The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-02-14
CAR MEN SEEK ID
 SOLVE PROBLEM Organize Cooperative Grocery
 Store and Market AN ECONOMICAL LAB0RER Thrift and Enterprise of the Average Street Railway Employe Is Fine
 Object Lesson for More
 Extravagant Class.
By WALTER HARPER.

Since we "eat to live and, am afraid too often Tive to eat" the bread problem is the most important material question with which we have to deal.
 The poor man eats as much and often more than the rich man, and he demands that what he eats must be as good The man of wealth may eat rich viands, but the food of the poorer man must be wholesome and of the best quality.
 It takes as much money to supply the table of the ordinary working man as 1t does that of the banker or merchant. The man of means may spend more, but it is on garnishments that the stomach does not actually demand.
 The average working man in the Bir- mingham district wants the best foods that are for sale and he has them if it is possible. He deserves them and ought to have them. He does not demand the lux urious homes the carriages and fine ap- parel of the rich man, but his stomach is just as exacting.
 Therefore the bread problem is one that concerns us all alike.
 For more than a year The Age-Herald has interested itself in the question of the high cost of living in the Birmingham district. It has tried to make suggestions that would be helpful to the people, and especially the working man, who earns his bread by the sweat of his brow"
 The cost of provisions may be too high or 1t may not be. It is sometimes a long step from the dining table to the field, where our provisions are first produced. Many people and machines have the handling of almost everything we eat This cost money. and every man must figure some profit for himself.
 The two great factors in the piling up of cost to the consumer are the whole sale and retail dealer. These two men usually have large rent bills and other expenses that must be paid by the con sumer, and 1t is suspected that they are not overly careful about figuring profits It is suspected in some quarters that the profit margin Is built out of broad cloth with but little regard to the poor devil behind the grocery bill. When this is done twice the result is calamitous to the aforesaid poor devil.
 The employees of the Birmingham Rail way, Light and Power company, number ing more than one thousand besides the hungry families dependent upon them, have been figuring some for themselves and believe they have solved to a degree the problem of eating.
 They have established a cooperative store under the legal name of .'The Incorporated Grocery company" and will figure at least one of the middle mans profits to themselves. The com pany is capitalized al $5OOO and $300O has been paid in The store opened al the corner of Eighteenth street and Third av- enue February l, and is already doing thriving business.
 The stock is held at s1O share and is being taken by the employees of the street railway company. The managers and di- rectors are all employees or ex-employes Of the company and are selected by the stockholders. They are men of unques- tioned integrity and the enterprise prom fses to be marked success
 The officers are as follows:
 President, W. T. Noble; treasurer. H. J. Terrell; vice president and manager, G. A. Anderson directors, H. G. Lowery J. B. Duke. w T. Strange and G. w. Poole
 Besides the grocery store an up to date market Is now being opened In the ad- joining storeroom on Eighteenth street, and later on it is announced that other departments will be added to supply uni forms and other furnishings demanded in the everyday work of the men.
 The business has been thoroughly or ganized and will be run it is announced. on strict business principles. Stockhod- CTS will be allowed 30 days credit up to 75 per cent of his stock, but no more
 Some of the conductors and motormen have subscribed for as much as 20 shares and number have as much as ten shares. The stock is being distributed as much as possible to all the employees. It Is the desire of the managers to have every man employed by the company be- come shareholder in the business
 This business move on the part of the employees of one of the largest industrial concerns in the city Is very commenda- ble and it's progress will be watched with interest by all people.
 AS class the street railway employe is the most economical laboring man in the community He makes less money than men in many other lines of work and yet he saves more and seems to live more comfortably. As a rule the motor man and conductor owns his own home or is paying for one. His average salary is s65 per month.
 There are hundreds of working men in the Birmingham district who make more money than this and save nothing The idea of buying a home with them is sim ply ridiculous. I know men who make SlO0 per month and even more who are constantly lodging collectors and are borrowing money from their fellows be- tween pay days Some of them have no families dependent upon them either.
 The ability to save is in the man not in the amount of the pay envelope. Some ayrA nf.N