Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-09-11
PITIFUL STORY TOLD BYAFATHER
His Little Child Dying, and the Small
Quantity of Milk Needed to Save Its
Life Vas Not to Be Had.
CAUSES FOR THE PRESENT SCARCITY.
Production Not So Great, and Many Gallons Soured
by the Recent SntIy Weather.

pe4Aeu 10 udlly lOTegO bnelE USUAL mlJk puu-
dings, etc. Persons have gone to the milk
dealers offering to pay any price for only a
quart of milk and yet they were unable to
get even that small quantity.
One of the leading milk dealers of the
city yesterday told a reporter of THE DIS
PATCH a very pathetic incident that
occurred in his Office on Tuesday. A gen.
tleman entered and gave his order for milk,
but was told that not pint was to be had,
and that orders were refused every few min
utes. but must have it!'' said the gen.
tleman. The dealer replied he was sorry to
disappoint him, but said it would be i'm
possible to fill the order. Then, with tears
in his eyes, the gentleman told why he SO
much needed the milk.
COULDN'T GET THE MILK.
His little baby was lying at home at the
point of death, and the physician had
ordered pure milk as the only think to help
the child. 1t was a pitiful tale and the
clerk promised to do his best 10 have a quart
of the unadulterated fluid delivered at the
home of the little sufferer. The route man
ran out of milk before reaching the house,
and as a result the anxious father was dis
appointed. Perhaps ere this the child is
dead
While such incidents ARE the exception,
the fact remains that milk is very scarce
article, and as a result hundreds-perhaps
thousands-of little children do not get their
usual supply. Another thing that must be
taken into consideration. When milk be-
comes scarce the dishonest dealer finds an
excuse for watering it little so it will ''go
around, =" and thus the adulterated article is
palmed of on the customers who wonder at
thinnesS thereof.
The clerks in the office of Sewickley
Dairy Company, on Wood street. report
that while their supply is larger than usual,
the demand is so increased that it is impos-
sible to nil all the orders received. Last
SUNDAY 40 fresh COWS were added to their
herd, and vet the company is away behind
in its orders. More will be added as rapid
ly as possible, but good mlch cows are very
hard to secure just at present.
REFUSING SCORES OF ORDERS.
Yesterday up TO 2:SO o'clock the company
refused ITO orders for milk because they
could not supply it. These orders averaged
about two quarts each, or So gallons in all.
Doubtless the numerous other retailers were
compelled to refuse hundreds of orders, and
thus it will be seen that the deficit in the
milk market is very great.
The causes of the scarcity are manifold.
The hot weather OF a few days ago burned
out so much of the pasture that the produc-
tion was greatly decreased. Then the |
weather became sultry, and as a result the |
milk that produced quickly soured unless |
the greatest care was taken. Among the |
farmers it is customary to set the cans OF |
milk in the spring, and if the |
water reaches higher up the can |
than the milk does it will |
keep a long time. But at present |
the springs are very low and not deep |
enough to project the milk from the heat. |
While the lower part of the can is kept cool |
in the water the upper portion is dry and |
hot. The cream gathers on the top and |
quickly sours, thus spelling the product. |
The dairy companies have very little trou- |
bic with their milk, as they use ice in pack |
ing it. The ice is put on the top of the bot |
ties, and the cold air is thus forced down all |
through, and there is no danger of the milk |
spelling.
RESULT OF THUNDER STORMS.
One of the peculiar features of tine milk |
business is the action of thunder storms. /
Lightning will sour milk quicker than any, /
thing else. This is an unexplained phe-
nomenOn, and, while dealers have noticed |
it, they do not try to explain the cause. One /
of the Sewickley Company's men was driY-
ing over his route through a storm, when
the horse was struck by lightning and in
stantly killed. The driver was not even
shocked, but every drop of milk in the
wagon was soured in an instant. None of
the bottles were broken, but the milk
seemed to turn instantly.
MIR. Fleming, of the company, said yes
terday. I'VE find that milk is very
scarce article just at present, and a great
deal of that which is delivered is OF a very
poor quality. If pure milk was sold to
every consumer in Pittsburg and Allegheny
great many more cows would find en-
ployment. 1t is estimated that in London
if pure milk only was sold it would require |
from 20, 900 to 10000 more COWS to keep up
the supply. While wouldn't say that any
of the local dealers would water their
milk, 1t is in many cases, not fit for use. 1t |
is impossible for US to fill the orders sent in,
and we are almost tempted to refuse to
answer the telephone"
FORMED THE MILK HABIT.
zone of the reasons we find for the extra
demand Just now is that hundreds of people
are returning from the summer resorts in
the country and in the mountains, where
plenty of good, rich milk can be had for the
asking. 1t is cheap there, and now that
they are back in the city, they are 10th to
break off their milk drinking habits. If
other dealers get as many orders they can
not fill as we do, the scarcity must almost
reach famine"
Numerous other dealers talked in the
same strain. The price has gone up and
the farmers who sell to the wholesalers now
receive 16 cents per gallon for their milk
Mr. William Fuhr, OF the Diamond Milk
Company, said:
"0ur supply is away below the demand.
OF course, as we only wholesale, / hear of
the want only through the retailers. We
sell a good deal of milk to the grocers.
They retail it at 8 cents a quart, or about
what we sell it to them for. They do not
care to make business of it, but use it only
as bait They sell it sometimes at a
small loss in order to get people to come in
and buy other goods"
All the dealers visited gave about the
same reasons for the small famine.
The restaurants and saloons of tie city
find it very difficult to obtain a supply of
milk adequate to the demands of the former
old topers who have sworn off on beer and
have been quenching their thirst on the
lacteal fluid for the past two months. As
when the gentlemen fail to
fiud a glass of their favorite beverage they
are compelled to take beer and thus the
period of temperance is broken.