The sun., 1910-01-29
FISH UP AS MBkF ~RHGEDES
RETAIL BEEF PRICES SfILL
DROPPING.

uo,,r and swift Folks But chers I'm
Expensive Districts Not Reducing.
Retail meat prices continued to slump
,r many parts Of the city yesterday, but
che rrce Of fish is soaring. Retail dealers
,hose customers live in high class apart
D,ent houses and in private dwellings,
sse,r to he holding up the prices, while
,,he butchers in the tenement districts
ssd in the big markets are giving the Gus
,rrners the bensfit Of the Wholesale reduo-
tons
n, In Washington Market yesterday pork
Inns we're selling at 10 cents a pound.
.dror Of two cents from the recent high
r6oes Pork chops, which have been
sAGnc At 20 cents a pound, are down to
n pcents Reductions are apparent in all
otAer pork productS s,..A.
'portsrho,se, steak, WAS sbeing sold by
s.rnc Washineto Market butchers yes
,srdav At 20 cents'a' pound Kweek ago
n wae a5 or 20 cents a pound. Sirloin steak
vas down at some booths 10 Is cents q
Mound. as cpSnpared With .72.sreoenth.
Prime ribs OF beef also have dropped
from - cents 20 ~ cents. s ia'- - -i
There has been no change in the price
of veal. but leg OF lamb 10 selling from i8
"a 20 cents. a cut Of two cents a pound.
and the loin for 20 cents. representing a
reduction Of about, the same amount.
4 Poultry prices remain unchanged. but
the egg market is becoming easier.
The inoresse in the price OF hsh has
been marked. 1t is due. so dealers say. to
the increased demand and to a shortage
in the supply.
"The fishermen" said one dealer, ARE
bringing in now only enough TO supply
She normal market and the disposition OF
many people to turn from the meat
counters to the fish stands Is being re-
nected in the prices
Salmon steaks were quoted yesterday
al high as IS cents a pound. Goldfish has
jumped from IL to 10 cents a pound,
hAlibut from II and rs cents to 20 and ~
cents, blueieh from II and IL cents to
lS and 20 and smelts from Is TO - cents.
1t was reported yesterday that the
Western meat packers had decided to
J cut their shipments of cattle and beef
TO this city in half. owing to the falling
OF in retail sale. but this was emphatically
denied by both the Armour and Swift
people.
newspaper talk" said a representative
of Armour a Co. Our business this
week is 10 per cent. in excess of what Il
was last week and Is per cent. in excess
Of what it was in the corresponding, week
last year. We have not ourtailed our
shipments and we do not expect to-"
I'VE are doing as big business as ever
u New York city said the Swift people.
bnd we do not expect to cut down on our
supply 49,
day that .ths business had fallen of 20
or IS per cent. in the course OF the week
and that naturally they were not buyin 9
as much as sormslly.. In view OF these
statements tits hard 60 understand the
assertions OF the wholesalers.
One big dealer was quoted yesterday
as having said: Il know that orders
have gone out TO cut the shipments of
cattle to this cfty next week. The opera
tors are talking big. but they are being
Some OF the packers continue to point
accusing fingers at the retailers when
= Questioned in regard to the high prices.
One independent packer in this city took
from the time Il was bought by the packer
until it's carcass passed into the retailers 8
hands, He ended with this question; .
f--Now who Is making the big profit. the
packer or the retail dealer1- -.
Beeves such aa the big packers of New
York and Chicago are buying cost them
about TX cents a pound on the hoof.
The packer sells this beef to the whole
saler, jobber or retailer at an Increase
Of about 10 par cent. over the original
price, Dut MS pfOutS, IL ID d>stTttSls IDust
come out OF the by-products of what he
retains.
The butcher pays the packer about Q
cents for the dressed beef. OF tho original
steer Weighing tsay. I. 200 pounds the re-
taller gets 500 pounds Of marketable
meat. The remaining 400 pounds are
held by the packer" and converted into
by-products. The butcher. so some OF
the wholesalers contend. will get on the
average 70 cents for his 800 pounds OF
- -. NTnfa..
The beef traced by the packer was one
Of lot bought on the hoof at ~ cents
pound. The steer weighed /, ,S32 pounds
in Chicago. costing the packer $95.57. To
allow for cost OF transporting to this
city and shrinkage its weight was COM
this beef weighed 800 pounds and was
bought by the retailer at cents a pound
or at cost OF S72. The packer. il is con-
tended, must make up the difference be-
from the by-products. The packer said
he could safely figure on a profit of Is
per cent. from each beef.
The retailer, on the other hand gets,
according TO the packers figures, 73s
bounds Of really salable meat out OF the
30 pounds. The remaining 81 also may
he sold, but the retailer must rely for
beef .- :
It was estimated that this 500 pounds
4 averaged the butcher 20 cents a pound
at the recent high prices. or sfes on an
Investment OF H2. Some butchers OBJ
lected 70 these figures. They said there
was lot of waste to be- figured. They
added, however, that it was necessary
for the butcher to make big profits: that
ne is under a big expense and that when
he balances his books he is doing well II
ne is making a decent living out Of the
business
.s.You can see just how much the retail
6tchers are making" said one dealer
by glancing at some OF the statements
made in Cleveland recently. The presi-
Ident Of the retailers association in that
4 city declared that there wasn't a retail
hutcher in-the city worth more than $40 OO(
and some of them had been in the business
Tor twenty and twenty-five years