65 / 274
— 65 —
them, in the desire to ofEer special inducements and
to obtain trade, have pushed these goods on to the
public notice, and by so doing have cut into their own
flesh.
By offering and introducing the different
brands, whether they were called for or not, and with
out stoppingto think whetherit was advisable or proflt-
able to do so or not, people in our business have in
jured themselves and the trade as well.
A very large number of distilleries have introduced
case goods at the expense of the proprietors of saloons
and restaurants. When a man buys whiskeys, for in
stance, at from $2.50 to $3.00 a gallon for 10-cent
goods, he has the chance to make a very handsome
profit. But the. majority of wholesale dealers now put
up the same article in case goods and charge an
enormous price for it. The average price of case goods
is from $10 to $14 a case. With the dozen bottles in
the case, at a cost of $12, the price would be $5 per
gallon. That is, we must pay for the labels, the fancy
bottles, aud the immense amount of advertising in
newspapers, by circulars, etc. Although people sell
ing at retail, can very seldom get more than 25'cents
for two, an average of 12^ cents a drink, they are also
obliged to cater to those customers who never take a
whiskey without a glass of ginger ale, .soda, seltzer, or
other mineral waters, which reduces your profit ma
terially, as the side-drink is always a gift. You can al
ways figure that whenever you sell a case containing
twelve bottles of whiskey, that there is always a case
or more of some kind of a mineral water given away
with the liquor. Consequently, it puts the price of
your whiskey at an advance of from 70 to 75 cents a
gallon.
Another bad feafure of the use of case goods is, that
with people who drink, they are no longer satisfied
with an average amount, but take a large-sized drink,
in order to have it "stiff" enough when mixed with the