The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1917-01-18
NEW YORK PRAISES
OREGON APPLES

tBy Isaac Russell in the New York
Evening Mail.)
If you are consumer of food in New
York city and have read the papers
lately and have to watch your food bill,
YOU are probably pretty mad by this
time about the situation and are likely
to have it in for the middleman. Well.
here's a set of facts that should change
your mind little bit. They concern
folks that were to show up the middle
man. They got me to help them and
started out to do just that.
Instead we showed up his Royal Ex-
ceIlency the Great American Farmer in
grand style. We showed him up in this
case as fakir, a CRATER. and manip-
ulator Of the lowest order who would
make Wall street bucket shop broker
blush for shame.
If you want to know what makes the
cost of living soar up higher and higher
just get a good look at some of the
tricks the farmer plays on those who
have to buy his goods.
In this case the goods were one bar.
rel of extra quality apples. They we're
extra quality, too. The first four lay.
ers down from the top were extra good
quality. The other layers were extra
bad quality. In the middle there we're
layers Of culls and rubbish.
The farmer who packed those apples
they came in this case direct from
the farm-packed them to deceive the
city buyer. The apples on the top we're
the kind of apples that you pay 5 cents
or more for retail. The apples In the
middle were of the kind that no retailer
would dare to display at any time.
The "show-up" scene started out to
be a demonstration against 5 cent ap-
pies. The barrel was opened before q
mass meeting of citizens, who had
priced apples on the way to the meet.
ing. This barrel came at $3.5 from
the auction market of John J. Dillon,
food and market commissioner, II was
purchased by me on the surface show
ing after digging in three layers deep
and finding the goods ran true to form.
figured out that could sell those
fine apples at one cent each and that
the people who bought at a cent would
be getting just what the buyers at the
retail stores paid five cents for.
So folks were invited to I'll paper
bags. each worth rs cents. with rs fine
apples. The first four men to dip into
the apple barrel were shocked and sur.
prised. How could such fine apples GO
SO much lower than any price they ever
heard of They bubbled their delight.
Ii was about time to explain the
manipulative moves of the produce
speculators and the many sales of q
barrel of apples between the farm and
the consumer and how this barrel was
low in price because 1t came in direct
line from farm to consumer with no
body's needless toll taken out.
But something happened. The fifth
man to dip into the barrel began to
complain and wall aloud. The apples
we're no good any more. Instead OF
large, red ones, he was running into
little green. shriveled up ones.
carried the case back to Commits.
sioner Dillon's Office.
"What are we going to do with the
fraudulent apple packer" was asked.
"Now you've asked something" Dill.
lon replied. "What are we going to dc
with him? Why he's one of the big
problems of this higher cost of living.
Yes, he fakes the middleman. Yes,
the retailer suffers from him. Yes, il
is only too true that packing the out
side of barrel to look good and the in
side to use up the culls is az old New