Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1919-08-22
fruit MEN
IN POOL TO
BUY STOCK
Wholesale Commission Mer
Tell Of Dividing Purchases
Among Six Firms in Omaha
and Council Bluffs.
ATTORNEY GENERAL
PROBES FOOD PRICES
Investigation in Douglas
County Will Continue Into
Next Week-Retai|ers Will
Be Asked to Appear.

Dc ASkeu u appear.
Evidence disclosing the existence
in Omaha of a pool composed of six
Omaha and two Council Bluffs
wholesale fruit and vegetable mer-
chants, was the outstanding feature
of the food probe started yesterday
in the court house by state officials.
The personnel of the organization
is: Trimble Bros, Barta & Borde,
B. Blotcky, R. Bingham & Son, E.
Meyer and ch-Kastner company,
of Omaha; Stone Fruit company and
Iowa Fruit and Produce company of
Council Bluffs.
Representatives Of these eight
firms meet every morning in the Of
fices of the Trinble company to
agree on the joint purchase of car
load lots and upon an agreed per-
centage basis. several typical in
stances of the per cent division being
brought out in the investigation.
Defend Pool Plan.
Mr.. Trimble, Phil Blotcky and
Ernest Meyer defended the pool ar
rangement as being economical in
that it tends to decrease demurrage
and icing and insures a quicker dis
position of the goods. 1t was de-
MED by the witnesses that the fixing
of selling prices entered into the de-
liberations of the pool.
Three members of the pool who
have been examined testified that
their organization works through
concern known as Zipfel & Schif-
ferle, who receive and distribute car
load lots according to the agreed
percentage arrangement.
The investigation has been con-
fined to fruits and vegetables. Those
who appeared yesterday have been
requested to return today with their
records for the last 10 days, to give
the investigating officials an intelli-
gent idea of their cost and selling
prices.
Retailers to Be Called.
The state is represented by At
torney General c. A. Davis; Leo
Stuhr, secretary of the state board
of agriculture; George A. Williams,
chief of the bureau of markets and
marketing, and Albert Munger, spe-
clal counsel for the state. The city
legal department and the county at
torneys Office are represented. Re-
tailers will be summoned to appear
and testify as to the prices they have
been paying the wholesale men for
fruits and vegetables.
Mr.. Trimble gave the Investigate
ors yesterday afternoon a typical
case of the division of split-car ship
ments by referring to car of
grapes received this week. He Of
fered the following per cents: Trim
bic Bros, 10; Barta & Bordo, 5;
Blotcky, 10; Bingham, 10; Meyer,
10; Roach-Kastner, 10; Stone Co., 5;
Iowa Fruit and Produce Co., 10.
Deny Selling Pool.
The witness denied that members
of this pool had refused to sefl to
any retailer because he bought pro-
duce direct from the local growers
Incidental reference was made to
another alleged pool between the
peddlers' union, N. Levinson and J.
B. Robinson.
Ernest Meyer of the E. Meyer
Fruit Co. injected bit of humor
into the proceedings by relating
some of the dark side of the life of
a wholesale fruit and vegetable
dealer. Omaha, he argued, had more
competition along this line than any
other city in the United States.
Members of the pool to which he
belongs will undersell each other
any time they can,. according to his
testimony. He referred to recent
large shipment of peaches which
cost the members of the pool $l.2S a
crate.
Reckless Price Cutting.
"Trimble started them off at $l.40, |
then Gilinsky went to $l.35 and
finished at $l.O5," he said.
Mr.. Meyer conveyed 'the impress
sion that the members of this pool
take keen delight in cutting prices
with reckless disregard tor the
cost price, as illustrated by his ref
erence to the peach deal. Asked
about the profits of the business he
replied that he made just onethird |
of what the public thought he made. |
When Levinson, my neighbor,
sold peaches for $l.l0, I sold them
for $l.05," he added with touch OF
pride.
Harry Schefferle of Zipfel and !
Schifferle, the last witness called |
yesterday, corroborated earlier tes-
timony that his concern handles the
cars for the pool, charging Sl2 car
for checking and seeing that the
goods are properly divided among
the members on the agreed percent
age basis.
Phil Blotcky of B. Blotcky COM
CONTINUED on Page Two, Column Five)