Coffee Pot Tempest

In Washington last week a customer bustled up to a counter in Magruder, Inc. and tried to buy 96 Ibs. of coffee. She was told she could buy only one 24-lb. case of Ib. tins. In many another U.S. city, hoarding housewives, having heard rumors of $1 a Ib. coffee, were hastily grabbing all they could get. Under such scare buying, coffee prices shot up as much as 25-c- a Ib. Last week the National Coffee Association estimated that hoarding consumers have already bought at least 132 million pounds more than they need.

Actually, there was not much cause for alarm. In the commodity markets, wholesale coffee prices had risen, 25% on news that Brazil's crop will be short because of damage. Many retailers had taken advantage of the scare to mark up their stocks on hand as much as 50%. Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture tried to calm things down a bit. There was enough coffee around, said the department, to prevent an acute'shortage. The National Coffee Association agreed. Snapped an N.C.A. official: "There's no question but that present excessive demand is entirely artificial and unhealthy."

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