Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1917-12-14
and on the verge of a nervous breakdown,

and on the verge of nervous breakdown.
Such dramatic instances are not rare They
occur in epidemics. The rare cooperative club is
which is unfriendly business basis,
with everybody doing paying for and getting his
share Yet cooperative buying, when it is cooper
ative, far is the consumers best solution for
II. c. L.
Buying in bulk is the greatest strategy the con-
suner can employ either in club or in
diviGua providing he does commit the crime
of boarding. Some families that large quanti-
ties OF cereals are certainly justified in buying
them wholesale from the mail order houses fac
tories, if by doing they money. The
quantities should not be large, however, that
they will keep the family in cereals for the next
three years
Not long ago. the janftor of an apartment house
reported to the United States food commission the
fact that two tenants in the house had four barrels
of sugar stored in the basement lockers. At this
time thousands of people in the city were uslng
maple syrup instead of sugar, doing without sugar
and standing in long, weary, irritable lines for
sugar while these two apartment-house jewellers
comfortable in the knowledge that they
supplied for two years. These people had indeed
saved money-that is they would have if the food
commission had not promptly confiscated the sugar
for 1t cost them only cents pound when the
retail price 10. But their saving not
legitimate. They were saving at other peoples ex-
pense
On the other hand, take the case of a couple.
with four children who naturally require large sup
plies of food They six boxes of cereal q week,
five pounds of Dutter several dozen eggs and
large quantity of flour, well canned goods.
The mother of this family orders her supplies over
the telephone from the nearest retailer She
ders for day at a time, and she does not go
the grocery slips. Her food bills
nous, until domestic science teacher
made her acquaintance not long ago and insisted
proving to her that she could cut the bills in
half by ordering her supplies in bulk instead of
little bit at time.
After learning that large reductions posi-
BILE through buying in large quantities direct from
the manufacturer or wholesaler or farmer the con-
began to inquire into the apparently remark
able profits of the retailer He expected to find
the retailer making something of course, but he
was somewhat surprised to find that some COM
modities it was from 20 to 100 per cent. When
charged with this crime however, the retailer did
not appear at all abashed. He simply called the
consumers attention to his expenses for telephone
service his Overburdened delivery system, and his
books of charge accounts.
All of these things are ancient history to the
consumer now. He has ha dthem thrown at him
every time he looked the slightest bit startled at
the price of anything. For while many consum.
ers tried to aid in national reduction of
prices by carrying home their goods themselves but
they soon realized that until everybody did this
they were only contributing somewhat unnecessary.
ly to the aid of the retailer. In other words, the
retailers made reductions for this voluntary
service. The who ordered a nutmeg and
a box of pepper sent around to her apartment
charged the same price as the man who carried
his wifes nutmeg and pepper home with him.
Under the present system the retail grocery
charges for its service and it is your fault
.>if7 you don't take advantage of it. In Pennsyl
yania quite recently, however, they have instituted
few reforms that appear to solve the delivery
problem. certain set of chain stores started it.
They lowered the prices of their goods and then
instituted charge of 10 cents for each delivery.
Furthermore, they announced that all soliciting by
telephone would be discontinued, and that charge
of 2 per cent would be made for credit.
This done in the nature of an ex-
pertinent than anything else. The stores not
sure that they would be able to hold out against
the competition of obliging retailers. But a
consumer, however unreasonable, usually recognizes
justice, and so it happened that the stores not
only kept the custom they had but well
supplied with customers. Thereby, the fall
lacy that people will not carry their market
baskets exploded. Hundreds Of women are
performing their delivery service in
Pennsylvania because for the nrst il
made profitable for them. Moreover, many womel.
are going to market instead of using a telephone,
and many more paying cash.
Thus the consumer, by exhaustive mental cal
culation and strategic maneuver, has contrived to
hold to his old eating habits, with occasional
patriotic sacrifices Dieting and scientific eating
all very well, but the of the high
of living problem is marketing.