The Dallas post. (Dallas, Pa.) 19??-200?, April 26, 1935, Image 6

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THE DALLAS pos, DALLAS, PA,
FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 1935.
"CLEAR:
By Emilie Loring |
2
47;
~~
~
’
Sa
. WLN.L.
SERVICE
7 ; CHAPTER
The automobile Turched over deeply
gutted roads. When it didn’t lurch, it
skidded. A cold, bone-penetrating fog
transformed trees into ghostly giants,
houses into weird dwarfs and filled
‘the world. Moisture dripped from
‘twigs and branches. The faint far
moan of a buoy drifted through the
‘grayness with melancholy monotony.
~The smell of the sea crept behind the
~ slackly fastened side curtains of the
car. The lean, angular driver stopped
‘the engine and climbed out.
“What is the matter, Mr. Puffer?”
~ Prudence Schuyler inquired from the
cavernous gloom: of the back seat.
“Tires leaky. Guess they’ll hold out
till we get there, though.”
His passenger valiantly swallowed
an exclamation of concern. She patted
encouragement on the hand of the
woman beside her. She really needed
someone to pull her spirit out of the
pit of depression, she told herself.
A motor purred alongside.
“That you, Si? What's the matter?
Tire trouble? Flat?”
The voice was hollow, muffled, a
man’s voice. Shut within the cur-
tained car, Prudence could see nothing
‘but the uncanny mist.
“*Tain’t flat yet.”
From the gruffness of his answer
she judged that Mr. Puffer did not
‘care for the person who had hailed
“him,
“Has the girl come?”
There was eagerness in the ques-
tion, a hint of anxiety, more than a
(hint of arrogance. If the wheel un-
‘der her could talk, she would have
said that its shake was warning her
‘to keep quiet, Prudence decided.
“Gorry-me, you wouldn't expect city
(folks to come to the country in this
storm, would you? Whatta mean fis,
guess she'll get to the red brick house
*bout tomorrow.”
The red brick house! Her house!
‘The voice in the fog was inquiring
| for her, Prudence Schuyler! Why had
Mr. Puffer evaded the question? She
‘watched him as he resumed his seat.
“Phone me the minute she arrives,
si”
A grunt from the man at the wheel
was the only response. A red tail
light shot into the golden mist of its
| own powerful headlights and dwindled
to a spark.
Prudence leaned forward. “Was
. that voice, which sounded like a de-
; | mon of the fog, inquiring for me, Mr.
, Puffer?”
{ “Yep.”
| “Why did you sidetrack him? Why
{tell him that I was arriving tomor-
} row 7”
“Gorry-me, you wait an’ you'll see,
i Miss Schuyler. Whatta mean is, by
| tomorrow you'll have kinder got yer
bearin’s an’ll know what to say. Len
'Calloway’ll tie you up tight to him,
if he can.”
“Tie me up! You're not alluding to
a matrimonial tie by any chance, are
you?”
The driver looked back. . “Glad to
hear you laugh. When I met you at
the station, I was afraid you was go-
ing to break out cryin’. It sure is a
~ mean night for you to arrive. Not
much further to go.
the Gerard place now.”
It was evident that he considered
the voice in the fog a closed incident.
Couldn't he feel that she was fairly
tingling with curiosity? Prudence
asked herself. She had better seem
indifferent. She said lightly. :
“I'm glad to know there 18° some:
thing tangible to pass.”
“ain't always like this; just wait
till the sun shines. Gerard Is your
neighbor on the east, that is, if you
can call it being a neighbor when the
houses are two miles apart. His
folks come down only for the summer,
put I reckon you've come to stay,
judgin’ by the truck load of stuff I
carted up to the red brick house the
other day.”
For no reason she could explain to
herself, Prudence Schuyler evaded an
answer. With the intention of turning
the driver's attention from her affairs,
she suggested:
“Tell me about the Gerard family.”
Her ruse succeeded. “I'll tell you
"about the Gerards; perhaps ‘twill take
your mind off the rough going. The
estate, which includes plane landing
field, golf links, mountain streams, an’
‘bout two miles of pond shore besides
the sea front, belongs to Rod Gerard.
His name’s Rodney, but the towns-
people call him Rod. He's one of
those rich fellers you read about who
fly airplanes, own a string of polo
ponies, an’ have a vally to bring up
their breakfast, crease their pants,
an’ lay out their pink silk pajamas—
but he ain’t a bit stuck-up.”
“Sounds like a first family of Holly-
wood.”
“Whatta mean is, folks here think a
lot of Rod, but he has an older brother
Walter an’ that brother has a wife.
‘Walt was the son by old man Gerard's
We're passing
first marriage; that wife didn’t have
any money, neither did he. After she
died, Gerard, who was a handsome,
gifted man, married an heiress and
Rod's their child. They built a house
of stone and oak on a high ledge;
that's the name of the place—High
Ledges.”
“It has a sort of approach-if-you-
dare sound.”
“As' I was sayin’, Rod's mother
loved every inch of the land, turned’
abandoned quarry holes into gardens.
She and her husband are buried in one
of them. Old man Gerard died, then
she went several years ago, and Rod—
well, Rod was just out of law school
and crazy about flying when he came
into a big fortune; perhaps you've met
fellers like that.”
“Just like that!” Prudence concurred
bitterly, and hoped in the next second
that the man had not noticed the sting
in her voice.
“He didn’t show up ‘here for two
years after he lost his mother. Then
last June he opened the place, and
who’d he bring with him but Walt
Gerard and his wife and little girl.
Walt lit out pretty quick, but the Mrs.
seized the reins of management and
how she did drive. She’s one of them
women who’s so busy helpin’ God run
his world that she lets her own folks
get along as best they can. She’s all
a-twitter, winks one of her cold blue
eyes when she thinks she’s bein’
smart; before you've been talkin’ to
her five minutes, she'll lug in a re-
mark about ‘my cousin, the ambassa-
dor.’ She kept the house full of com-
pany all summer, young folks, but the
girls were so homely they'd have
stopped even one of them electric
clocks which is supposed to run for-
ever. She's a wise one.”
Prudence temporarily forgot the fog,
the reason for her coming.
“I hadn’t supposed there were any
‘homely girls’ now, they know so well
how to look like a million. Why is
Mrs. Walter Gerard wise? Not be-
cause she doesn’t care for beauty?”
“Whatta mean is, Walt, her hus-
band, is handsome as a movie actor.
She is tall, with horses’ teeth and a
kind of horse-shaped face. Guess she
was handsome once—the women here
say she’s a nifty dresser—must have
been or Walt never would have mar-
ried her. He—well, he knows where
the corn crib is. Their kid is thirteen
years old. She's cute, but that curi-
ous that folks lock up everything
when they see her coming. Rod's aw-
ful good to her and she worships him.
The. Walt Gerards haven't much
money. Rod gives them an income.
That's another reason his sister-in-
law doesn’t want pretty girls around.
'Twould upset her apple cart terrible
if he should marry.” -
“Has Mr. Rodney Gerard no mind of
his own?”
“Yes—yes, he has,
mother passed away,
lazy; besides, he’s got the idea some
girl will marry him for his money.”
Puffer’s voice deepened with affec-
but since his
Prudence Schuyler’s Throat Tight-
ened as She Blinked at the Red
Brick House She Had Inherited.
tionate anxiety. “You see, he has all
he can spend. This is, I'm guessing
so. Perhaps he thinks, why should I
work now an’ take a job from some-
one else?
“Here we are, Miss Schuyler, this is
your uncle’s place. I forgot; it’s yours
now. Sorry you had such a tough
night to arrive.”
He stopped the car in the road be-
fore brick gateposts and sounded a
lugubrious horn. In response, the
house door opened and let out a
stream of yellow light; a soft, cush-
fony voice called:
“That you, Si?”
“That's Mother—my wife,” Puffer
explained, as he unfastened the cur:
“Does he?’ Jane Mack's eyes
snapped. “I love mystery and gangster
' pictures.”
Rod’s kinder
tains on Prudence’s side of the car,
He helped her out, then extended a
bony hand to the gaunt woman who
seemed to unfold like an extension
ladder as, she stepped cautiously to
the ground.
Prudence Schuyler’s throat tightened
as she blinked at the red brick house
she had inherited. Its white trim, its
hooded doorway glowed faintly through
the fog with a sort of phosphorescence.
A woman, designed on the feather-
bed plan, with an extra chin or two in
the best Rembrandt manner, greeted
her in the hall. She looked quickly
away from the girl’s face, patted her
arm with motherly understanding,
“Come right in and wash and take
off your hat. Supper’s all ready,
dearie. When you get something to
eat, things’ll look different. Life can
seem awful dark and dreary on an
empty stomach.”
Prudence achieved a smile. “Thank
you, Mrs. Puffer, This is Jane Mack,
who has come to help me keep house.
She has been a standby in our family
since the first day she came to make:
little girl frocks for me. Will you tell
her where to find things, please?”
As the two women disappeared,
Prudence lingered in the hall, slipped
out of her rain coat, pulled off her
close turban. She entered the room on
her right. Her brown eyes, already
black from emotion, dilated as she
saw herself reflected in the long old-
fashioned pier glass between the win-
dows,
“Not too bad.” She made a gamin
face at the looking-glass girl, before she
turned to inspect her surroundings.
The room was cozy, homey. Her
spirit stirred damp wings. Her back-
to-the-farm venture might not prove
the flop it had seemed a few moments
ago.
The dining room was cheery with
crackling logs in the Franklin fire-
place when she entered a few mo-
ments later. A huge platter of savory |
beef stew, garnished with fluffy white |
dumplings flanked by piles of plummy
brown bread, gave out an appetizing
aroma. For the first time she had left
New York Prue's heart felt warm.
“Oh, how tempting! Come, Macky,
aren’t you starved? Mrs, Puffer, won't |
you sit with us and serve? It will
seem more homey to have you here.”
Stark, thin-lipped Jane Mack, her
high cheek bones flaunting red flags of
excitement, took her seat with an
air of being about to commit a social
blunder. The rosy-faced stout woman
plumped into her chair with a con-
tented sigh.
“Dearie, I'll do just that.’ After an
interval devoted to serving and eat-
ing, she sympathized: “Hope you
didn’t mind the trip from the railroad
station. Seven miles isn’t far, but it's
a long way to drive over a strange
road in a fog.”
“Only seven! I thought it must at
least have been a thousand.” The
satisfying food was ringing up the
curtain of depression. “That is un-
grateful when Mr. Puffer diverted our
thoughts by most interesting descrip-
tions of our neighbors.”
Jane Mack made her ome contribu-
tion to the conversation. ;
“Do you have movies here, Mrs.
Puffer?”
“Three times a week in the village.
The manager tries to show the films
people want to see.”
Prudence gazed at the thin face
in speechless amazement. She “had
known the woman almost all her life,
but had she been taking her to a pic-
ture, she would have selected one with
de luxe settings and smart frocks.
How little one could tell what was
going on in a person’s mind, even the
mind of someone near and dear. She
said aloud:
“Now we'll help clear away and do|
the dishes.”
“Not you, dearie. You go into what
your uncle called the living room, and
set. If Miss Mack wants to lend a
hand, perhaps she’ll be more content-
ed to be busy.”
Curled In the depths of a wing
chair before the purring fire, Prudence
looked about the room—indubitably a
man’s room—which almost over night
had become hers. It had the musty
smell of furniture drenched with stale
tobacco smoke. There was an air of
mystery about the closed secretary.
When her uncle had last sat at that
desk, had he felt the faint far breath
of eternity blowing toward him?
Her interested eyes wandered on.
Above the mantel hung the one picture
the room presented: a delicately col-
ored engraving of Franklin at the
court of France. Benjamin, stage cen-
ter, bent his head to receive a wreath
from the gorgeously appareled Count-
ess Polinac; while from a divan,
Louis the Sixteenth and Marfe An-
toinette looked on with royal indiffer.
ence.
They all had been real once, the
girl mused; they had held their heads
high while their hearts broke, they
had smiled through tragedy, while she,
with youth, health, opportunity, and
her brother, had fairly wallowed in
self-pity these last few weeks.
She sprang to her feet. “I'll make a
vow, now, that from this moment I
foreswear self-pity. I will regard this
experience at—at—what shall I name
the place which has a lift to it? I
know! Prosperity farm!- Grand!—at
Prosperity farm as an adventure
which will lead to health for David
and great, good fortune.
“I thought I was coming to a tread-
mill of endless monotonies, and with-
in the first hour a hollow volce—which
set little merry pranks pricking through
my veins—rumbles through the fog:
“ ‘Has the girl come?
“Meaning me. Why does the man
want to know the moment I arrive?
emma
to him’? That was an interesting bit
of biography Mr. Puffer volunteered
about our neighbors. I'm willing to
wager my first crop of chickens that
I shall detest the Gerard heir. Rich
playboy. I have no illusions about his
type. If I meet him, I'll be colder
than an electric ice-box running on
high. Also something tells me that
Mrs. Walt and I will be antagonistic
from the start. Maybe, though, I
won’t meet her; maybe she won't see
her farming neighbor even as a dot on
her social horizon.”
“Miss Prue, I'm ready to go up
now,” lean, lank Jane Mack announced
from the threshold. ‘*‘Mrs. Puffer
showed me where to find the supplies.
I guess she’ll be a good neighbor. Wish
I hadn't seen that procession in my
tea cup, though.”
“Now, Macky, don’t look for trouble
in tea grounds; haven't we had enough
fairly sitting in our laps these last
weeks without. hunting out more?
Come on up, let's see the rest of the
house.”
Interest in Prue’s eyes glowed into
excited anticipation as they went from
room to room.
“Macky, think of having a whole
house in which to spread out after
years in an apartment! We'll make
it a dream. We will warm it with
color till it makes hearts glow just to
come into it.”
A faint pink crept under the wom-
an’s skin. Her washed-out eyes shone
with a lovely light.
“You'll make hearts glow all right,
Miss Prue. Your brother said to me
just before we left the apartment,
‘I'm not afraid for Prue. She'll make
a home wherever she is. She’s like
her mother.” ”
Prue slipped her hand within the
crook of the woman's thin arm and for
an instant pressed her cheek against |
her hard shoulder.
“lI suppose there isn’t a person in
this village who doesn’t know that my
brother's wife ran away with my sis-
ter’s husband,” she said in a muffled
voice,
“There,
they do?
there, Miss
"Twasn’t
Prue,
your
suppose
If folks here know about it at all, they
know that. If you make too much of
it, they may think there's something
back of it all you're ashamed of. I
know folks.”
Prudence smiled and patted the
woman's bony hand before she entered
the room she had selected for herself.
Long after she had extinguished the
light, she lay with wide-open eyes
staring at the fog which hung like a
curtain of gray gauze before the wide-
open window. She watched the steamy
fringe of water dripping from the win-
dow as she lived over the last weeks.
As if his heart had not been sufficient-
ly uprooted by the desertion and tragic
death of his wife, David, whose health
had been undermined by service over-
seas, had been ordered to give up work
and live in the country.
The country! The inexorable com-
mand had staggered her at first. How
could they go with no money for liv-
ing? When the crash” had come in
their fortunes six months before, she
had opened a studio and had worked
professionally at what had heen a de-
lightful avocation—the craft of de-
signer and maker of jewelry and silver
boxes. Each month had seen an in-
crease in the number and importance
of her orders; then had come the com-
mand to go to the country, which had
meant that she must give up her shop.
While she was struggling with her
problems and doggedly assuring her-
self that she would find a way to re-
lieve the situation, a way opened, but
not from her effort. Her father’s
brother, Austin Schuyler, had invested
part of his small fortune in an an-
nuity, then had made the dream of
years come true by buying and stock-
ing a Maine farm with the remainder.
For the first time in his life, he had
sald, he had what he wanted—and
then one morning he didn’t waken. He
had willed the Maine property and
five thousand dollars in cash to his
niece Prudence.
The legacy had providentially an-
swered the on to the country problem.
Now that the strain was eased, she
had but a confused rémembrance of
the days during which she had cleared
and sub-leased the apartment. At the
last moment, Jane Mack had begged
to go with her. Her eyes were giving
out for sewing, she had said, but she
knew almost everything there was to
know about a house—she had been
trained by a New England mother.
Prudence had hugged her in her re-
lef. Jane Mack might be grim and
a confirmed pessimist but she could
cook, while she herself farmed and, if
opportunity and time allowed, worked
at her craft.
Could’ she afford to keep Si Puffer
as helper on the place? her thoughts
ran on. She couldn't afford not to at
present. Already he had stood like
a guardian angel between her and the
voice in the fog; how he had growled
the name, “Len Calloway!” What had
the man wanted? Something in his
demand had antagonized her. *To-
morrow” was almost here. Soon she
would know.
The muslin hangings swung into the
room like two frail, transparent wings.
Had the wind changed?
She ran to the window. The fog
had cleared as if by magic. With a
surge of indefinable longing, the girl
looked up at the star-punctured
heavens. With a shaky laugh at her
own absurdity, she flung out her
hands toward the man in the moon,
“Your excellency, I thank you for
this royal welcome! Prue of Pros
perity farm salutes you!”
(Continued Next Week.)
brother |
| David’s fault nor your sister Julie's.
Why will he try to ‘tie me up tight
hi
USE
CLASSIFIED COLUMN
The Editor,
The Dallas Post,
Dallas, Pa.
In a recent issue of another news-
paper there was a report of a Com-
mittee who visited the County Com-
missioners at Wilkes-Barre, The state-
ment was incorrect and we, the Officers
and Members of the Dallas Borough
and Dallas Township Unemployed Lea-
gue Branch No. 31 desire to make this
correction relative to the visit of said
committee to the County Commission-
ers about the Project which is to begin
shortly in our community and is to
employ in the neighborhood of 300 men.
It is true that Burgess Wagner of
Dallas Borough arranged the meeting
with the Commissioners but it is not
true that he was the, spokesman for the
committee, neither did he have any-
thing to say other than to introduce
the committee to the County Commis-
sioners, This committee was composed
of members of the Unemployed League
from Lehman Township, Lake Town-
ship, Dallas Borough and Dallas Town-
ship and Mr. Disque, the chairman of
the 6th Legislative District and the
Rev. A. A. Mahler and the Rev. S. R.
Nichols, ministers who are deeply in-
terested in thig particular matter be-
cause it is going to give employment
to some 300 men and will be a great
benefit to the Back Mountain people
{who have been out of work so long. Mr.
| Nichols was chosen as spokesman for
the committee and in a few well chosen
words he laid before the County Com-
missioners the plan to have the Back
Mountain districts taken care of first,
|
and received the assurance that the
{| County Commissioners would do all in
{their power for the men of ‘the Back
' Mountain Districts.
‘We, the Unemployed League Com-
mittee, feel that Burgess Wagner
should have corrected this false state-
ment himself and not allowed the Un-
employed League to do so.
Arthur Updyke, Sect.
LEGAL ADVERTISEMENTS
7!
SHERIFF'S SALE
FRIDAY, MAY 3, 1935,
AT 10 A. M.
By virtue of a writ of Fi Fa, No. 129,
March Term, 1935, issued out of the
Court of Common Pleas of Luzerne
County, to me directed, there will be
exposed to public sale by vendue to the,
highest and best bidders, for cash, at|
the Sheriff’s Sales Room, Court House,
in the City of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne
County, Pennsylvania, on Friday, the
3rd day of May, 1935, at ten o'clock in
the forenoon of the said day, all the
right, title and interest of the defen-
dant in and to the following described
lot, piece or parcel of land, viz:—
All the surface or right of soil of all
that certain piece or parcel of land sit-
uate in the Borough of Dorranceton,
Luzerne County, Pa., bounded and des-
cribed as follows:
Said piece of land fronting on the
southwest side of Union Street. Beg-
inning at a common corner of lots Nos.
109 and 110, thence by line of the same
South 53 degrees 36 minutes West 183
feet to an alley, which has an laid out
width of 20 and .26 feet; thence along
said alley South 36 degrees 24 minutes
East 25 feet; thence North 53 degrees
86 minutes East 183 feet to Union
Street; thence along said Union Street
North 36 degrees 24 minutes West 25
feet to the corner of lots Nos. 109 and
10 the place of beginning,
Improved with a frame dwelling
known as 84 Union Street, Kingston,
Pa,
Seized and taken into execution at
the suit of Elizabeth Gabel, widow, vs.
Venora A. Wheeler, widow, with notice
to Gilbert Wheeler, et ux. terre ten-
ants, and will be sold by
LUTHER M. KNIFFEN,
Sheriff.
J. F. McCabe, Att'y.
SHERIFF'S SALE
FRIDAY, MAY 3, 1935,
AT 10 A. M.
By virtue of a writ of Alias Fi Fa No.
125 May Term, 1935, issued out of the
Court of Common Pleas of Luzerne
County, to me directed, there will be
exposed to public sale by vendue to the
highest and best bidders, for cash, at
the Sheriff's Sales Room, Court House,
in the City of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne
County, Pensylvania, on Friday, the 3rd
day of May, 1935, at ten o'clock in the
forenoon of the said day, all the right,
title and interest of the defendant in
and to the following described lot, piece
or parcel of land, viz:—
Being nineteen and one-quarter acres
of land in Dallas Township fronting on
the West side of the Daflas-Tunkhan- |
Having!
nock Highway, Route 92.
thereon two outbuildings, one spring,
foundation wall, fruit trees, etc. Bound-
ed on the south by lands of Clay Price
and on the north by Marvin Elston,
At the suit of Tilo Roofing Company
vs. Ann Peterson.
LUTHER M. KNIFFEN,
Sheriff.
Peter P, Jurchak, Attorney.
IN THE ORPHANS’ COURT OF
LEGAL NOTICE
LUZERNE COUNTY, No. 487 of 1934.
IN RE:
Estate of Fred Wilkins, Deceased.
To the Heirs, Legatees, Creditors and
ther Persons interested in said Estate:
Notice is hereby given that James R.
Oliver, Executor, hag filed in the office
of the Clerk of the Court, his petition
praying for an order of County, Penn-
sylvania, at private sale, to Edna Kar-
chner for the sum of Firteen Hundred
Dollrs ($1500.00) for the payment of the
decedent’s deeds. If no exceptions are
filed thereto or objections made to
granting the same, the Court will be
asked to take action upon the petition
on April 26th, 1935, at ten o'clock a. m.
A. L. TURNER,
Attorney for Petitioner.
SH ERIFF'S SALE
SEND YOUR NEWS ITEMS
TO
THE DALLAS POST
ROADSIDE
MARKETING
‘By T. J. Delohery
CO-OPERATIVE ROAD-
SIDE MARKETS
OADSIDE markets are individual-
ly owned as a rule, but where a
number of farmers are engaged in the
production of different lines of crops
but don’t produce enough to keep a
roadside market supplied through the
season, co-operatively owned wayside
stands have been established and sue-
cessfully operated.
Probably the most extensive and
best-managed of co-operative roadside
markets is the chain In southeastern
Wisconsin, which was started by the
first fruit growers association in that
section of the Badger state. More
than a dozen markets, spread over sev-
eral counties in the fruit belt, have
shown a healthy increase in business
for each of the three years they have
been in operation.
While the members are primarily
fruit growers, some of them are now
growing patches of vegetables, own
small flocks of poultry and several
hives of bees. Thus they are able to
supply the markets with a good line
of food which keeps them open during
the outdoor season instead of a short
time in the late summer and fall when
fruit is ripe.
Each market handles the products of
from six to ten farmers. Management
and sales are left in the hands of the
grower on whose property the stand is
located, or with a hired salesman.
Much caution has been used in the
selection of salesmen and market man-
agers, with the result that the repre-
sentatives have been a great help in
the increased business which the mar-
kets report.
The chain of roadside markets is the
outgrowth of the farmers’ efforts to
increase local consumption of their
fruit after they had put on a cam-
paign to improve quality. The first
step in the marketing campaign was
to exhibit apples, pears and plums in
various food shows.
After canvassing possibilities of sev-
eral outlets, Mr. Fallet decided on a
co-operative roadside market; but be-
fore proposing it to the fruit growers,
he and C. L. Knehner, state fruit spe-
cialist, made a trip through the fruit
belts of Wisconsin and Michigan to
study the various phases of the busi-
ness. Returning, he suggesied a co-
operative roadside market, and upon
approval, built a portable stand which
was first exhibited at the state fair.
“The Fruit Market,” the official
name of these stands, is a portable
affair made of a striped green canvas
roof, green woodwork and shelving
which permits the display of several
dozen harmoniously colored baskets of
apples, pears, plums and crab apples,
with a background of golden cider.
The first one cost $60 to build and
won $125 in prizes at the fair.
During fair week thousands of peo-
ple stopped at the booth of which
“The Farm Market,” fully equipped,
Fruit Market,
was a part. Numerous questions were
asked and answered by the county
agent who was in attendance.
“Opening on Sunday when motorists
were out in full force, the market
clicked right away,” said County
Agent Pallet. “In fact, we sold out
early in the afternoon, and it was nec-
essary to phone a dozen farmers to
rush in more fruit. The color scheme
of the stand, the baskets of well-grad-
ed fruit, all of which had tags telling
the variety and the price, made a pic-
ture which undoubtedly influenced &
number of purchases.”
The success of the first “Fruit Mar-
ket" ig responsible for the establish-
ment of the others. Hired salesmen,
operating a few of these markets, are
permitted to handle eggs, vegetables
and honey if the farmers do not pro-
duce these foods. This concession has
been found to be an incentive for the
salesman who realizes that his earn-
ings are based on sales of fruit with
additional revenue in the other prode
ucts.
Co-operative roadside markets are
advisable also where they will elimi-
nate competition and, as pointed out,
give small growers a chance to get
better prices than is possible at whole
sale markets or where keeping open a
roadside outlet would necessitate the
buying of other things to complete the
line. Of course, the success of group-
supplied markets will depend largely
on the manager or salesman and his
ability to give each member a fair
deal and maintain harmony among the
contributors.
©. 1933, Western Newspaper Union.
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