Efforts are beginning to be made fy authorities and Chinese civic leaders to stabilize the flour and coal situation in Shanghai.
Following arrangements made between Settlement and Concession ai thorities and flour merchants, flour will be sold commencing today for a month at a lower price by 27 flow hongs while negotiations between Mr. Vu Ya-ching and other Chinese civic leaders and coal merchants have rē- sulted in an understanding whereby coal balls will be quoted at a cheaper price. The price situation especially in the rice market, still leaves much to be desired, inquiries reveal.
Commencing today, two leading flour mills here will daily distribute 7,500 bags of flour each weighing 49 pounds to 27 flour shops to be sold publicly at a price of $10.30 per bag. Each person is allowed to buy edly one bag. The police will keep order in front of the appointed flour hongs. The Fou Foong Flour Mill and Fu Hsing Flour Mill are distributing the flour. Although the arrangement will no doubt benefit the public in general, many Chinese noodle restaurants and confectioneries will experience difficulties because they will not be able to obtain their big quota of flour from these shops, it is learned.
Several important decisions helve been reached between Chinese civic leaders dnd coal merchants for distributing coal balls needed by every Chinese family for cooking. A pitul of coal balls is now priced at over $7 but commencing tomorrow the price will be quoted at only $5.80 which, however, is still too high to be paid by the average resident. It will be sold at $110 per ton in wholesale business. Mr. Vu Ya-ching has Deen requested to negotiate with shipping circles for reducing the freight so that coal may be sent here by paying less transportation expenses than before. It is learned that Shanghai needs about 1,000 tons of coal daily for making coal balls. The arrangement also requires those hoarding coal in godowns to take out their cargo at a specified time otherwise business contracts will be nullified and money returned so that the cargo may be sold cheaply by former sellers.
"Broken" Saigon rice will again be distributed at a very cheap price commencing Friday under the supervision of the Rice Distribution Committee, a subsidiary organization of the Shanghai Foodstuff Readjustment Association headed by Mr. Vu Ya-ching. Forty rice shops will be asked to distribute 2,000 bags of such rice daily but each person is allowed to buy only $1 worth of the grain.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.