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Notes  from  Department  of  Foods  and 
Markets 
204  Franklin  St.,  New  York  City 
Meat  Inspectors  Bribed 
Last  week  10  men  engager]  in  the  wholesale  meat 
business  in  New  York  City  were  arrested  and  put  un¬ 
der  bond  for  trial.  The  complaint  was  made  by  the 
Health  Department.  The  officials  of  the  Department  and 
the  complaint  alleges  that  through  a  system  of  bribery  of 
inspectors  these  dealers  have  been  able  to  sell  dis¬ 
eased  meats  in  defiance  of  law  for  a  period  of  more 
than  25  years.  None  of  the  inspectors  has  been  ar¬ 
rested  at  this  writing,  but  it  is  alleged  that  some  of 
them  who  drew  city  salaries  of  $1,320  annually  had  an 
income  of  $50  to  $75  a  week  from  this  illegal  source. 
The  bribe  money  paid  for  the  privilege  of  selling  dis¬ 
eased  meat  by  these  firms  was  estimated  to  be  $40,000 
yearly. 
Detectives  have  been  on  the  case  for  some  months. 
The  detectives  acted  as  inspectors,  and  the  packers  en¬ 
tered  into  agreements  with  them  to  pay  money  for  pass¬ 
ing  diseased  meat  and  actually  paid  over  the  money  to 
the  detectives.  Not  only  this,  but  money  was  paid  by 
the  packers  to  the  detectives  to  cause  the  removal  of 
an  inspector  who  proved  immune  to  bribe  temptations. 
Several  inspectors  have  been  suspended  pending  trial 
by  the  health  authorities. 
$50  for  Stuffed  Crop 
Last  week  the  head  of  the  firm  of  B.  Buff  &  Son  was 
found  guilty  of  stuffing  the  crops  of  live  poultry  with 
sand,  gravel,  quartz,  oyster  shells,  cement,  water  and 
shorts  just  before  selling  them  for  slaughter,  lie  was 
fined  $50.  This  was  on  a  test  case  tried  on  complaint 
of  the  New  York  State  Department  of  Foods  aud  Mar¬ 
kets.  It  legally  establishes  the  fact  that  the  crops  of 
fowl  are  systematically  stuffed  with  heavy  mixtures 
and  also  shows  that  the  practice  can  be  stopped  under 
existing  laws.  This  one  firm  sells  100,000  birds  week¬ 
ly,  and  it  is  easy  to  see  that  a  prosecution  aud  fine  in 
each  case  would  soon  put  him  and  others  like  him  out 
of  business. 
The  practice  is  to  buy  these  fowls  from  farmers  in 
Western  States  with  empty  Chops.  If  they  come  fed 
an  allowance  is  exacted  on  the  weight.  In  transit  the 
birds  are  first  kept  hungry  and  when  ready  for  un¬ 
loading  they  arc  first  fed  red  pepper  to  create  a  thirst 
and  appetite,  and  then  stuffed  with  the  heavy  mixture 
to  increase  weight.  The  contents  of  the  crop  often 
weigh  a  pound.  If  the  birds  are  not  promptly  killed 
they  become  sick  and  die.  In  fact  many  of  them  are 
dying  when  butchered.  In  addition  to  buying  sand  and 
gravel,  and  shorts  and  water,  at  25  cents  a  pound, 
the  people  who  get  this  poultry  are  forced  to  buy 
chickens  which  are  sick  when  butchered.  It  is  esti¬ 
mated  that  it  costs  the  people  of  New  York  City 
$7,000,000  yearly  for  this  useless  mixture.  It  unfavor¬ 
ably  affects  the  market  for  live  poultry  shipped  in  small 
lots  from  New  York  and  other  Eastern  States.  This 
local  poultry  comes  with  empty  crops  and  is  usually 
sold  at  the  quotations  for  Western  stock.  Take  a 
Western  and  an  Eastern  hen,  each  weighing  four 
pounds.  Put  a  pound  of  gravel  mixture  in  the  crop 
of  the  Western  lien,  and  sell  both  at  25  cents  per 
pound.  The  New  York  healthy  hen  would  sell  for  $1; 
the  sick  Western  hen  would  cost  $1.25.  This  is  where 
the  practice  hurts  the  New  York  producer. 
When  the  Department  of  Foods  and  Markets  first 
exposed  the  crime,  the  trade  papers  made  light  of  it, 
and  alleged  that  there  was  no  such  practice.  One 
of  the  dealers  and  a  city  official  went  before  the  Dis¬ 
trict  Attorney  and  stated  that  the  practice  was  stopped. 
The  Department  promptly  went  Into  the  shops,  bought 
the  chickens,  and  prosecuted  the  dealers.  Another  case 
is  yet  pending,  and  criminal  prosecutions  are  likely  to 
follow  on  the  revelations  recently  made  on  an  in¬ 
vestigation  of  the  business  by  the  Department. 
Cheese 
We  are  now  up  to  the  season  for  storing  cheese, 
i’hat  means  a  consistent  and  persistent  hammering 
down  of  prices  during  the  next  three  to  four  months 
by  a  clique  of  speculative  dealers.  In  New  York  City 
the  storing  of  cheese  is  in  the  hands  of  a  quorum  of 
about  10  to  12  large  dealers.  The  storage  begins  about 
June  1st  and  continues  for  about  four  months. 
Cheese  is  not  dealt  in  on  any  of  the  exchanges  in 
New  York  City  in  an  open  manner;  that  is  to  say, 
there  are  no  bids  and  offerings,  but  the  dealers  in 
cheese  are  the  members  of  the  exchanges,  aud  any 
morning  now  a  careful  observer  will  be  able  to  find 
a  number  of  the  cheese  dealers  with  their  heads  to¬ 
gether,  talking  in  whispers  and  establishing  prices  fur 
cheese.  This  is  really  the  cheese  market.  These 
whispers  arc  the  source  of  the  quotations.  The  price 
current  publishers  meet  these  men  later  at  their  places 
of  business  and  the  whispered  agreements  of  the  morn¬ 
ing  are  repeated  to  them  aud  become  the  published 
prices  for  the  day. 
On  these  published  prices  the  dealers  make  settle¬ 
ments  with  the  cheese  factories  and  country  shippers 
on  which  they  have  contracts.  In  this  connection,  we 
can  appreciate  the  effect  of  the  so-called  “premium 
system”  of  buying  cheese.  These  dealers  have  their 
contracts  with  cheese  factories  to  pay  a  premium  over 
and  above  the  published  quotation.  This  flatters  the 
cheese-maker  because  it  holds  out  to  him  the  pretense 
■Uhe  RURAL.  NEW-YORKER 
that  his  cheese  is  of  superior  quality  to  other  makes. 
It  flatters  the  business  instinct  of  the  creamery  man¬ 
ager,  because  it  induces  him  to  believe  that  he  is  sell¬ 
ing  his  cheese  at  a  better  price  than  his  neighbors  are 
able  to  get.  Incidentally,  it  appeals  to  the  cupidity  of 
the  producer  who  is  supposed  to  get  the  benefit  of  the 
premium. 
Of  course  the  published  prices  in  New  York  should 
be  and  are  supposed  to  be  the  prices  for  which  cheese 
is  soiling  and  if  the  price  currents  publish  the  exact 
selling  price,  the  dealer  in  New  York  would  be  obliged 
to  settle  with  his  creameries  at  the  selling  price  plus 
the  premium.  Of  course,  they  would  be  unable  to  do 
this  except  by  losing  money  on  every  pound  of  cheese 
that  they  are  selling  during  the  storing  season,  and 
they  would  also  ho  obliged  to  store  cheese  at  the  actual 
selling  price  based  on  the  law  of  supply  and  demand 
at  the  time. 
The  surplus  of  cheese  during  the  storing  season  does 
not  exceed  15%  of  the  production,  and  the  85%  goes 
into  an  immediate  and  regular  consumption.  It  is  evi¬ 
dent,  therefore,  that  if  the  cheese  producers  would  store 
15%  of  their  product  during  the  season  of  greatest 
production,  being  from  June  to  September,  inclusive, 
and  sell  their  regular  supply  on  the  open  market,  they 
would  be  able  to  maintain  regular  prices  during  the 
Summer  and  prevent  the  speculators  from  manipulat¬ 
ing  the  prices  of  cheese  downward,  during  the  season 
of  surplus.  As  soon  as  the  storing  season  is  over, 
which  will  be  about  November  1st,  these  same  manipu¬ 
lators  who  are  now  forcing  the  price  down  will  meet 
in  the  same  corners,  with  the  same  whispered  conversa¬ 
tions,  and  begin  to  manipulate  the  price  upward. 
We  want  the  effect  of  this  premium  quotation  to 
sink  into  the  minds  of  producers  everywhere,  Its  ef¬ 
fect  is  the  same  on  every  line  of  produce  sold  in  the 
big  city  markets.  A  dealer  in  live  poultry  recently  tes¬ 
tified  in  a  hearing  conducted  by  the  Department  of 
Foods  and  Markets  that  no  premium  could  be  paid  by 
the  dealer  unless  Iip  was  able  to  control  the  price  cur¬ 
rent  publishers.  He  testified  that  the  premium  was 
a  fiction,  a  swindle  and  a  fraud.  Premiums  are  paid 
by  commission  men,  wholesale  dealers  aud  speculators 
in  the  New  York  market  over  and  above  the  quotations 
published  in  the  t'rner-Barry  Price  Current  on  butter, 
eggs,  cheese,  live  and  dressed  poultry  as  well  as  many 
other  commodities.  The  premiums,  so  called,  are  paid 
mostly  to  Western  producers.  The  quotations  are  made 
low  enough  so  that  the  dealer  can  sell  above  the  quota¬ 
tion  and  settle  with  the  shipper  for  less  than  the  New 
York  selling  price.  The  Eastern  shipper  is  expected 
to  he  satisfied  with  the  top  quotation  which  is  less 
than  the  city  selling  price  and  less  than  the  Western 
producer  receives.  Neither  Eastern  nor  Western  pro¬ 
ducer  gets  the  actual  selling  price  in  New  York.  Some 
dealers  aud  publishers  of  price  currents  will  call  this 
statement  by  a  hard  but  short  name.  If  you  want  to 
know  how  mild  this  statement  really  is  read  the  rec¬ 
ord  of  the  investigation  of  the  New  York  Mercantile 
Exchange  iu  the  office  of  the  Attorney  General  in  Al¬ 
bany. 
Land  Bank  Bonds  as  Security 
Hon.  George  I.  Skinner,  First  Deputy  Superintend¬ 
ent  of  Insurance,  states  in  a  recent  letter  that  notes 
legally  issued  by  savings  and  loan  associations  are  se¬ 
cured  by  five  times  the  amount  of  the  loan.  Under 
the  amended  law  the  Laud  Bauk  bonds  are  legal  in¬ 
vestments  for  Savings  Bank  funds  and  Mr.  Skinner 
says:  “If  the  savings  banks  can  be  made  to  realize  the 
great  security  afforded  by  the’  bonds  of  the  Land  Bank 
of  the  State  of  New  York  upon  promissory  notes  of 
savings  and  loan  associations,  the  two  mutual  saving 
systems  of  the  State  can,  in  my  judgment-  be  to  a 
very  great  extent  unified  and  harmonized  and  the  prob¬ 
lems  of  the  State  with  reference  to  a  system  of  rural 
credits  solved. 
“The  savings  hanks  of  the  State  have  total  resources 
of  nearly  two  billions  of  dollars.  While  they  have  been 
called  the  banks  of  the  poor,  they  have  been  criticized 
for  not  making  loans  to  small  borrowers,  either  farm¬ 
ers  or  home-builders.  The  investment  of  the  great  sums 
accumulated  by  savings  banks  has  made  it  practically 
impossible  for  them  to  make  small  loans,  as  (he  neces¬ 
sary  attention  to  details  would  greatly  increase  ex¬ 
penses  and  reduce  the  dividends  to  depositors.  The  or¬ 
ganizations  of  savings  Ininks  have  not  been  adapted  to 
this  purpose,  and  the  funds  accumulated  from  small 
savers  have  been  invested  in  railroad  bonds,  municipal 
bonds,  mortgages  upon  office  buildings  or  other  large 
pieces  of  real  estate.  The  organization  of  local  sav¬ 
ings  and  loan  associations,  however,  is  peculiarly  adapt¬ 
ed  to  making  small  loans  to  members,  to  fanners  in 
rural  districts  as  well  as  to  home  builders  in  the  vil¬ 
lages  and  cities.  Savings  aud  Loan  Associations  have 
been  compelled  to  pay  upon  investment  shares  divi¬ 
dends  of  at  least,  five  per  centum  per  annum,  in  order 
to  obtain  funds,  while  at  the  present  time,  savings 
banks  are  obliged  to  pay  a  premium  for  good  bonds 
bearing  four  and  one-fourth  to  four  aud  one-half  per 
cent,  interest. 
“The  savings  banks,  moreover,  are  in  great  need  of 
short  term  investments  such  as  the  demand  notes  of 
savings  and  loan  associations  would  afford,  although 
the  same  notes  might  run  for  a  long  period,  if  the  bor¬ 
rowing  and  loaning  institutions  were  satisfied  to  leave 
them  in  that  condition,  quarterly  or  semi-annual  in¬ 
terest  being  provided  for.  If  the  full  advantage  of  an 
interchange  of  funds  anil  the  safety  afforded  is  once 
863 
appreciated,  the  great  resources  of  savings  banks  w 
be  made  available  for  real  estate  loans  to  the  same  class 
of  citizens  from  which  they  have  been  so  largely  ac¬ 
cumulated  and  the  problem  of  comparatively  cheap 
money  for  real  estate  loans  would  seem  to  be  solved.” 
Auction  Notes 
The  range  of  prices  in  the  sales  by  the  Department 
of  Foods  and  .Markets  is  indicated  in  the  following  re¬ 
port.  There  has  been  some  request,  for  information  as 
to  the  condition  and  quality  of  the  goods  on  which  quo¬ 
tations  are  made.  There  has  also  been  some  opposi¬ 
tion  to  going  into  detail.  The  inspector’s  report  is 
kept  for  the  information  of  the  shipper,  and  the  name 
and  address  of  the  buyers  are  always  available.  To 
attempt  to  describe  every  item  in  a  report  of  sales 
would  be  a  big  undertaking,  especially  as  the  shipments 
increase  as  they  promise  to  do  in  the  very  near  future. 
As  a  matter  of  fact  the  price  always  reflects  the  quality 
in  an  auction  market.  Growers  who  have  visited  the 
auction  have  invariably  observed  this.  It  is,  of  course, 
true  of  other  sales  as  well  that  the  price  indicates  the 
quality  of  the  sale  as  a  whole.  But  the  difference  is 
this.  At  the  auction  aud  in  the  Department  private 
sales,  each  lot  of  a  mark,  and  each  shipper’s  lot  is 
sold  by  itself  on  its  own  merits.  There  is  no  attempt 
to  work  off  a  poor  lot  and  get.  rid  of  it  by  putting  it  in 
with  another  lot  or  mark  of  better  quality.  The  poor 
or  damaged  stuff  sells  for  what  it  will  bring  in  com¬ 
petition  and  the  good  and  fancy  marks  have  a  fair 
show  for  the  best  price  the  conditions  will  warrant  or 
permit. 
The  indications  now  are  that  the  Department  will 
soon  have  large  shipments  of  cherries  and  other  small 
fruits.  It  is  making  preparations  to  handle  them  at 
auction,  in  early  morning  sales  and  to  advertise  the 
good  quality  of  these  fruits  to  the  consumers.  The 
crop  promises  to  he  large,  but  New  York  is  a  great 
market,  and  with  proper  distribution  the  city  will  ab¬ 
sorb  large  quantities  of  good  sound  fruit. 
Recent  sales  are  as  follows: 
EGGS. 
1  ease  duck  eggs  . $0.28 
14  case  duck  eggs . 27 
5  doz.  duck  eggs . 27 
10  2-3  doz.  duck  eggs  . 27 
3  crates  hen  . 27 
42  crates  . 20 
44  crates  . 2514 
50  crates  . 25 
32  crates  . 2414 
27  crates  . . 24 
1  crate  . 23 
1  crate  . 22 
07 
7 
21 
45 
10 
52 
87 
07 
0 
21 
34 
POULTRY. 
coops  broilers  . 
lbs.  fowl  . 
lbs.  old  cocks  . 
lbs.  fowl  . 
lbs.  old  cocks  . 
squabs  . 
lbs.  fowl  . 
lbs.  poultry  . 
lbs.  fowl  ‘ . 
squabs  . 
lbs.  poultry  . 
lbs.  broilers  . 
VEGETABLES. 
$0.34 
.21 
.14 
.18 
.15 
2.50 
OO 
.»>•> 
.21 
3.50 
114 
doz.  bunches  asparagus  . 
$2.00 
4 
bbls.  beaus,  Ss3  lbs.,  per  cwt . 
9.20 
1 
bag  beans,  75  lbs . 
.08 
•> 
o 
boxes  vegetables,  per  box . 
.75 
1 
crate  asparagus  . 
2.50 
1 
crate  asparagus.  2  doz.  bunches . 
2.25 
1 
basket  spinach  . 
.50 
14 
baskets  lettuce  . 
1.40 
•> 
boxes  asparagus  . 
1.75 
i 
crate  asparagus,  22  bunches,  per  bunch. 
.12  v. 
l 
bag  beans,  88  lbs . 
.061/, 
o 
doz.  bunches  asparagus,  per  doz.  bunch.. 
1.75 
9 
baskets  string  beaus . 
1.00 
l 
basket  string  beans  . 
2 
doz.  hunches  asparagus,  per  doz.  bunch.. 
2.50 
314 
doz.  bunches  asparagus,  per  doz.  bunch.. 
1.50 
9 
doz.  hunches  asparagus,  per  doz.  bunch.. 
1.25 
1 
doz.  bunches  asparagus  . . 
2.00 
3  10-12  doz.  bunches  asparagus,  per  doz . 
2.25 
1 
crate  asparagus  . . 
2.50 
1 
crate  asparagus  . . 
2.00 
1 
crate  asparagus  . 
2.00 
2 
doz.  bunches  asparagus,  per  doz.  bunches. 
2.75 
BUTTER. 
126 
lbs . 
80  27  V. 
32 
lbs . 
.27  “ 
1 
box,  11  ll>s.  . 
.24 14 
28 
lbs . 
.28  " 
10 
lbs . 
.24  V, 
15 
lbs . 
.2414 
ss 
lbs . . . 
227 
FRUITS. 
3  82-qt.  crates  strawberries,  per  qt . $0.00 
1  82-qt.  crate  strawberries,  per  qt . 10 
3  82-qt.  crates  strawberries,  per  qt . 08 
5  82-qt.  crates  stra wherries,  per  qt . 10 
1  32-qt.  crate  strawberries,  per  qt . 1714 
DRESSED  MEATS. 
2  Hogs.  200  lbs . 80.13 
1  Calf.  81  lbs . 1514 
1  Calf,  83  lbs.  . 1614 
Liver,  etc . 40 
1  Calf.  110  lbs . 17 
1  Calf,  106  lbs . 1714 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
3  gallons  maple  syrup  . $1.00 
