The Washington herald., 1910-02-04

Secretary Grant announced yesterday at
the opening of the meeting OF the spe-
cIal committee OF the Chamber OF Com
merce charged with the investigation
into the increased cost of living In
Washington, that the retail dealers VINO
had been invited to appear before the
body had respectfully declined to do so.
Secretary Grant said the merchants eX-
pressed themselves as in full sympathy
with the objects Of the committee, but
would decline to be questioned IN any
way relative 20 their business.
No cause was assigned for this action
on the part of retail dealers. but tt was
assumed by the committee that the men
in question declined to appear because OF
the dread Of possible publicity OF what
they might say.
w. c. Carter Continues.
At the meeting yesterday the commit
tee proceeded with the examination OF
William C Carter with reference 20 the
Wholesale prices OF meat eggs, and but
ter. Mr.. Carter presented much interest
ing data, and seemed willing to aid the
committee as much as possible In arriv-
ing at the true condition OF affairs rela-
tive to obtaining and distributing food
products in Washington.
BY far the most interesting part OF
Mr.. Carter's testimony yesterday related
10 the changed conditions OF supplying
meats 10 the city. He showed that the
bulk Of the beef now consumed in Wash
ington is bought in New York He told
the committee that a large slaughtering
business is carried on there now in the
interest of the Jewish population Of that
city. The influx of orthodox Jews to
New York has been so great in the last
five years as TO compel new methods of
supplying the population with meat
VIII Not Eat Western Meats.
Hebrews, 1t appears, will not touch
meats slaughtered at Western packing
houses and transported to New York in
refrigerator cars. The meat must be
slaughtered by the 6osure method. dis
tributed. and eaten within a specified
number of hours after the animals are
killed. Moreover, owing TO religious
scruples and for economic reasons, the
Hebrews consume only those parts Of tho
I beef generally designated as the fore
quarters. That leaves the binds and ribs
for consumption elsewhere,
So great has become the business OF
Kosure slaughtering in New York and
| the leaving OF the better parts Of the
! carcasses for other purposes than feed
/ ing the Jewish population that large
I supplies Of hind quarter and rib meats
/ are offered for sale In New York at rates
cheaper than they can be bought in Chi
| cago and az other Western points
Ninety Per Cent Comes from There.
/ It IS a fact, according TO Mr.. Carter,
/ that about % per cent OF the beef con-
sumed IN Washington is brought from
/ New York, at a cost Of one and half
cents a pound freight. and distributed
/ here. Mr.. Carter said that the local
meat trade other than this would not
amount TO 10 per cent Of the whole He
| told the committee that the choicest cuts
| OF loin, round, ribs and other parts of
! the beef used so extensively in Washing
ton are derived from these dismembered
carcasses brought here from New York.
/ He said Washington was better fed and
/ at a little cheaper prices in this way than
/ If the meats came from the West ex-
/ clusively, as they did ten years ago, In
| the heyday OF the operations of the beef
| trust.
| Mr.. Carter explained to the committee
! that there is now no central control over
the meat market. no manipulation of the
supplies in the interests Of higher prices.
/ He asserted with emphasis that the meat
trade is wide open and subject TO the
/ free operation of the laws Of supply and
/ demand, and that it had been so ever
| since the passage OF the antitrust law
and the railroad rate bill
| Describes Egg Business.
| With reference TO the handling Of the
| egg supplies, Mr.. Carter described at
length the manner Of conducting the bust
! ness as pursued by his firm. Yesterday,
| for example, his company paid 2619 cents
/ for eggs at Winchester and Purcellville,
| Va, where they maintain stations for as
! sembling eggs. These eggs are brought
/ to Washington and sold to the retailer
at % to 30 cents dozen He thought
that the majority of his customers sold
/ them to the consumer at about 80 cents.
/ Mr.. Carter said the two stations men
toned were maintained by his firm the
year through. The eggs are brought to
/ the stations by men who collect them
from the famers in the vicinity Of those
cities. The haulers. as they are called,
are paid TX cents a dozen, the freight
on the eggs to Washington is q of a
cent a dozen, the cases cost % of a
cent, and Mr. Carter said that his firm,
after standing all losses by way Of bad
! eggs. breakage. &C, tries TO make per
cent for carrying on the business.
Consumer Is IncOnsiderate.
Speaking of the additional cost of car
ryihg on the produce business now as
compared with former years, Mr.. Carter
| said he thought the consumers as a
/ class had become fastidious and incon-
siderate to a degree that came near
answering the question Of the higher
/ price for foods. He said the average
| housekeeper no longer goes to market.
She has the telephone. She orders a
steak for breakfast. lamb chops for
luncheon, and roast of beef for dinner.
and instead Of looking as far ahead as
one days supplies she orders the cuts
one at a time and the dealer is obliged
tc make about four trips a day to de-
! liver the stuff required 10 feed one
| family.
Mr.. Carter said he had seen a grocer s
clerk go to a house ten squares from
the store to receive an order for a loaf
Of bread and cake of yeast, and both
had to be delivered He said there was
not enough profit in such operations to
begin TO pay the cost of delivery, unless
very high prices are maintained. He