Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1911-01-16
Butter, Eggs and Poultry
May be Cheaper as
Result.
TRUST IS IN TROUBLE
Many Big Concerns Forced to
Close Out Their Stocks
at a Loss.

Chicago, Jan. 16.-Millions of pounds
OF cold storage butter, eggs, cheese
and poultry, some of it as much as five
years old, according to estimates of
dealers, are about TO be thrown on
price they will bring as the result of
collapse within the last few days OF
the food trust which by steady ag
gressions has piled prices OF privisions
up TO their present figures.
Chicago. as the center OF the
cold storage industry Of the country, is
TO be the vortex of the wholesale un-
loading
ACCUSED RETAILERS.
Chicago wholesalers admit that the
bottom has fallen out of prices for
dairy products and poultry and that
big slump is due as soon as the con-
tents of the cold Storage warehouses
can be put on the market. They claim
that an attempt is being made by re-
tailers to keep prices up to an abnor-
NAL level by buying small stocks AT
lo< figures and selling them to the
public at the old high levels.
Prices for dairy products, it is said,
will drop to a reasonable figure. Chick
ems, turkeys, geese and domestic fowls
of all sorts are expected to become
cheap enough for the poor mans ia
BILE.
NATURAL CAUSES.
The collapse has been due to natur-
al causes. Curiousiy enough it was the
IL -, 10
first spread the tidings that the bot
tom had dropped out of the market
They did that Saturday at a meeting
of number of leading wholesale deal
ers in New York. In order TO get rid
of their cold storage products quickly
and raise cash, when cash is needed,
they want the general public to know
the condition of things SO that it will
bring pressure to bear upon the retail
ers to force them TO bring down their
prices Immediately.
WOULD DEFEAT OBJECT.
If the public were kept in ignorance
of how matters stood the retailers
would be able TO main tain artificial
prices by restricting supplies, and in
| the meantime the storage people would
be unable to get rid of their stocks.
CANNOT BE ESTIMATED.
No public warehouse report is ever
made here and the exact amount of
produce in the hands of Chicago firms
cannot be estimated. Thirty-two ware
houses are known to have 100000
pounds of butter. eggs and poultry.
, Men familiar with the market condi-
tions yesterday said ii would be i'm
possible to say whether that figure rep
resented nearly the total. or whether
1t was only a small percentage of the
entire amount.
The increased sale of oleomargarine
is given as an added cause for the sit
uation the commission men now find
themselves facing. Thousands of con- |
sumers, unable TO pay the price at
which butter has been held. have be- I.
come users of oleomargarine.
BUTTER PRICES DOWN.
Butter is six cents q pound lower. +
wholesale, than it was a year ago and .
is selling at the lowest figures in FIVE
years. An indication of the decline in
the last 10 days is shown in the fol
lowing quotations: +
Jan. Eggs, fresh SIC: prime, SIC;
firsts, SOC
Jan. 15-Eggs. fresh $50; prime. 29c;
firsts, 2Sc
Jan. Butter. extra creamery 29o;
firsts, 251ac; dairy. 25c.
Jan. 15-Butter, extra creamery &c;
firsts. 22c: dairy, csc.
The wholesale price on smoked
meats. beef and pork has been slightly
reduced. The big corn crop of 1910
is given as the cause.
EFFECT ON MEAT SMALL.
Kansas City, Mo, Jan. I6.--here
has been no decrease IN the price of
meats or provisions. so far as know,
and the price OF meat promises 10 in
crease a leading packer said last
night when asked regarding the Te-
ported change IN food prices. He also
said that none OF the packing compan-
les had any surplus supply Of live
stock and the prices, which were
strong last week, would probably be