Panama and the canal in picture and prose .. . ekeeper, but, except forthe purpose of entertaining,the Commissary must be agreat boon. Its selection ofhousehold necessities is suf-ficiently varied to meet everyneed; the quality the best andits prices are tmiformly lowerthan in the United States. This comparative cheapness inprices is, of course, due to theelimination of the middlemen,the buying by the com-missary in large quantitiesand the disregard of profit asan element in the is but one step betweenthe Beef Trust, or other man-ufacturers, and the ultimateconsumers on the Zone
Panama and the canal in picture and prose .. . ekeeper, but, except forthe purpose of entertaining,the Commissary must be agreat boon. Its selection ofhousehold necessities is suf-ficiently varied to meet everyneed; the quality the best andits prices are tmiformly lowerthan in the United States. This comparative cheapness inprices is, of course, due to theelimination of the middlemen,the buying by the com-missary in large quantitiesand the disregard of profit asan element in the is but one step betweenthe Beef Trust, or other man-ufacturers, and the ultimateconsumers on the Zone. Theone intermediary is the Com-missary. It buys in suchquantities that it can be sureof the lowest prices. It buysin markets 3,000 miles ormore away from its stores,but it gets the lowest freightrates and an all-water carriagefrom New York. Finally it; pays no rent and seeks no profit, hence its prices should be the lowest. Here is a selection from the printed list issued in April, 1913, from which any house-keeper can judge of Zone prices:. A BACHELOR S QUARTERS PRICES OF FOOD AT THE COMMISSARY 335 Veal Cutlets, per pound 17c Lamb Chops, per pound 24c Corned Beef, No. i 14c Sirloin Steak, per pound 19c Halibut, fresh, per pound 15c Chickens, fancy roasting, 53^ pounds each $ Ducks, blackhead, pair 60c Pork, salt, family 14c Eggs, fresh, dozen 25c Butter, creamery, special 41c American Cheese, per pound 22c Celery, per head iic Cabbage, per pound 3c Onions, per pound 3c Potatoes, white, per pound 3c Turnips, per pound 3c Grapefruit, each 4c Oranges, Jamaica, per dozen 12c If, however, the Commissary system reduces lifeto something of a general uniformity and destroysshopping as a subject of conversation, the ladies ofthe Zone still have the eternal servant problem ofwhich to talk. De Amicis, the travel writer, saidthat servants formed the one universal topic forconversation and that he bid a hasty farewell tohis mother in Naples after a monologue on the sinsof servants, o
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Keywords: ., bookauthorabbotwil, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookyear1913
