Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-08-07

I'd. housewife said she couldn't get
..stsbles and fruits more cheaply even
y Zines Of a glut in the market such
ths eity experienced so. strikingly the
49, dav She was inclined to think
y. ,staliers. should have lowered prices
w w. retaller was asked today why he
aSnt lower prices, when the cost of
studuce went down.
~ said that such breaks In the mar
NJ were so disorganizing that in the
S.rnsueep of prices his profits were
sFept away. And what was more, he
.sd that these fluctuations. in what he
~ IN pay for produce, which the public
ssars Of only once in while, were, in
less exaggerated way, his daily ex-
rsHence. and that he was. expected by
hs customers to keep his selling price at
standard figure even IL he had to sell
f At loss.
tetaiI men," he said. I'VE have to sell
4 things as cheaply as possible whether
w are getting them cheap or dear. IF
YOU came in here yesterday and got
ouarter-peck of string beans for cents,
and come today and L ask you s cents,
ypqre going to kick. and I've got to let
YOU have It for cents in the long rum"
A TYPICAL DEALER
II was a typical dealer who spoke, John
Wolf who has market on 10th street
near Locust Rich and poor live near
there all kinds of people, and therefore
ihc prices are pretty well standardized
Also, II Is central and an old stand with
experienced management.
sYou speak of this glut Well
\ thought I'd get some of this cheap stuff,
now going to waste. Call it charity I
took Is baskets Of tomatoes, paying only
for the packing and hauling; and for
each basket we must put down cents,
/ remember. figured on some of 1t going
for, say, 10 cents basket. What hap
pened was that we were soon marking it
Take all you please for cents And
when that didn't get 1t out of the way we
gaze II away. So you see where we get
Of IN the glut,
People want the best stuff. and they
olRt want anything else. Very we'll
Iaks a basket of tomatoes. Are all the
lonltoes the same quality? Not bit of
Il they range all the way from tomatoes
worth Is cents to tomatoes worth rs
teniss Take that basket there. Look at
his one and that one; any woman that
knows tomato won't pick out those, will
she? So what 1t will boil down to is that
r viii be lucky to get 20 cents on it, If
+ get that / will be lucky to get two
good half-pecks out of it. The first half
fsck say. picked carefully by the pur-
tAaser, will bring a normal price. So,
naYbe, with the second, And the other
lso half-pecks may be at loss; perhaps
enough Of loss to cut down the 10 cents
Profit TO on the basket
But that only accounts for four half
pecks to the basket" it was suggested.
Isn't basket fve-eighths of a bushel,
ana so isn't 1t two and a half pecks five
haltpecks?"
WORKS DOWN TO TWO PECKS.
1T works out to less than that" he
iaid III the basket was always packed
hll. with something close fitting like
z grain and we could sell at exact meas
s ere, there would be just five half-pecls.
sut when 1t comes to things that lump
hlg, like tomatoes or potatoes and shipped
With not particularly generous measure
end sold always, of course, with gener-
Gus measure, as people naturally want it,
lhea 1t comes to not much over two
Fecks
There are some things that are almost
always sold at loss. Take lettuce.
paid fl50 for this crate of "a heads of
'inee. / don't know what they cost the
Fnolesaier but I've heard that it's some
iahg Ike cent head. At least IL OF
nese 2 came to me in inferior condition.
really frst-class head ought to sell for
cents. But they go for cents, most
q these, and some of them won't sell at
sll You can figure out the steady loss
e have to suffer, But the wholesalers
Hient Is sure and verX large; our loss
'aofmous IN lettuce.
and can we refuse to buy the lettuceT
se We can't say we don't keep it when
H.o9le ask for it,
Hat say you could make 10 to Is cents
ne basket in other produce, would
~ oe a fair proht?'
an but that is not counting the cost
putting the goods into the hands of the
.omels You may say, II you like, that
ASH hard on us TO lose dollar on
.y sheep and lamb we turned over in
week But II was more than a doll
iost There was the wages of the
cutter Good meat cutters get from
~ a week. Employees in general
Nom Sl5 to $40 a week, and people
@ oe waited on in a hurry. They
eant 70 stand about and wait to be
a on Then there is the auto for
An auto looks big TO some pen-
'oks as thought we had money to
nut an auto Is cheaper than
me wagon costs us $500, the
80, the harness $45-that is S5s5
me auto costs $500, but is cheaper
asAp up. Then there Is the wages OF
euf' Slo week, and nearly as much
Hagon driver, These are things we
81. ~ nave 10 deliver goods, and they
~ money and must be taken out OF the
Ahen there Is stationery, book
"a addition 10 all the labor and
~ asilyery, TO say nothing OF out
9sses on poor goods being shipped
up with the good. ana which
Just lately there Is a new way
eh my profits are cut say / pay
Tor a basket Of potatoes; say ]
ior cents a quarter peck. say
cents peck for selected potatoes.
49, IKE a l5-cent profit; but it's
4t basket Is sold la from 10 10
saies-not Ia one lump. as / get
means the cost OF labor IN max
sales. Perhaps II viii come 10
cents apparent profit on each
4t the baskets they cost 5 cents
nave % put that down. 10 have
Nnen I return them.
BOSS IN THE RETURN.
esn take them back right away.
aae ! should HaA % j have 20
asf baskets before bring them