The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1922-03-25
DECLARED
UNSOLVED
MYSTERY
Like Cock Robin Characters,
all Parties Interested
Sing Out mot l.
ny GEORGE r. HOLMES

f7fT NOrhEoFONDeNi J.. N. SENfiLkI
MASHiNGTON, March 25-Get ou'
pcncil and paper and have try al
solving the most puzzling puzzle ex-
tsnt.
IL is puzzle which affects every
man. woman and child in these Uni
ted states, whether they live on farm
CT in cities. in New York or IN Cali
fornia. IN bungalows or in mansions
II is more engrossing than tbs
age OF Ann. the length or piece OF
string. or who killed Joseph Elwel
and William Desmond Taylor 1t is
the great unsolved mystery OF the
present
II is this.
WHO GETS THE BIG RAkE-oFT
ON POUND OF MEAT ON ITS
JOURNEY FROM THE FARM ro
THE TABLET
The characters in this Cock Robin
mystery speak:
NOT T." says the farmer. point
ing 70 his mortgaged farm. his over
due notes and his long hours of toll
NOT I!- wEEPs PACKER
NOT l." weeps the big packing
plant. pointing to its traditional ar
gument that 1t makes only two cents
on the dollar.
NOT T." cries the retailer. and
cites in confederation the United
states Department of Agriculture
NOT I,'' sobs the railroad. point
ing out that the government had to
guarantee it per cent so it could
continue to operate
WELL, CERTAINLY NOT I,
s4iis the ultimate consumer. pointing
70 his pay check, almost stretched
out OF reeo ognizable form by the
pulling and hauling IL the butcher.
the baker, the landlord and the gas
man
The United States government has
recently been trying to solve the
puzzle 1t set the department. or
agriculture, which probably contains
more experts of various kinds than
any other single agency of govern
ment. on the trail. But the expert.
haven't caught up with their quarry
as vet
The retailer has long been suspec-
ted of being the arch -conspirator
but now the department of agricuI-
tHre gives MIN a clean bill of health
absolves him of all blame in this
mysterious journey from the hoof to
the table, in a report recently CON-
piled
RETAILER MAKES LITTLE
After an exhaustive survey cover
0sr
5000 retail stores. the government
sleuths found that the much
maligned retailer makes only 2.2s
cents on dollars worth of meat
>ot an exorbitant profit. to be sure.
II is not radically different from
that which the packer contends he
makes.
The inquiry covered such cities as
New York. Chicago. Pittsburgh. San
francisco, Birmingham Los Ange-
les. New Orleans. Baltimore, Mem
phis Indianapolis. Hartford and
Raleigh, y. c.
Among other things this survey re-
vealed that the cost of retailing mear
has nearly doubled since 1913, or
y hereas it cost 3.19 cents pound 10
retail meat in 1918 it cost 5.26 cents
in 1919.
The governments survey found
that when you pay the retailer dol
lar for a steak he spends it in this
way
TO the wholesaler for the meat
S114 cents.
To expenses of retailing-16.5
cents
Proht-225 cents
COST OF RETAILING
The 1851 cents which the retailer
spends for upkeep is disposed of as
follows
Salaries and wages-1o.25 cents
Kent-1.35.
Ice and rigeratior-o.77
Wrapping paper-0.16.
Light and powerful
Interest on indebtedness-051
Miscellaneous exDenses-2.74
This would seem TO throw the
blame further back in the chain
than the retailer.
The railroads. through their au-
thorized spokesmen in Washington.
testifNng before numerous commit
tees of congress, have put up hard
luck stories that almost brought
tears TO the eyes of sympathetic lis
teners. Labor high. rolling stock de-
nieted. conditions bad, barely able to
make operating expenses, say the
railroads.
THE ALUMINIUM DOLLAR
The packers. though their spokes-
man and in great volumes of ad-
vertising. have repeatedly avowed
that they max, no more than two
cents on the dollar One big packing
concern FOR months has been putting z
out an aluminium dollar, calling it
the packing house dollar which
bears out this argument through a
Chart stamped upo-. its face.
The farmer certainly isn't getting
- Country banks filled with farm
paper and the bushels Of corn that
have been used for coal this winter
afford ample proof or tnar.
Government Investigators travel in
a circle, from farmer to commission
men to packer to retailer TO cons.-n-