The evening world., 1921-12-14
MEAT PRICES BOOSTED HERE
BY PACKERS SINCE STRIKE;
PROFITEERING is CHARGED
Inquiry by The Evening World
Shows Quotations Jumped
by big Five"
DEALERS HOLD INQUIRY.
Merchants Investigate Them
selves to Put Stop to
Any Gouging.

DeSplle lnelT warnings 10 IIle puD-
lie that prices of meat should not be
affected by the strike of cutters,
dressers, chauffeurs and others in the
city. the big Five" packers have in
creased the wholesale cost since Sat
urday night. The strike was efcec-
tive $50 Monday morning. An in
vestigation by The Evening World re-
vealed the following increases:
Swift & Co.-Lamb up since S'tur-
day from 90 cents to 80 cents pound
Wholesale; beef cuts up on an aver
age of 6 cents a pound pork up from
d to s Sents. The explanation for the
increases was that the market here
5 affected by the Chicago strike and
that the increased overhead expenses
due to the local strike had to be fest
in prices.
Norris & Co.--Lamb rp from % to
- cents a pound wholesale; beef cuts
VI an average OF cents: pork UP
from 10 to 2S cents. Four cents OF this
last amount is laid TO the local strike.
Wilson & Co.--not handling lamb;
beef up an average of six cents; pork
up from 20 to 25 cents. Tongue, ham
and other smoked meats not affected.
80
transportation has affected the local
prices. The new drivers refuse to go
to the 3Sd Street yards for meat
through fear of the strikers and it
is necessary now to ship the meat to
the Mott Haven yards and truck it
downtown again.
Cunningham, an Independent
packer has also raised prices. But
the blame is put on the big Five"
"They have raised their prices to
us SO that we cannot undersell them."
1t was said at the plant.
The Cunningham prices since Sat
urday went up as follows: Lamb
from % to 33 cents, beef on an aver
age of from to 10 cents, pork the
same
At the union headquarters 1t was
said that these increases tended to
support the strikers claim that the
walkout was 90 per cent. effective.
The normal daily killings, they said,
were 10000 head; yesterday it was
| only a few hundred
There has been innuendo and di-
rect accusations between packers
and the small retail butchers charg-
ing profiteering ever since the strike
began.
To counteract the effect upon the
consumers, the retail members OF the
Meat Council OF New York will meet
at the headquarters. No. II East G2d
Street, this afternoon TO investigate
themselves There has been no con-
certed attempt to raise the price To
the housewife, 1t was said, but indi-
vidual violations will be investigated
and punished.
When more than twenty strikers
attcmpted TO steal the meat from u
Wilson & Co. wagon, driven by Albert
Sooty. a strikebreaker, Policeman
Cunningham OF the Mercer Street
Station, assigned as a guard, drove
them of by blowing his police whistle.
The attack was on Second Avenue,
near SD street.
More than $500 union employees
in the 1900 butcher shops IN and
around New York notified their en-
ployers to-day they would walk out
on a sympathetic strike II meat was
purchased from the Fig Five" pack
ers, against whom the cutters. chaut-
feurs and dressers declared a strike
three days ago.
The nine unions involved, Including
the kosher shops, reached this dsei-
sion at meetings last night. They de-
cl I'd their employers could procure
meat from tho twenty-five inds-
pendents in this territory, against
whom there IL no strike,