The Washington herald., 1912-12-18
By FRANCES sHAFFER.

While all of US are waiting Tor thoSe
cheap Western eggs to reach town, club
house doors are opening and women are
coming out to take a practical hand in
the work of sending prices down.
Philadelphia women have their house
keepers league. and with eggs retailing
at ruinious prices in the Quaker City, as
elsewhere, they are not content to sit
by and wait.
First, they secured the cooperation OF
the city administration. which placed at
the disposal of the fair egg vendors the
plaza In front of the city hall, and stands
In two market houses owned by the mu-
nicipality. They also had stations in
settlement houses, stores and in the
homes of members of the league.
They secured options on over twenty
carloads of eggs which they declared
were being held for still higher prices,
and when all was in readiness these
women from the clubs and the homes
placed before the public great mounds
of eggs at the uniform rate of "a cents
a dozen. The eggs are carefully selected
and the price is away under the rates
that housewives have been obliged to
pay Their sales for the first day are
reported anywhere from 10000 to 10000
dozen. and when closing time came there
was not an egg in sight.
Reserve Supplies.
The women say they are determined to
break the corner in storage eggs They
have reserve supplies in storage houses
in the city, and have other sources to
draw upon in case transportation faCili-
ties fail. When the supplies in the forty
stands began to run low the first day,
and in some instances to fail entirely.
disappointed housewives were assured
that there would be enough for all when
business was resumed in the morning.
1t was i'll the settlement house sec
tons where the prices charged there
have been practically prOhibitive. But
women from all over the city fiocked TO
the league stands and carried away their
precious purchases at a rate away below
anything they had known in many
long day.
Some of the storage men and the
regular dealers, while not belittling the
efforts of the impromptu merchants, de-
clare that the woman cannot long MAIN
tain the sales, and that they must be
operating at a decided loss. But the
women say, not SO. and. furthermore,
they declare that this crusade is but the
beginning OF other sales, when butter,
meat and other foOdstuffs will be forced
to respond to the call for lowered prices.
Not Looking for Proths.
AS for them. they are not looking for
profits
Sand as for housewives all over the
land. they wish them well.
Because the problem of how TO stretch
hn
prices Is making women Eray-headed
before their time. To any one who has
not been through the household mill and
has not faithfully tried to keep family
expenses down. it is a sorry revelation
to take a few dollars to a butcher shop
and learn how little they will buy.
Folks tell US to drop meat from the
menu. that We will be the better for
the change. that family pOcketbooks will
straightway expand. and that it Will be
wholesome all around
But-what shall the substitute be?
Housewives say not eggs, for the price
of strictly fresh eggs almost makes
them gasp. Vegetables? Why, even the
traditional bean, the faithful standby
of the economical buyer, has jumped
quite beyond itself. Green vegetables
are at a premium, and the canned va
rieties, when they are good at all, are
up and up in price. 1t makes no differ
ence where they turn, so the house
wives assert-the prices are one long
nightmare.
Has Serious Meaning.
1t is all very well when resources grow
as prices ascend, because then the most
that happens is a little CONSERVATION or
a good-natured gasp. But in homes
where the family pOcketbook is pretty
fiat all the while, the problem Of three
meals a day. meals that shall be nutri-