can say that I do not give my family the best flour, the finest of sugar, the very best quality of meat." He paid $156 a year for the nicest cuts of meat, which his wife had to cook before six in the morning or after half past six at night, because she worked all day in a factory. When excellent butter was selling at 25 cents a pound he paid 29 cents for an extra quality. He spent only $108 a year for clothing for his family of nine, and only $72 a year for rent in a close tenement house, where they slept in rooms without windows or closets. He indulged in this extravagance in diet, when much less expensive food materials, such as regularly come upon the tables of men of wealth, would have been just as nutritious, just as wholesome, and in every way just as good, save in the gratification to pride and palate. He was committing an immense economic blunder. Like thousands of others, he did so in the belief that it was wise and economical. The sad side of the story is that the poor are the ones who practice the worst economy in the purchase as well as the use of food. The Massachusetts Bureau of Labor, in collecting the dietaries above referred to, made numerous inquiries of tradesmen regarding the food of the poor in Boston, meaning by poor "those who earn just enough to keep themselves and families from want." The almost universal testimony was, "They usually want the best and pay for it, and the most fastidious are those who can least afford it." The costliest kind of meat, the finest flour, and very highest priced butter were demanded, and many scorned the less expensive meats and groceries such as well-to-do and sensible people were in the habit of buying. I have taken occasion to verify these observations by personal inquiry in Boston markets. One intelligent meat man gave his experience with a poor seamstress, who insisted on buying tenderloin steak at 60 cents per pound. He tried to persuade her that other parts of the meat were just as nutritive, as they really are, but she would not believe him; and when he urged the wiser economy of using them, she became angry at him for what she regarded as a reflection upon her dignity. "My wealthy customers," said he, "take our cheaper cuts, but I have got through trying to sell these economical meats to that woman and others of her class." I am told that people in the poorer parts of New York City buy the highest priced groceries, and that the meat men say they can sell the coarser cuts of meat to the rich, but that people of moderate means refuse them. I hear the same thing in Washington and other cities.