Omaha daily bee., 1919-08-22
WITNESS TELLS
Of BUYING POOL
OF FRUIT men
Attorney General Starts In.
vestigation of High Cost
Of Living in Doug
las County.

pany testified to the vagaries Of the
watermelon business.
The pool handles an average of
three cars a day, according to wit
nesses.
Mr.. Stuhr is presiding at the
hearings and the attorney general is
doing most of the examining. The
probe will run into next week.
During his testimony yesterday
morning Mr.. Trimble stated that
his firm is a member of the pool
and that the members meet every
morning in his office, and that all
fruits and vegetables Dough t
through this arrangement are hand
led by Zipfel & Schefferlc on
fixed checking charge of $12 per
car. He asserted that the pool has
no concern with selling prices.
Handle Bulk of Business.
The witness added that six of
nine local large wholesale dealers in
fruits and vegetables belong to the
pool and that large per cent of the
business is handled through the
pool arrangement, which comprises
purchases of berries and deciduous
fruits and vegetables, except pota-
toes.
"Are all lots bought by the pool
obtained at the same price to the
members" was asked of the wit
ness.
Yes" he replied.
do your morning meetings de-
termine the selling prices of the
stuff you have bought through the
pool?" was asked of the witness.
That would be impossible" Mr..
Trimble replied, because some of
the other commission men might
have lower prices than we have. We
have no selling price agreement.
Our idea in having this pool is to
release the cars to the government
as quickly as possible"
Quotations Are Compared.
Explaining further the methods of
the pool, Mr.. Triinble stated that
the members at their meetings conf
pare the quotations they have re-
ceived and thus give each other the
benefit of the lowest offers. He ad-
ded that a broker might attend the
meetings of the pool and would
give quotations. The witness furth-
er testified that the only general Or
ganization of local commission men
is a produce exchange which served
as a clearing house for information
on credits.
Mr.. Trimble was examined at con-
siderable length on the business of
buying and selling watermelons. He
explained that the watermelon mar
ket was as variable as the weather
and that there is no stability in the
melon market.
He denied an allegation made
during the city council hearing, that
his firm allowed cars of melons to
spoil on track. Five cars of melons
received over the c. G. & w.
August II and IS, were particularly
under consideration.
I'VE offered these FIVE cars of
melons to Mayor Smith for his
stores, and the mayor
said they were rotten. My brother,
Robert, told the mayor that the mel
ons were not spoiled, and Robert
had the dope. Some of these mel
ons are being unloaded today with
little shrinkage," he testified.
Explaining the uncertainties of
profits, he said: I'VE
have lost enough on the last 10 cars
to Offset the profits on the previous
10 cars"
Get All They Can.
He also stated that melons re-
Gently bought cost $3.50 to $l.75 per
hundredweight, t. o. b., Omaha, and
that the price today to the retailers
was Anything you can get"
He asserted that there was
scarcity of melons here during the
hot weather when the wholesale
price was from to 4 cents pound
and the retailers were charging 5
cents a pound. Other inside infor
nation divulged by Dir. Trimble on
the melon question was that the