The Washington times., 1918-05-05
Food Prices Drop in Washington
By MRS. GRANNY RYLON.
DON'T Get Excited They re Up Again.

He told how his wife's people had
? farm in Virginia. and this enabling
all parties concerned to dispense
with the services of the middle
man, he would be able 10 sell pro-
visions at pre-war prices.
He quoted chicken at twenty and
twenty-five cents a pound, bacon at
! forty, strictly fresh eggs at thirty
, five cents a dozen, and other things
in proportion. This was last winter
, when butter was futterinE between
siXty-fiye and seventy cents, bacon
soaring above sixty, and hams at
thirty-tive, and no questions asked.
The Mystery Grew.
The denizens Of "The Pandora"
Thanked heaven that they were not
as other fiat jewellers and bought
heavily. In the meantime, the nyS-
terry of the basement grew by leaps
and bounds. 1t had become the lode
star, apparently, of everything that
went on wheels in the District of
Columbia.
Traffic in the neiEhborhcod would
be blocked for hours OF morning,
and drivers not knowing The PAN
dora" cOuntersign. reluctantly drove
round.
In the meantime, trading in
strictly fresh eggs al thirty-fve
cents a dozen grew. so did the sale
of bacon at forty a pound and ham
at twenty-five, no one ever thought
of moving from The Pandora" and
the waiting list suggested mos
quitoes pressing against the screens
at Jersey resort.
Did Not Suggest a Farm.
But the provender sold at rock
bottom prices, had curiously pro-
fessional look to come from a "col-
Ored" farm in Virginia. The bacon
was machine sliced, and there was
a refinement of luxury. in the way
of waXed paper, between the layers
Of meat. 1t always came in boxes,
too-though the top was invariably
missing.
where's the top of this bacon
box lady inquired one morning.
And the versatile janitor replied:
Deed, ma'am, de wah done mex
desc yere box tops so Urinary dat
dey doan las till git 'um upstairs"
But the bottoms of the boxes
are all right"
"Yassim, dat's so, de wah it doan
seem to tack de bottom of de boxes
like it do de top"
And the housekeeper shuffled the
mystery of the box top, where the
packers name is pmblazoned, onto
the war. What's a box top when
siXty-fve-ccnt bacon IS going at
forty?
1t seemed. Furthermore, that any
thing could be ordered from that lit
tie Virginia farm, belonging to
nah wIfes folks. French peas
with the foreign label on the can,
Jars OF pate de fois Cras. strawber-
ries in February, and even peaches
could he had at the shortest notice
by ordering.
Few bothered with the mystery;
you see it was not a objective mys-
terry, like the vehicles that blocked
the street in front Of the door. This
was subjective mystery-and not
Improbable.
The Explanation.
The janitor was always willing to
explain: Nah wife's folks dore
trade dc stuff dey raise TO canned
goods n such at de crossroads sto'."
A crossroads store selling Holsters
and dollhouse grapes seemed a
tri1e exotic, but really, with the
war turning eVprvt HING tnnsv-turvv
and so much work to be done, no
one had time to consider the matter
So they ordered guinea fowl at
fifty cents apiece and decided that
no earthly power should ever pry
them from "The Pandora" In the
meantime. motor trucks and deliv-
cry wagons would shift and circle
for ten minutes. waiting to get in
line for the basement.
A QaV or two apo a lady resident