Evening star., 1919-10-09
SUGAR|SSCARCER
|ND.C. TODAY THAN
WHEN WAR WAS ON
30,0 900 Households Had None
for Breakfast, Is Deal
er's Estimate.
LITTLE SYRUP IN MARKET,
PRICE OF HONEY SOARING
Longshoremen's Strike Holds Raw
Stock on Ships, Is One
Explanation.

members OF probably 10000 house
holds in the District of Columbia
drank their morning coffee or tea
and ate their oatmeal sugarless this
morning-or went without either
wholesalers In the city.
Washington today Is in the grip
Of sugar famine worse than any
that existed here during the war
Hundreds Of ueasers have been un-
able to obtain even As much as q
single barrel or bag OF sugar for
days, while others, with minute guam
titles. are. selling no more than a
single pound to regular customers.
Some OF the large downtown stores,
with small amounts of sugar on hand,
are selling one or two pounds day
to old customers, but confine the sales
to the forenoon, selling none at all
after IL o'clock.
Cube and Domino Scarce.
Even the supplies of the expensive
cube or domino sugar are practically
exhausted, and dealers also declare
they cannot obtain even small guam
titles of this. or of dark brown sugar.
To make matters worse, the sirup
ing the former sugar shortage ap-
pear to be as hard to get as the
sugar itself. Many dealers report
that they are entirely out of sirurs,
and that patrons are using honey In
limited quantities. AS a result, sup
plies of honey are running low. and
prices in many stores have been ad-
pound for ordinary comb honey that
usually sells for 20 to 25 cents. a
pound. Small amounts of powdered
sugar may be obtained at a few
places. but the price of this grade is
around IA or Is cents a pound.
Some dealers today predicted that
before Christmas granulated sugar.
cost 20 cents a pound.
Reasons for Famine.
Various reasons are given for the
existing sugar famine. The whole
sale dealer referred to expressed the
opinion that unwarrantedly heavy ex-
ports, together with labor troubles
at Atlantic ports, were responsible
for the fact that hundreds of thou
sands of Americans, including many
of the residents Of Washington, are
going practically sugarless.
Tho wholesaler said that q number
Of ships in the South American and
West Indian trade. with cargoes Of
raw sugar, are tied up at New York
and Philadelphia docks, unable to dis
charge their cargoes because Of the
strike Of longshoremen and stevedores.
This cuts off the supplies of raw sugar
to the refineries, the wholesaler said.
According to The Stars informant.
a representative of the American Sugar
Company in this city yester-
day declared his company had not
booked q single order for granulated
sugar in the last sixty days, and that
1t could not accept orders for an in
definite time. Other reflneries, he said.
are in the same condition.
Affects Other Trade.
Meanwhile, according to statements
Of wholesalers and retail dealers and
managers of chain stores. sales Of cof-
fee and tea are showing a marked
falling off, while dealers handling
fresh fruits. such as peaches. pears,
uuinces, ETC., for canning and presery.
Ing, say they soon will have to dtscon-
tinue handling such fruits because Of
small demand. Housewives, they say,
will not buy the fruits as long as they
cannot obtain sugar with which to
preserve them. s
Nobody in Washington is willing
sible duration Of the sugar famine.
Continued refusal Of dock labor to un-
load sugar boats. thus making 1t i'm
possible for reflneries to obtain raw
sugar, men in the trade say, may make
the present condition permanent at
least for the winter, unless some gov
agency should intervene to
relieve the situation.
Candy and Ice Cream Makers Cut.
{ Candy manufacturers in the Dis
trict have had their supply of sugar
cut to so per cent Of normal and Ice
cream manufacturers are getting
along with 10 per cent Of their needs.
but this has not been in effect long
to make any appreciable
change in the city's visible supply.
Eowboat Strike Settlement Likely.
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