LETTERS: GAS PRICES AFFECT RETAILERS

To the editor:

On any given day, you'll find quite a few farmers and retired people visiting at the Scopus Post Office and store. Most of us are keeping up with the local gossip here in northern Bollinger County. It's almost like reading a local paper, only on a smaller scale.

Well, last Friday was no exception. One of the retirees said it was such a nice day he was going to take off sick. We all chuckled. Anyway, I headed for Jackson to take care of some business. As I was turning onto Highway 34 off Route UU, I saw I had about a half-tank of gas left in my car. Thinking how I just filled up my truck in Marble Hill the day before, I thought I'd now fill the car when I got to Jackson.

I finished my business and headed for the gas station. As I pulled up to the pump, my mind flashed back to Thursday and what I paid for gas in Marble Hill. Yup. Let's just say $1.19 per gallon. I stopped my car, and my eyes fixed on what I was going to pay in Jackson: $1.07 per gallon. That's a difference of 12 cents per gallon.

Now, 12 cents doesn't sound like much, but when you fill two tanks on a truck, a total of 40 gallons, it comes to about $5. That's $5 difference between Marble Hill and Jackson. Times that by once a week, and it become $20 a month, and that's only for one vehicle.

On Saturday morning I drove into Marble Hill and checked the other gas stations. They were all at $1.19 per gallon.

At breakfast in Marble Hill, I talked to a few people who all said the same thing. They have started to run to Jackson to buy their gas. Think, Mr. Owner. If one goes to Jackson to buy gas, does one not then shop there also?

Don't these owners understand that the high price of gas in Marble Hill is driving people to Jackson or Cape, and in doing this they are hurting the merchants in Marble Hill as well. Or maybe they don't care. I guess they got comfortable with their long arms into deep pockets.

ANDREW WIESNER

Marble Hill