Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-08-19
Fish Prices Went Soaring.

Mrs. Calvin said that during the war
when the people were urged to eat
| fish because meat was needed for the
army and for the allies, the prices of
fish Immediately went soaring. She said
she was surprised at the recent actin
OF the fair price committee making
sugar II cents pound She said she
| had been buying sugar at 10 cents q
pound and now she supposed the price
| would Immediately be jumped to II
cer.ts.
The maximum price fixed" she
| said. always becomes the minimum."
Mrs. r. w, Stancill. of 27O6 Ontario
road, told the committee that many
OF the housewives could use cheaper
cuts of meat, but that they couldn't
buy them from the dealers.
THE housewives would be glad to
buy reasonably" she said. Instead
| of cheaper cuts of good beef being
Seriee x we n ID t ao1d meat Of an in
find that ]. can buy from the huck-
sters on the streets many of the
| vegetables more cheaply than 1 can
| purchase them at the markets"
| Asked by the committee If clothing
and shoes were much higher than
| they used to be. Mrs. Stancill said
| that they were higher, but the peo-
pie were more interested in the food
prices, since they could do without
many new clothes and shoes, but they
! had to have food.
| Mrs. w. A. Shelton of Chevy Chase.
\ D. c.. said she did not believe the
| farmers were making big profits on
foodstuffs. though prices are so high
| got from a farm by parcel post ap-
| pies for so cents a half bushel. for
| which it would be necessary to pay
| $1.25 in the market here. when ap-
| pies were considered cheapest.
( When it came to purchasing meat.
Mrs. Shelton said that she asked for
cheaper cuts and were told they were
F, SO cents pound.
Il said: Give me the best, then:
/ I would rather pay little more and
get the best. if the cheaper cuts are
; as high as that
| She testified that her husband be-
longs to cooperative purchasing
| club at the Interstate Commerce Com
! coal by the carload lots, SO as to
save some money. The dealers here
/, and in Baltimore had refused to sell
/ them a carload. she said
Mrs. Shelton said that she was forced
| to pay 70 cents for fresh eggs, II cents
a quart for milk. which was "exorbi-
tant" and 70 cents hundred pounds
/! for SNOW ice." She said that the peo-
pie living in her neighborhood could
not get the gas pipes laid to their
/ houses and were forced to use oil,
which had gone up in price.
Made Her Pay for "Trimmings."
| Mrs. E. B. Bagby told the committee
that when it came to buying meat, the
dealers made her pay for the trim
mings."
! Charles A. Ryan of Richie. Md:
George Thorne. who has farm twelve
miles down the river, and Irwin l..
Miller. who has farm at Beltsville.
Md. all testified that the farmer is
| not making large profits and that 1t is
extremely difficult to get labor at any
price to aid in cultivatine the land.
They said that the daylight saving
! law was resulting in reduced produce
| ton on the farm. since it had the eff
E; feet of reducing the number of hours
which farm labor will work.
| Another link in the chain OF dis.
! tribution of foodstuffs was located by
the committee yesterday. F. J. David
son, jr., and 7. c. Howard told
the committee that they and three
other commission merchants made a
business of buying produce all over the
country and then selling it. not to the
retailers. but to the wholesalers, who
in turn sold it to the retailers. They
did their business by phone and wire.
dealing only in carload lots, they
said. and selling the stuff before It
,, was delivered here. They insisted that
! - was cheaper for the wholesalers to
do business with them than to huv
from the producers direct