The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-06-01
HIS DREAM FADES
Cope & Co. Plan for Market
House Failure.
Scar to Consumer" Commission
Man Gives Up Fight.
RESULT OF A BOYCOTT
Started When Fellow Dealers
Declared War on Him.
Uncertain Whether There'll Be
Trusteeship or Bankruptcy.

The "car to consumer plan of fur
nishing the people of Topeka with pro-
visions as devised and put into opera
ton by Frank Cope & Co., commission
merchants, year ago after memoir
able war with other commission houses
and the retailers, has proven failure
Whether Cope & Co. shall be declar-
ed bankrupt and a referee appointed
trustee named to continue the business,
or an extension of time be made. Will
be settled at a meeting of the cred1-
tors at the Cope & Co. market sat
1rday morning Two small suits begun
in the court of Topeka this morning
and a meeting of the large Topeka
creditors last night prec1pltated oe-
claration by Mr.. Cope.
The failure of the only city market
ATTEMPTED in Topeka in recent years
NAV be considered victory Tor the
retail grocers; hardly for the rival COM
mission men who, have, since the war
declared q friendllnesS LOT the lhAi
ket.'
The liabilities of Cope & Co. are COM
narativeIy small in view Of the amount
of business undertaken by the COM
pany and actually accomplished. A. ~,
cording to the statement made TO-DAY py
w. s. McClintock, attorney for the COM
nanv these liabilities are approximately
$40 1000. Half of this is amply secureu'
Assets which if the company Is calloM-
ed time to realize upon by the creol-
tors declares the attorney, will yield
between $1,000 and $4,000. The remain
ing apparent shortage suggests the az
torney, could be satisfactorily met W
an extension of ttme.'
''Mr. Cope has not yet turnl S5i nLe
the exact figures,' said Mr.. McClintock,
ssh,+ they are very nearly as l nave
oiven them. / believe if the creditors
WorId he willing to extend time on pay
ments. there would, be no neeo oL anS
procedure of any kind. Ihey WIN ~
eide that at the meeting SATURDAY
morning" .~4-
Mr.. Cope Explains.
.srrfs situation" said Mr.. Cope at his
MARKET at the corner of Kansas avenue
and Second street, lis caused oy sev
eral conditions, the most lnnporta L an
one being that" He pointed 10 sni
clerk who was taking telephone Or
dor Then he continued, THAT is the
reason why a city market has failed mere
in Toneka The people viii not come I"
the market and select their purchasea.
We have to take their orders IN inns
way Consequently. we. nave 10 Keep "
large number of wagons and Teams
MANY deliveries are not satisfactory
and We are at the. expense OF an oral7
nary grocery while cutting prices lar
below their rate. BY our terms OF CASH
upon delivery, We f1nd a great uedi u
faulf WIFI rSOOOS NilASAA Il 49,
the. charge basis would De IdheH 90
very satisfactory
The reporter stood for hail hour at
the booth of the clerk in charge OF the
city consignments. Girl clerks ran TO
him with a rapid stream OF telephone
orders and he turned them over to mea
TO assemble In the market space, only
a few persons came to buy The ex-
PLANTATION of Mr.. Cope was clearly true.
There was no saving of expense TO war
rant a lower price than obta1naole 81
the groceries, Perhaps this condition
would be different were the market
place further up town-but that would
be out of the question on account OF
track spurs necessary to the handllnS
of carload shipments.
In the admission of Mr.. Cope that his
business was forced into that similar
to any grocery store, there is a direct
application to his motive in starting
the market on March Z, 1910. E. Mont
gomery, secretary of the Retail Dealers
association, practically had dared him
to attempt it and he had taken the
dare. Cope loses.
The Opening came about as a result
of the bitter war between the retailers
and commission men in regard to the
high cost of living. People were clam
oring about the unreasonable prices OF
all provisions in Topeka. The grocerS
said the commission men held them
and had a combine to effect their pur-
pose.
Attorney General Fred S. Jackson
brought an antitrust suit to prove it.
His showing was almost pitiable, the
commission men showing that they
merely bought carload lots and dis
tributed them, in no way affecting the
prices at which each should dispose
Of his share. Cope had already broken
with the remainder of the commission
merchants, but in a published letter on
ENohrf1o 1Q10 dRnl1ra6 the Fofa II
ers were making so per cent profit on
their wares. On the 28th. E. Mont
gomery replied that Cope, if anything,
was mistaken and invited the commits
sion man to try the grocery business
by saying that if the grocers made so
large a profit, Cope already would
have been in that business.
Then 1t developed that the retailers
had boycotted Cope & Co. A reporter,
acting in the capacity of Cope himself,
telephoned the grocers asking for or
ders on fresh shipments. The an
swers were invariably that they want
ed nothing from Cope & Co., and never
would. So Cope established his famous
Car to Consumer" business, putting
a train of huckSter wagons on the
streets. He also opened his market.
In a large advertisement he displayed:
1.-The Cause: The Montgomery letter
reprinted "Our excuse: The grocers
wanted all the cream "Our purpose:
To reduce the cost of living in Topeka
SO your pay envelope will meet re-
quirements."
The reduction of the cost of living
has proven the embarrassm of
Cope & Co. 1t seems to have back
fired. There is no question that the
prices quoted by Cope & Co. were uni
formly and consistently lower than the
prices to be obtained elsewhere. But
the sacrifice was too great.
Another reason for the failure how
ever, lies in the shifting of the egg mar
ket. Several carloads of eggs bought
by this company last year at % cents
were forced to go on the market at