New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-11-30
Spectators, Because
of Campaign, Face
$5O0,000 Loss
FIRST DECLINE
IN TURKEYS
Foreign Agents Eager to
Buy Eggs Forced Down
by Food Boycott

up the things for which she is thank
full to-day it is. more than likely that
she will first mention the fact that, by
her own efforts, she has compelled the
reduction in the market price of nearly
every article that entered into to-day's
dinner, that she has forced an increase
in the city's supply of visible food and
that prospects of even lower prices
are before her.
She may not be so thankful for this
being of 4 forgiving nature-but she
actually caused food spectators losses
yesterday estimated at anything from
100000 to s50O,0O0. All evidence last
night pointed to still further losses
for the New York spectators, as food
was being hurried from all sorts OF
boarding places to save its owners
from even more serious results Of the
uprising of consumers.
First signs of the success of the cru
sade against high prices came early in
the day, when the turkey market sud
denly dropped from 4 to cents
pound on the wholesale quotations.
Something approaching a panic among
the commission merchants ensued and
local representatives OF shippers kept
the wires hot with messages advising
them to take what they could get and
save themselves from big losses.
Down TO 80 Cents a Pound
By noon butchers were buying the
best grade of turkeys for 80 cents
pound and selling them for 35 cents
and some as low as 2-exactly 5 cents
less than prices asked Tuesday and 10
cents less than those of week ago.
But even at these prices the public
was indifferent--so eXasperatingly so
that many of the big shippers were
compelled to place their stock in cold
storage, hoping that Christmas might
see more favorable conditions.
Since cold storage, shrinkage and
double handling is expensive, it was
said by market experts that their losses
on turkeys already were tremendous
and that they would be even greater
II the consumer continued to hold the
whip hand by refusing to pay high
prices.
L. P. Brown, director Of the Bureau
Of Food and Drugs of the Department
of Health, confirmed positively through
his Investigators that thousands OF
turkeys were being placed in cold stor-
age by the wholesalers.
at seems that the big dealer has
for once been caught between the
farmer and the consumer aid has only
the chance of losing money any way
he turns" Mr.. Brown said last night.
"The dealer estimated that the turkey
supply would be unusually short this
Thanksgiving, so he offered high prices
to turkey raiscrs But, instead, the
supply is normal. The high prices de-
manded make the housewife refuse to
buy. So, instead of selling his turkeys
at a reasonable profit. it appears that
the dealer is hurrying them to cold
storage, where they will probably rest
in obscurity until prices rise again.
1916 Supply All Fresh
$50 far as we have been able to learn
there was not a single cold storage
turkey in the city day before yesterday.
This years supply is all fresh, the stor-
age supply once intended for Thanks
giving having been sold out several
months ago. The supply OF chickens,
ducks and geese that came into the
city FER Thanksgiving was even above
normal this year"
With the domestic wholesale trade
demoralzed by the egg boycott, both
the Wholesale and retail prices dropped
sharply yesterday, and agents for Brit
ish and French egg merchants stepped
forward, with their fingers on the pulse
of the market
By the wholesale, eggs sold off from
1 TO 2i1 cents; the retail decline was
from 3 to 4 cents. Should the car lot
quotations go two cents lower, one
foreign buyer said he would take all
the eggs a Greenwich Street firm can
deliver on shipboard.
Mrs. Julian Heath, president of the
National Housewives League, whicn
organized the boycott, admitted the
peril Of raid by exporters on the
scant surplus of eggs, which would
create a real famine before spring.
Realizes the Danger
81 realize the danger" said Mrs.
Heath, land confess that it makes me
bit anxious. These lower prices must
be tempting TO London buyers, who are
selling eggs for 81 dozen. But the
Federal government surely would not
permit foreign agents TO thus take ad-
vantage Of our efforts to lower the cost
Of living for the American consumer.
don't know just how it can be done.
] am opposed to an embargo
Tomorrow Mrs Heath and her col
leagues are going after high priced
butter. Their plan is 10 obtain sus-
pension of the state tax on the re-
taller OF oleomargerine and promste