The Washington herald., 1910-02-01

Some very interesting facts about the
cost Of living in Washington and the
methods of doing business in such prod
ucts as butter, eggs. lard, and meat were
brought out at the hearing Of the special
committee Of the Chamber Of Commerce
yesterday. which sat from to o'clock.
Allen D. Albert, 1r., is chairman Of the
committee. and ten members OF the body
were present.
The committee heard testimony from
Capt James +. Oyster. with reference TO
butter; from Capt. John Miller with ref
erence 20 eggs and butter; from William
G. Carter, with reference 10 meat and
butter. and from John S. Walker on gen
eral retail provisions. The testimony OF
Capt. Oyster, Capt. Miller. and Mr.. Car
ter related wholly to wholesale prices.
The testimony took wide sweep and
much OF the Information placed before
the committee had special reference to
the methods OF doing business IN feeding
the Capital City
Prices Set in EIgin, III.
Capt Oyster explained TO the committee
that the wholesale price of butter in
Washington is established through the
quotations set by the board Of trade in
Elgin. H.. which meets every Monday
afternoon. He said this price was the
generally accepted price for butter during
the week in which it was made for the
principal cities Of the United States.
The way II came about according to
Capt Oyster. is that the Elgin Board OF
Trade was established in 1872 by men en-
gagged n making what was then and IS
to-day known as creamery butter. The
grades established at Elgin, as we'll as
the prices, are those which have grown
up in the trade as the standard for COM
mercial purposes. Butter produced 10
cally anywhere is graded according to
Elgin standards and sold generally &C
cording 10 Elgin prices.
No Butter Exchange Here.
Capt Oyster explained that there is
no butter exchange in Washington, and
that with the Elgin prices as a guide
the business becomes one Of barter be-
tween the wholesaler jobber, and re-
taller. He said the profit sought by the
Jobber and commission merchant was l
ekat a pound. and that the price usually
charged TO retail dealers IS 1 cent in
advance OF the Elgin quotations for that
week. He said it did not vary from that
except when concession might be made
by the local jobber when dealing with a
shTeWd customer
Capt Miller cOrroborated Capt Oyster S
statements, and explained 10 the commit
tee that the chief cause for the advance
in the cost OF butter and eggs was due
10 the falling off in the supply from the
average farm. He said that in recent
years the farmers through Virginia, for
example. had been making a good deal
Of money through dairying and in other
ways He said that the farmer, being
human and good business man, had
ceased TO bother himself about the small
sources Of revenue on the farm, and had
ceased making butter and producing
eggs, because he could make more money
IN other ways at less cost IN labor and
feeding.
What Cold Storage Does.
a good part of Capt. Afiller's testimony
had 20 Go with the effect Of cold storage
upon these products. He said that in the
months Of May and June a great many
eggs were shipped to market. Years ago
the local commission merchants had nj
means OF taking care Of the overproduc-
ton. He could remember when not only
barrels and crates, but wagonloads, Of
eggs were taken out 10 the dumps and
thrown away, making a complete los:
10 the commission merchant and The
farmer.
To get rid Of this waste. Capt Miller
said. the storage houses had been built
and the eggs that came in during the IA
months Of supply were now put in stor.
age 20 meet the demands Of the lear
months. Capt Miller declared, witt
some emphasis that without cold stor
age eggs this year would have been s
a dozen IN December and January.
None OF those giving testimony would
admit that the storage made any differ,
ence with the price Of eggs in sprinl
and summer because Of the removal from
supply of so large numbers Of eggs L
the storage warehouses.
Goes Into Meat Prices.
Mr.. Carter's testimony had largely Il
do with the price Of meats. He told tn,
committee that It was only the better
cuts OF meat that had advanced IN price
He explained that owing to the differen
habits OF the people. specially Of fami
lies living in apartment houses, wher,
there are not facilities for cooking fl
the old-fashioned manner, the demand
for fine cuts of meat had greatly ad
vanced, and that the cheap cuts hac
almost disappeared from the markets be
cause even poor people did not wan
them.
As TO the actual advance in prices 3