Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-04-05
BREAKING OF LENTEN
FAST SHOWS CTTY'S
IMMENSE APPETITE
Food Dealers Estimate $40
100000 as Price Paid for
Easter Feast, of Which
100000 Was Expended
for 25,O00,O00 Eggs.

Philadelphia broke its Lenten fast with
a vengeance 1t is doubtful II over before
IN its whole life this city got away with
en- much food as at this Eastertide.
Tho 30 secular days between Ash
wednesday and yesterday may have been
,s,p ones for the majority, but today
,hev are forgotten. Gone Is tho period
~ fast and abstinence until next year.
with an appetite that would have done
credit TO an anaconda, such quantities Of
eggs, poultry. spring lamb, meats and
now green vegetables were consumed as
almost to defy calculation.
virtually S2,cOOOOo changed hands in
pbiladelphia's determination to celebrate
royally the feast day. According to the
wholesale food magnates, tons upon tons
Of foodstuffs, amounting to that value,
came into tho city for the Easter con-
sumptIon, and by this morning 1t was all
disposed OF,
six hundred thousand dollars Is the es-
innate put on the egg business alone OF
the last three days, with S50O.OOO following
closely as the approximate figure for the
poultry sold.
These are the figures quoted by lead
ing wholesale dealer in eggs, chickens
and game. Basing his estimates on fig
ures taken from his own sales, he de-
clared that no. fewer than 2jOOO,OOO eggs
were sold from Friday to Saturday night.
HENS MAKE A RECORD.
"The hens seem TO have made a special
effort" he said, "just to provide Phlla-
delphia with the fruit and eggs, as a
matter of fact, have never been cheaper.
Poultry, on the other hand, has been
a little higher than usual, due to the
fact that the Jewish Passover preceded
Easter. Whenever that happens, Casters
supply Of chickens and other fowls Is al
ways depleted, and therefore the price is
somewhat inflated"
Onhand 25,0OO 900 eggs seem almost an
InconCeivnble amount for even n city
of more than a million and q half popula-
tion to consume in few days, but when
the dyed eggs and the small boys "picR-
les are taken into consideration, to say
nothing of the quota required for the
large quarts of cggnog, without which
no Philadelphia Easter seems complete, it
is not difficult to comprehend how they
were disposed Of,
VAST MEAT CONSUMPTION.
A representative of one of the largest
meat firms in the world valued the Easter
meat consumption at S270,000. With
paper and pencil he calculated that 1,S00,-
900 pounds of beef We're sold in Phlladel-
phia and its environs in the last three
days. the value of which was S27O, 900;
100000 pounds of smoked meats, at
$685. 900; 250,0O pounds of fresh pork, at
S37, 900; 100000 pounds OF lamb and NUT
ton. at 100000.
Spring lamb" said he. "has become
one Of the most popular Easter meats,
but 1t Is still a delicacy, and the majority
of people are constrained to buy what
is cheapest, that being beef and the
smoked meats. However, the lamb figures
are a good estimate of a return of a
prosperous era"
E. X. Woodoth n member of the firm
of Woodoth & Co.. wholesale produce
dealers, figured out that this city aud It's
suburbs got rid of $lOGS25 for vegetables
and fruits.
"Tons upon tons of Southern stuff have
been expressed here for Easter" said he,
ito augment the local products. Peas,
beans and strawberries all the way from
Florida and asparagus from as far dis
tant as California.
Lettuce and celery probably bring in
the biggest business at this season, and
prices this year are no higher than pre-
vouslY."
In view OF the above quotations of the
gargantuan quantities consumed yester-
day, prominent druggist was asked IL
the sale of pepsin and digestive tablets
had been correspQndingly great. But he
only smiled with the lazy grin of a we'll
fed man and replied that he didn't have
the animation to figure 1t out.