The Daily Alaska empire., 1944-11-28
MEAT SHOPS
 STAY CLOSED
 FOR PRESENT
Will Open Doors When 0PA Allows Dealers 10
 Operate WithoutLos

morning that they will continue to remain closed until such time as the Office of Price Administration will allow us to charge prices under which we may operate at profit '"
 A meeting held yesterday after noon in the Office of Price Admin istration in the Valentine Building between OPA officials and the meat dealers apparently served only to widen the breach which resulted in the dealers closing their shops Thanksgiving Eve.
 Territorial Price Executive D. J.. O'Connor delivered to the butchers at the meeting a memorandum on the beef complaint in which he stated that "the prices must be tried. Until this trial is made I shall con- slider making no recommendation for adjustment"
 The meat dealers claim that the cutting test made last Friday proved to OPA officials they could not op- 6rate under the new OPA price schedule.
 Memorandum
 O'Connor's memorandum showed that from the 384-pound side of beef used for the cutting test the total realization amounted to $104.48 under the OPA prices while the cost of the beef to the butcher amounted to $96. O'Connor admitted that mot astun the laost aftlDtz a;ati-biifassss crusader would admit the adequacy of such a return" However, he charged that under cutting test made in February, 1943, by the butchers, themselves, and accepted by the butchers, the realization was not enough to enable the butchers to stay in business.
 The meat dealers, however, reply that the test which was made in February, 1943, was made according to the cuts which the Juneau butch CTS have been using all along, while the test made Friday was made &C., cording to cuts prescribed by the OPA in the new regulations, and that the comparison is not fair.
 Limitations
 O'Connor also intimated that the butchers used in the test Friday front and hind quarters out of pro- portion to the usual run. He said that because Grade A meat was used in the test the result could not be of any account because 90 percent of the beef used in Juneau is Grade A. He said there is more waste to Grade A beef than Grade A.
 The butchers claimed that this is not so, that the waste depends upon the size of the beef and that Grade A beefS and cheaper beefs come just as large as Grade AA, depending upon what they can get from the wholesalers, that even in smaller beefs the percentage of waste under the OPA cutting regulations would be the same.
 O'ConnOr's Criticism
 O'Connor also criticized the cut ting test because it was somewhat public" Said O'Connor, The oc- casion was somewhat public, much to my disappointment, and for that reason only I did not leave the dem- onstration."
 One spokesman for the butchers said the deadlock could have been avoided three months ago if O'Con- nor would have submitted to a cut ting test then, but "he went ahead and made the regulations and forced us to shut down." He also said that after the test last Friday, O'Connor asked them not to make public the results of the test and also admitted that he realized some changes would have to be made.
 The meat dealers also claim that the lay-in cost allowed Juneau deal- CTS is not fair because the OPA will not allow them to add the cost Of drayage and cold storage to the cost of beef brought to Juneau. They said that in order to assure an ade- quate supply they must have some beef on hand in cold storage at all times.