3464-40

RELATION OF NUMBER OF GROCERY STORES TO SALES VOLUME

In speaking before the New York Wholesale Grocery Association recently, Mr. J. W. Millard, aistribution cost specialist of the Domestic Commerce Division, Department of Commerce, Drew upon the data procured through the trial censuses of aistribution to explain the respective contributions to total sales by various sized businesses. This information is summarized in the following chart:

SOLID CARBON DIOXIDE AS A COMMERCIAL REFRIGERANT

Solid carbon dioxide, which has a Fahrenheit temperature of 109° to 114° below zero, as a result of the development of better and cheaper methods of manufacturing, has received much attention recently as a possible commercial refrigerant for railway cars, cold-storage houses, and ship holds. Solid carbon dioxide, when warmed, takes the form of gas, and in this change from the solid to the gaseous state it has about twice the cooling effect which the same weight of water ice has upon melting. In addition to this, the cold carbon dioxide gas has a blanketing effect which, under certain conditions, greatly increases the refrigerating efficiency. Solid carbon dioxide sells at a higher price than water ice, but it has greater cooling power and is free from drip, features which make it attractive for certain uses. The uses to which it has been put most extensively are the shipping of ice cream, and other tests with frozen fish and meat. But there is at present no information upon experiments to show that the substance is satisfactory for refrigerating fresh fruits and vegetables.

The Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Department of Agriculture, states: "In the popular discussions of carbon dioxide as a refrigerant, the botanical side of the problem has been overlooked, and, so far as fresh fruits and vegetables are concerned, this is the most important phase of the whole subject. The present method of using solid carbon dioxide presupposes the exposure of the food products to the gas, and no attention seems to have been paid to the effect of the gas on the fruit. When fruits and vegetables are removed from the parent plant or dug from the ground they are still alive, and remain so during shipment and storage, or as long as the fresh product is in a marketable condition. Like other living material, they are carrying on respiration, taking up oxygen and giving off carbon dioxide. The harmful possibilities of high percentages of carbon dioxide are apparent and are well established in botanical literature."

The statement continues by mentioning various publications which indicate that the flavor or physical condition of strawberries, peaches, potatoes, cranberries, and apples are endangered by over-exposure to carbon dioxide. The weight of the evidence is to the effect that fresh fruits and vegetables cannot be exposed to carbon dioxide gas for any considerable period without danger of harmful effects.

CANDY JOBBERS QUIT COMBINATION TO CONTROL JOBBING BUSINESS

Frustration of a combination organized for control of the candy jobbing business in a certain territory was disclosed by the details of a stipulation proceeding announced recently by the Federal Trade Commission. Two corporations, two individuals, and one partnership, doing business as wholesalers of confections, were charged with making agreements for the purpose of controlling the candy trade in their territory by cutting off the supply of candy and confections from other wholesalers and jobbers in the vicinity. This was accomplished by refusing to buy from any and all manufacturers of such commodities who sold to the other wholesalers and jobbers. To various manufacturers of candy the respondents furnished lists of so-called "legitimate" jobbers and "illegitimate" jobbers in the vicinity and notified the manufacturers that they, the respondents, had jointly decided to "discontinue handling the products of any manufacturer, regardless of who he is or what he manufactures", as long as he sells to the "illegitimate" jobbers. In accordance with the stiuplation agreement, the respondent consented to cease and desist from the practices designated.

STUDY OF LABOR IN THE SLAUGHTERING AND MEAT PACKING INDUSTRY

A study of hours of employment and earnings in the slaughtering and meat packing industry during 1927 has just been completed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U. S. Department of Labor, and has been published in the April issue of the monthly Labor Review. This study covers 86 plants. The hourly earnings of male workers averaged 52 cents in 1927 compared with 50.7 cents in 1925, and for female workers 36.4 cents as compared with 35.9 cents. The average full-time hours per week in 1927 averaged 49.3 for males and 49.1 for females. These data are detailed by specific occupation within the industry, both male and female, and also by eight districts including plants in various parts of the country.

FLORIDA SETS UP GYPSUM BLOCKS AND PLASTER INDUSTRY

Plans have been announced for the erection in Tampa, Florida, of a plant for the manufacture of gypsum blocks and plaster. This plant is to be operated in conjunction with the company's present factory for the manufacture of triple superphosphate, a fertilizer. The use of gypsum blocks, it is said, has been confined heretofore principally to large buildings of fireproof construction. Owing to the plans of this particular plant to utilize as raw material the by-products of the fertilizer factory, the company expects to set a comparatively low cost for the gypsum blocks and thus to popularize their use in partitions of ordinary frame buildings. The manufacture of building materials in Florida appears to be increasing and to be supplying some part of the building industry which previously depended on building materials imported from other states or from foreign countries.

(Jacksonville District Office)

REPORT MANUFACTURING ACTIVITIES OF OMAHA DURING 1927

According to a survey conducted by the Omaha Chamber of Commerce, manufacturing, during 1927, in that city resulted in the reduction of commodities valued at $380,615,000. A total of 779 manufacturing establishments gave employment to 26,570 employees whose annual compensation amounted to $38,650,-000. The chief industry in point of value of product and number of employees was the packing house industry which employed more than 6,000 persons and turned out products valued at over $197,000,000. The industries next, in order of importance named, were: shop, metal and machine products; cream industries; food products; milling; and printing. The value of the products of these industries ranged between $10,000,000 and $27,000,000.

(Des Moines District Office)

VIRGINIA, WITH NEW PLANT, SEEKS LEAD IN RAYON INDUSTRY

It is claimed that the establishment of a $10,000,000 plant at Covington, will make Virginia the leading state in the production of rayon. It is said that the total output of the plants now built or in process of building and expansion, will in full operation reach $50,000,000 a year, compared with the annual production value of $2,000,000 ten years ago. Virginia's progress in rayon manufacture is said to be due to the establishment of new plants and increased capacity of others, among them leaders in this industry.

(Norfolk District Office)