The sun., 1919-08-25
1000 VOLUNTEERS
TO SELL ARMY FOOD
Quicker Distribution Will Be
Made With Increased Sell
ing Forces.
BIG SUCCESS IN BRONX
Mrs. Heath Urges the Use Of
Parcel Post in City as
Well as Outside.
BIG SUCCESS IN BRONX

|
Quicker and more extensive distrihu-
ton OF army foodstuffs by the city Is
expected this week as the result OF plans
Of the Community Councils to send 1000
volunteers TO the school stores to wait
On customers and make themselves gen.
orally useful. Additions also have been
made by the city to its force Of store
cashiers, the lack OF which was respon-
sible for much OF the slowness in the
handling OF customers last week.
The active members of the eighty
neighborhood groups organized as the
| Community Councils nave been instruct
ed to report for duty at the schools this
morning. The selling hours, as usual.
from P. NJ. to P. NJ. Members Of
the women's Police Reserves and OF
various other civic organizations will
assist the Community Council chairmen
in charge OF the sales forces.
The programme OF the Community
Councils was outlined last Friday at a
luncheon which Gen. Coleman du Pont
gave at the Bankers Club to social and
industrial leaders.
There was much activity all day yes
terday at the Queensborough bridge
u arket, the distributing station for army
bacon, which seems to be in such de-
mand. Men worked all day uncrating'
cutting up and weighing the bacon In
order that to-day's supply, which the
store managers demanded, would NOT
| fall short of the demand.
Better Distribution Promised.
Three large lighters VIII be used to-
day and henceforth to transport the
foodstuff from the army warehouses to
distributing centres in Manhattan, The
Bronx and Brooklyn. from which points
the food will be taken 10 the school
stores on motor trucks. The Rev. DR..
i Jonathan c. Day, Commissioner OF
| Markets, believes that with tho increased
| facilities for distribution and additions
to the selling STATS in each store there
| will be much Improvement in the service.
Henry Brueckner, Borough President
of The Bronx. said yesterday that the
success Of the army food sales In his ter
ritory is the result OF fine organization
Of his distribution forces. Bronxites he
said. have demonstrated their peculiar
| ability to look after the business end OF
the work of distribution and the house
wives of The Bronx have proven that
they are provident and thrifty.
| Mr.. Brueckner. who is In charge OF the
city distribution in that borough. said
that 1000 pounds OF bacon. in addition
to the supply already on hand. will be
placed on sale in eighteen Of the twenty
eight school stores In The Bronx to-day
The sales of bacon have been abandoned
in four schools. as the schools are stu
ated in neighborhoods inhabited largely
by orthodox Jews.
Mrs. Julian Heath. president Of the
National Housewives League. sent a let
ter yesterday to Postmaster Patten ask
ing him to aid housewives OF New York
IN getting army surplus foods by parcel
post a privilege enjoyed by purchasers
outside this zone.
better Facilities Badly Needed.
The women OF New York are not get
ting the foodstuffs they want" Mrs.
Heath said to a Sun reporter. IT fully
| appreciate the difficulties the city is hav-
ing in distributing the supplies through
the schools. and am not blaming DR.
Day, the Commissioner OF Markets, OF
anybody else in that department. Lack
ing the machinery for distributing the
foodstuffs In sufficient quantities to NEE,
the tremendous demand, they simply
cannot help themselves, and are UT
against 1t.
"As It is now there are some nifty
eight schools at which food is being sold
You cannot get all the things listed for
sale at every school There is a sort OF
progressive menu arranged. A woman
gets a can of something at one school
and II she wishes bacon she has to 60 to
another school A woman cannot stand
in line for two or three hours to get one
thing and then fall in line at another
school to wait her chance to buy some
thing else 1t simply is impossible for
her to spend all day marketing In this
fashion. l have visited several OF the
schools for the purpose Of buying things
and talked with the women and this ID
what they told me. At the De Witt Clln.
ton High School I saw one poor old wo.
man with a basket on her arm, hardly
big enough to hold a can of condensed
milk, and she told me she had been mar
keting around at the school for four days
and had been unable to get anything.
There were other women who had 10
hire Deighbors to take care OF their
babies while they went to the schools
stood in line with 400 or 500 and waited
for hours for a chance TO make pur-
chases only to learn that the things
they were after-bacon for instance
wasn't In stock Just then.
THE opportunity which the city IL
offering for people TO get foodstuffs and
get them cheap is perfectly fine, and IL
going to furnish a good deal Of relief
although 1t is only temporary. But. az
I have said before, II Is not being dis.
tributed on a big enough or ehicien,
enough scale to enable women to re,
what they go after without suffering
real hardships and at cost OF much
time.
| II have written TO Postmaster Patter
asking that the army foodstufrs be sold
to consumers direct through the parcel