Stevedores sweated and loading cranes whirred in Los Angeles harbor last week as the warm dry hold of the Dorothy Luckenbach was lined with case after case of oranges all apparently blighted by a sickly pallor. When 7,500 cases were stowed aboard the freighter nosed out of the harbor on a fortnight's voyage to Manhattan.
The oranges were choice Valencias, tree-ripened to ruddy perfection. Ordinarily they would have spoiled during water transit without refrigeration. But shippers were not deliberately throwing away 7,500 cases aboard the uniced Dorothy Luckenbach: their ripe oranges were...