TOPICS FOR TRADESMEN

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXV, Issue 16493, 7 March 1914, Page 5

TOPICS FOR TRADESMEN

[From Our Correspondent.] LONDON, January 17. COLD-STORED FOODS.

Arising out of the protracted contro* versy between butter and margarin* interests as to the necessity of iurther legislation in the matter of colouring margarine comes a suggestion that cold-stored foods should be subject to new regulations. It is pointed out that in ordinary temperature cold-stor-ed butter will not keep its flavour like freshly-made butter, that cold-stored eggs are inferior to fresh eggs, and tho same as regards cold-stored meat. Therefore, it is argued, as a margarine law was passed to enable the public to discriminate between butter and margarine, so ought a law to be made that cold-stored foodstuffs should be so labelled, to enable the publio to discriminate between them and fresh goods. It is argued that tills would not only be to the interest of consumers but also to those traders who deal solely in fresh goods.- On the other hand, it is contended that such regulations would'Only add to the diffiand dangers the distributing trade is subjected to through the various labelling laws in existence, without being of great advantage to the public. BOGUS LAUNDRYMEN. X Of late laundries in London, especi ally those serving the West End, have been the victims of what is alleged to be a systematic series of them and frauds. .As the trade in other town's is liable to be subjected to similar annoyances, it may be as well to describe the modus operandi as outlined by a member of the Council of the London Association for the Protection of Trade. This gentleman says a particular street is watched patiently day by day, and careful note is made of the names of the laundries on the vans entering that street, the houses they called at, the day and approximate hour when linen is called for or delivered, and so on. In due course a man calls at one of the houses, getting there a little earlier than the usual time for the laundry roundsman, and explains to the maid at the door that lie has now taken the place of the other man. Among other things, he mentions the name of the laundry in order to give confidence. In the meantime a van is driven up to the door, and the bogus laundryman col- v lects the dirty linen which has been' put ready for the proper laundry. He also finds out by ingenious questions whether the previous washing has been paid for, and if not generally manages to collect the account, making a great show of giving a receipt. SHOPKEEPERS’ FAILURES IN 1913. Last year there was a distinct boom in trade throughout the United Kingdom. One of the results of this if showq. in the statistics of trade fail ures, the total number of which fell by 1000 compared with those in 1912. Among shopkeeping trades that oi grocery and provisions has the un-. enviable distinction of being the first with between 1500 and 1600 failures. 'This, however, is a marked improvement over the previous year when about 1700 cases of failures occurred. In the drapery, silk and woollen trades the failures last year were only about ten less- than in 1912, the number reaching 870, while the next group is tho wines, spirit and tobacco trades, among whom the failures were between three and four hundred, or nearly a hundred less than -in the previous twelve months. Among jewellers and fancy dealers the failures compared closely with those of 1912, the number being about 250. Hardware and metal trades had the last named number in 1913. which was fifty less than in 1912. Furnishers and upholsterers failed in IGO instances last year, or ten. below, the number for the previous while chemists and druggists’ failures-totalled 100, or two-thirds as many as in 1912. A trade with a smaller number of failures was the earthenware and glass trade, which failed in less than forty instances, or only two-thirds as many as in the previous twelve months. There has been a steady decline in the number of failures among traders during the past five years, and each year the falling off has been of a greater extent. T

GROCERS AND CO-OPERATION. Co-operative competition came -up , for discussion at the quarterly meeting of.tho Midland Grocers’ Council this week, on the report of a special committee appointed to consider the question. This committee- has come to the conclusion that an anti-co-oper- x ative campaign to have any hope of be withdrawn from the narrowness' of a single trade or single area and take the form of a national movement through the combination of air the organised interests affected by co-operative competition. It was argued that if the 250,000 shopkeepers in the Kingdom could be induced to act collectively success would attend the campaign, but critics questioned the possibility of such an unanimity among so many diverse and, in many cases, antagonistic interests. During the meeting it was suggested that something might be done in the way of appointing an advertising expert in connection with each organisation of traders to assist shopkeepers; also expert door-to-door canvassers to push the interests of private traders, while a further idea was the organising of local demonstrations in shops of the advantages private traders offer. This, it was urged, would prepare the ground for a. national campaign. The Midland Council have taken steps to acquaint the Federation of Grocers’ Associations with their sentiments as a first step in the movement. CHEAP-JACK FIRE EXTINGUISHERS.

Attention' is drawn by the British Fire Prevention Committee to the dangers attending the use of “ cheapjack” portable chemical fire extinguishers. While these appliances have the appearance of being serviceable they are, as a rule, says the committee, dangerous to handle, owiiig to liability to burst. There are on record at least seven fatalities in this country from this cause. It is suggested that many drapers and other shopkeepers buy extinguishers in a haphazard way, the selection being largely governed by the question of price. A point made is that while fire : extinguisher3 are valuable as first aid appliances they should not be allowed to displace buckets of water and handpumps, which are considered equally, if not more, effective in the majority of cases. Shopkeepers .are also warned not to place too great -a reliance upon the “faked demonstration^ tests ’* fnj towns and villages, adopted hs a PMWltf of selling cheap-jack appliance* -