The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1940-04-18
YOUR DOLLAR
(By Consumers Union)

lHoTe are no government SCa1UdTuS
of quality for chicken soup. So 80
members of Consumers Unions staff
tasted midmorning snacks of chicken
soup for weeks, checking one flavor
against another, to determine which
soups were most apt to be enjoyed.
The identity Of samples was not re-
vealed, and each person gave his opin-
ion Independently.
| Best liked was Crosse and Blackwell
Chicken Noodle Soup. A close second
was Campbell's condensed chicken
soup, which costs about half as much
per serving. Down towards the bot
tom of the list were Horned and Col
iege Inn. Flavor rating of the Ia
brands tested appear in the April
1910 Gu Reports.
One point to look for on the label
is a statement of inspection by the
U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. While this
covers only the chicken used in the
soup, it at least gives some assur-
ance that the chicken was free from
disease and suitable for food.
Floor Coverings
When you ask for cheap linoleum,
says the April issue of Consumers
Union Reports, chances are that you'll
be shown not linoleum but felt base
floor covering-a product which looks
like linoleum but is of different com
position and lacks linoleum's wearing
quality. Felt-base is a paper "felt''
made from asphalt rags,
and finished off with various surfaces
while linoleum is a mixture of cork
linseed oil, wood flour and pigment
with burlap back. You can usually
identify linoleum by the burlap back.
There are three main types of
linoleum-plain, inlaid, and printed
giving value per dollar in the order
named. If you're furnishing your
own home, a plain or inlaid linoleum
is best buy. If you're furnishing an
apartment where you will stay only
year or two, the cheaper felt base
floor covering will do.
Consumers Union tested samples OF
nearly every type and thickness OF
linoleum and felt base floor covering
for pliability, resistance to indentation
to abrasion, and to alkaline cleaners
LinOleum Labor
Four companies make most of the
linoleum sold in this country. Then
relations with organized labor are as
follows: Paraffine Companies, Inc. has
signed contracts with Is AFL anC
ClO unions, after poll in 1887 show
ed that more than half the employees
wanted to be organized Sloane-Bla-
bon Corp. has a union shop agreement
of several years standing with the
United Rubber Workers of America
C1O. This years contract provides q
wage raise and paid vacations. Arm.
strong Cork Co., reports the URWA
4 is bitterly anti-union," has establish
| ed company union in order to resist
genuine organization. Congo e m.
Nairn, Inc. is Bitterly anti-union,'
says the URWA, whose local at this
company's plant was broken up after
prolonged strike.
Phone Rates
What makes your phone bill SC
high? Where does the money go? A
Federal Communications Commission
investigation showed that the average
$64 yearly phone bill covered the fol-
lowing charges: current maintenance,
S1l.79; depreciation, $11.35; traffic
costs, $9.31; commercial expenses,
$5.32; general expenses, $13.63; net
earnings, $l260.
$12.60 net earnings may sound big
almost a fifth of your phone bill.
But that is not the entire story. Other
items conceal additional profits and
overcharges.
Depreciation costs are often charged
at rates that return to the company
much more than it originally paid.
Telephone supplies-for which you
pay-are bought at exorbitant prices,
and you also pay for engineering mis-
takes made by the system. For eX-
ample, Bell engineers recognized al
most at once that the hand set phone
introduced in 1927 was an inferior in
strument, due to poor mouthpiece de-
sign. Yet it was manufactured for
years, and far from costing the COM
pany money, it yielded return over
and above its cost, in charges made
to telephone subscribers. Now phone
subscribers are paying further costs,
to replace this phone with an improved
hand set.
Traffic costs-meaning largely la
Dor costs--have been reduced, but in
some cases only by installing expen-
siVe equipment. The added capital
used to install this equipment costs as
much for interest payment as it saved
on the salaries of discharged work
ers. But the phone company appears
to prefer employment Of dollars rather
than people.
Advertising expenditures are 3Oc
per phone per year. And how that
SOC does work for the company! Ad-
vertising effectively silences news
paper criticism, or buys editorial sup
port, when the company fights regu-
latlon or tries to put through a rate
rise.
Federal Investigations of the phone
l