New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-11-13
EGG WHOLESALERS LAY
PRICE BLAME ON HEN
Mercantile Exchange, Replying
to Mrs. Heath, Urges Use OF
Cold Storage Supply.
3O-CENT CRUSADE LASTS
Hint of Boycott by Housewives
May Drive Middlemen and
Retailers to Reduce Rates
Before War Is Ended.

| The New Yrk Mercantile Exchange. the
most important organization of wholesale
| dealers i'm eggs in the city, gave out the
| following statement last night In refer
ence to the Housewives Leagues cam
| paign to reduce the cost of eggs:
! Mrs. Heath is certainly wrong In
/ assribing the present prices of fresh eggs
| to artificial causes or trade combinations
This is the season of the year when fowls
naturally lay the least and when produc-
ton of new eggs is so very limited that
prices are forced up by the disparity OF
supply and demand.
/ Mrs. Heath's agitation and newspaper
| interviews have had no deterrent effect.
Fresh eggs have daily grown higher III
our wholesale market because OF the nat
ural scarcity. augmented by the unprece-
dented storm conditions prevailing
throughout the country.
But we have liberal supplies of storage
eggs to draw upon. and Mrs. Heath U.s.
so far correct in recommending them u
the public. Cold storage performs great
service to the people in conserving eggs
and carrying them from the season Oh
! plenty to the season Of scarcity, ana cola
storage eggs are now available at prices
fully 10 cents dozen below the selling
values of new laid stock.
I'VE earnestly advise the public to buy
and consume the cold storage eggs at this
season Of the year. They are as whole
some and nutritious as the fresh eggs ana
show very little taste from carrying be
cause of the present highly perfected de-
Il s.V,.t
The natural effect, too. of a shifting
of consumptive demand from the very
meagre supply of fresh eggs to the more
plentiful supply of cold storage eggs
/ would tend 10 ease the abnormal strain
/ upon the former and to lower the prices
/ now prevailing for new laid eggs which
: are the highest known to our trade In
many years.
PUBLICITY COMMITTEE of the y. y
I MERCANTILE EXCHANGE.-George
T. Cutler. +. G. Barger. w. II. Mapes'
] Elmer Underhil, II. T. Nichols
! When Mrs. Julian Heath, leader of the
! '3O-cent egg" campaign. was told OF the
dealers statement she said:
"Of course, there is a scarcity OF fresh
eggs. | never said there wasn't. Every
/ body knows that there can't be so many
/ eggs at this time of year. All ! sad
/ about fresh eggs was that IL was possible
/ TO get them at Washington Market Tor ~
[ cents Monday. and that that proved mat
/ the prices OF 20 and so cents uptown were
unnecessary. II anybody wants to pay
20 cents she can.
"Our fight is concerned solely with
storage eggs. They are In the warehouses
LOW, and the storms out West ought not
! TO make any difference I'm the price They
cost the dealer from is 10 y cents IN
! April. when he laid them down in storage
We claim he can afford to sell them at %
or % cents. so that the retailer can sell
! them for 90 to 81 cents.
That is our fight. and we see no rea-
| son TO change our stand. The statement
Of the Mercantile Exchange does not dis
concert us in the least. because nothing
/ in it is At variance with what We have
! claimed from the beginning. They adj
wise us To eat storage eggs. That's what
we want TO do-only we want TO buy them
| for 80 cents"
! Several retail dealers assured Mrs.
| Heath yesterday that they were on her
| side The high prices Of storage eggs
| the ysaid. were inspired by the whole
! salcrs, and the retailer must sell at
! high price or else lose money. Many
women who are not members OF the
| league have begged to be allowed to join
| IN the crusade. and from all sides there is
| a demand for a boycott, but this Mrs.
Heath will not declare-nOt yet