Evening star., 1946-07-06
Buyers Besiege Stores
To Get Choice Cuts
Al Meat Previews

Meat-hungry Washington had a
brief preview today of what to ex-
pect when the meat trains start
rolling next week. Some stores fea-
turing choice cuts for the first time
in weeks, were besieged by custom
ers who bought up the available
stocks In record time.
The beef and pork was a forerun-
ner OF what wholesalers predicted
would be steady stream hence
forth If the market remains free of
controls.
Employees of stores in one grocery
chain arrived at work to find the
the customers had beaten them
there.
Line a Block Long.
people were hungrier for meat
than we supposed" said E, L. With
ers. manager of the A. 81 P. store at
3400 Georgia avenue NV.
by 8 o'clock, half an hour before
opening time, there was a line a
block long in front of the store.
Police saw that the line was
orderly"
Similar conditions prevailed at
other A. g. P. stores. 1t was the first
time in six months that the stores
had that much meat to show and
the hrst time in year that grade
AA beef was available in such GUAM
tity.
Most chain and larger independ-
ent stores maintained ceiling prices
existing when OPA expired. Bone
less round was advertised for 40
cents a pound, porterhouse for 48
cents pound. sirloin with bone for
40 cents and high-grade ground beef
for % cents.
Few Reports of Gouging.
Retailers selling at ceiling prices
still were making a profit despite
the higher prices for cattle and hogs
received in the markets this week.
it was said.
There were few reports of
"gouging." In some cases meats
bearing high price tags were ig-
nored.
Some packing houses reported.
Nothing in sight yet" But Ray
mond c. Briggs, president of L. S.
Briggs, Inc, which began reopening
two manufacturing plants after two
weeks idleness, predicted the meats f.
would start coming in next week.
Sees Best Grades Available.
1T looks like everybody will have
all they want Of the best grades In
many years if the industry remains
unhampered by controls" he said.
The meat business is SO competitive =
that prices will take care of them
selves when there is more than
enough meat to meet the demand"
He said Government buying,
which ended May 80, was the real
key to the meat shortage.
A spokesman for the American
Meat Institute agreed the meat
should begin pouring into Washing
ton next week. One reason is the
movement to market of grass-fed
cattle, which will gain headway next
week
One reason the meat was a bit
Slow reaching retailers was that
most of last Mondays sales were
to black marketers, the AMI spokes-
man said The legitimate packers
did not compete for about 1000
| head moved that day. 1t was the
last spree of the black market
| crowd.
10000 Hogs Reach Market.
| With 10000 hogs reaching the
Chicago market yesterday instead
of an expected $1,000, the market
eased off by as much as s1.25 below
Wednesdays top of S1750. With
fed steers and yearlings continuing
inadequate to meet demands, they
brought top prices of S22.25, but 25
cents under Wednesdays figure.
Most meat dealers expected the
final retail leveling off of prices to
settle at figure of or cents a
pound higher than the wartime CELL
ing prices. They termed this as be-
ing fair in view of the loss of sub
sides and the general price rise
since ceiling prices were imposed,
Joseph B. Danzansky, attorney
for the Meat Division of the Mer-
chants and Manufacturers Associ-
alton. said I'VE should be well on
our way toward a normal meat sup
ply by Monday" He predicted the
supply would continue as long as
"OPA controls remained Off