Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-07-23
LANCASTER, PA.,
HAS US BEATEN
FOR STREET MARTS
Lower-Priced, Better-Kept and
More Attractive Are Pennsyl-
vania City's Markets.
INDIVIDUAL RULES THERE

INDIVIDUAL NoLES tiIA>A>
Wilmington. in the heart of great
agricultural district, has a farmers street
market, high-priced ill-kept, lll-looking
and therefore infamous. Lancaster, up IN
PENNSYLVANIA and likewise in the heart oi q
great agricultural district, also has a
farmers street market, fair-prIced, we'll
kent attractive and therefore famous. t5c-
tween the two there IS as much difference
as between night and day, bad and good,
wrong and right
To see and investigate this street mar
ket AT first hand Every Evening last week
sent staff representative thoroughly
familiar with street market conditions III
this citv What he SAW and what he learn
ed amazed him and sent hlm back 70 W Il,
mington marveling greatly, and convinced
TO the marrow convection were need
I'd. tho alas. such had not been the case
that his home citys curb mart was !uatl-
fed of its iIl-famc. that its prices were
falsely inflated and unreasonable, and
that ii could. If ii wished, serve ITS public
at very much lower figures, with satls-
faction to the hlIver and profit Ia the sell
er. that II could be benefit to the com
munitv and not a drawback and that those
who sell their wares in il could WIN the
name Of blessed rather than the one they
now bear.
And thus it becomes the province OF
this article to set forth 10 the people oi
Wilmington and to the dwellers IN the
adjacent countryside, the buyers and tho
sellers. for their information and benefit,
exactly how Lancaster conducts her
street market and how Lancaster 5 street
marketecrs conduct themselves. how
Iancasters prices compare with VII
mngt0ns. how Wilmington might proht
bv taking a leaf from the book OF her
sister CITY, and how Wilmington $ curb
mart men and women might follow the
good example OF their brothers and SIS
tors of Lancaster farmers like them
selves and earn good repute for reason
able dealing among those with whom they
trade.
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN.
Perforce. the article is dedicated first
10 the good housewives and citizens Of
Wilmington, because they are the ones
most interested. since il is their money
which Is spent 50 freely and with 50 httie
purchasing power, IN our own street mar
kets
Next il IS dedicated 70 our marketeers
themselves. because the sooner they are
hFFuStfA from NktIlII iiIiAi h4iCAA NAtSAAAi -
prohteering. the less the likelihood OF
rude awakening from without. And finally
il IS dedicated also TO such officials and
organizations as NAV have at heart the
interest Of all concerned market folk,
citizens and the city itself And the city
itself Is tor should be deeply interested,
since her fair fame Is suffering.
Comparisons viii be made-In prices.
methods and people-and they viii be as
comparisons ever are. odious and odOrous
TO those who suffer by reason OF them.
But they none the less are true and IL
Illuminating. ans they none the less show
that Wilmington IS suffering from a req me
of high prices which has neither rhyme
nor reason for existence
They show other things, too Not the
least OF these i that IN Lancaster there IS
no mysterious kitty 4 flgur such as
exists here, n underground telegraph
line to tell John Jones and Bill Smith and
Peter Robinson what to charge Tor the
things he sells, condition which long has
been one OF the outstanding features OF the
local curb markets TO such as have made
& study OF them.
Nor is there anv complaining on the
part OF the Lancaster marketeers such as
has been heard here that they do not get
thew are not making money On the other
hand, they say they are quite satisfied
with their profits which must be measur-
ably less than those Of their Wilmington
brethren. and they show their prosperity
and contentedness In their spotless
town" homes and in their Impeccable ap-
pearance III the markets. And what IS
more, they are finely courteous and obhg
Ing,
The prices al which they sell their
goods are so much lower than those which
obtain in this city that a Wilmington
housewife would consider herself fallen
upon veritablc paradise could she ind
them for just one solitary day n year IA
our King or Madison street For instance
eggs on Saturday sold here a. high as
90 cents dozen with % as the ruling
figure In Lancaster, the ruling figure was
40 cents. with - a. minimum and ~
as maximum And the mar6eteers were
somewhat apologize about the price, at
that
Ii would be simply puerilc to say that
II costs more 10 raise a dozen eggs III Della
ware than it does in Lancaster county
PENNSYLVANIA If such cost could be tIgur-
ed with accuracy a single penny doubtless
would cover the difference either way. Nor
can the excuse be satisfactorily made that
the eggs the Lancaster marketeer sells
are not strictly fresh country eggs. The
proof of this lies III the fact that com
plants concerning the sale Of old, stale. or
added eggs in the Lancaster market are
- rare as to be almost unknown, accord
ng to the Lancasterians themselves and
no better evidence Is needed.
What is true Of eggs Is true also Of the
entire line Of farm products butter,
chickens, vegetables, fruits Saturday
Lancaster market was 80 far under vii
mington 5 in price as to make one wonder
that Is, if one is a WIlmlngtonIan how
on earth it happened there could be such
wide difference in prices IN two cities
geographically only As miles apart
But a little-a very little digging be-
meath the surface of things reveals fact
which explains much Indeed, it rips the
veil Of mystery completely off the situa-
ton. And here il is: Competition is
absolutely unrestricted IN Lancaster's
curb markets. There Is no agreement,
Continued on page 2
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