The Global Price of Local Barley
Tacoma's grain markets feel the ripple effects of the Russo-Japanese War as international demand drives up local prices.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
If the Japanese demand for Washington barley continues at the rate witnessed during the month of March, the price of beer may go up, the island empire now being a sharp competitor of the breweries for this grain. The price of barley in the local market has advanced since the outbreak of the war with Russia. That the Japanese government is a strong bidder for all these products is apparent; in the item of barley alone, 7,000 tons of the Eastern Washington product have been shipped during the month. The Pacific coast has already profited largely by it and will reap further advantage as the contest progresses.
“If the Japanese demand for Washington barley continues at the rate witnessed during the month of March, the price of beer may go up.”
International conflicts have always exerted a strange, invisible pull on the cost of living in Tacoma. Just as 1904 barley prices reacted to a conflict half a world away, modern local prices remain tethered to the complexities of global supply chains and geopolitical instability.
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