Evening star., 1917-12-23

backed up and was unloaded. But no
word was given out as to what was
goin' to be sprung, Not until Friday
inornin'. Then the commuters on the
SOB was hit bang in the eye by a
announein that the w. E. L. Supply
Company was open for business.
Course it was kind of crude COM
pared to Beicher's. No fancy counters
or showcases or window displays or
cracker boxes. And the stock was linn
tied to staples that could be handled
easy. But the price bulletins posted up
outside was what made some of them
gents who'd been doin' the family
marke tin stop and stare. A few of 'em
turned half way to the station and
dashed back to leave their orders.
Coin into town they spread the news
through the train. The story of that
latest bag Of U-boats, which the morn
in papers all carried screamers about.
was almost thrown into the discards.
II l hadn't been due for 10 O'Clock
committee meetin at the Corrugated,
I'd have stayed out and watched the
openin'. Havin' told Old Hickory about
il. though, / was on hand next mornin'
with whole days furlough.
'It ought to be our big day" says Wee.
1t was. For one thing, everybody was
stockin' up for over Sunday, and with
the backin' of the league the supply
company could count on about fifty
good customers as a starter. Most OF
the ladies came themselves, rollin' up
in limousines or tourin' cars and cartin'
home their own stuff. Also the cottage
people, who'd got wind of the big mark
down bargains, begun to come in
punches, every woman with basket
But they didn't swamp Wee. Shed al
ready added to her force of young lady
clerks squad of hand-picked Boy
Scouts, and it was my job to manage
the youngsters.
I'd worked out the system the night
before, Each one had typed price list
III his pocket. and besides that I'd put
EN- through an hours drill on weights
and measures before the show started
! don't know when it was Belcher be-
gun to get wise and start his counter
attack; but the first time / had 4 chance
to slip out and take squint his way
saw this whackin' big sign in front of
his place: Potatoes. 40 cents per peck"
Which l promptly reports to Wee.
Very we'll" says she; "well make
ours 35.''
Inside of ten minutes we had a bull
letin out twice as big as his.
Now l guess he'll be good" says I.
But he had a scrap or two left in him,
it seems. Pretty soon he cuts the price
to 30.
Wen make it 25." says Wee.
And by II o'clock Belcher has coun-
Why" gasps Wee, that's far less
than they cost at wholesale But we
can't let him beat us. Make ours %,
too
Excuse me. ma'am." puts in one of
the scouts sslutin', but we've run out
of potatoes"
"oh. boy says l. Where do we go
from here?''
Wee hesitates only long enough to
draw a deep breath.
"Torchy." SAYS she. Il have it, Form
your boys into basket brigade and
buy out Belcher below the market
Talk about your frenzied finance!
Wasn't that putin it over on him, For
two hours. there. we went long on Bel
cherS potatoes at 20, until his supply
ran out. too. Then he switched to sugar
and butter. Quotations went off as fast
as when the bottom drops out of a bull
market. All we had to do TO hammer
down the prices of anything in the food
line. whether we had it or not was To
stick out a cut-rate sgn-BeIcher was
sure to go it one better: and when Wee
got II far enough below cost. she start
ed her buyin' corps. workin' in Gus
toners, clerks and anybody that was
handy. And by night if every family
within five miles hadn't stocked up on
bargain provisions it was their. own
fault: for II they didn't have cash of
their own Wee was right there with
the long-distance credit.
"iI bet you've got old Belcher
frothin' through his ears" says l.
Il hope So. says Wee
The followin Monday though he
comes back 1T her with his big push
He had the whole front of his store
p'astered with beIow-cost bulletins
'Pooh," says Wee. II can have signs
like that painted. too.
And she did. 1t didn't bother her
bit if her stock had run out She kept
up on the cut-rate game and when peo-
pie asked for things she didn't have
she just sent 'em to Belcher's
Maybe you saw what some of the
papers printed Course. they joshed
the ladies more or less. but also they
played up peppery interview with
Beicher. which got him in bad with
everybody. Wee wasn't so pleased at
the publicity stuff, but she didn't soueai
What was worryin' me some was how
soon the grand smash was coniin.'
knew that the campaign fund had been
whitfield into considerable. and now
that prices had been slashed there was
no chance for profits.
1t was botherin' Wee some, too, for
she'd promised not to assess the league
members again unless she could show
'em where they were comm out. BY
the middle of the week things looked
squally. Belcher had given out word
that he meant to bust up this fool wom-
ans opposition. ii it took his last cent.
Then here the other night. | comes
some to- find Wee wearin satisfied