The national Republican., 1861-10-04
The CAPITOL Bakery,

Government bakery in the basement Of the
Capitol building. and were much surprised at
the sights that we there saw. On entering the
: lower door, Immediately behind the fountain,
we found ourselves in the presence Of the In.
defatigable superintendent, Lieut. T. J. Cato
formerly Of the sixth Massachusetts regiment
but now Of the sixteenth regiment United States
Infantry, who was bu lily employed, as well AS
H. Mitchell and C. G. Merrill, of lawrence, Mas
sachusotts. We, however, secured the ser.
vices Of friend, and commenced our tour ol
inspection.
We first visited the vault under the rotund;.
which is used AS a slOre.rOom for the immense
quantity of four which Is daily being received.
The wagons are constantly kept busy deliver
Ing their Loads under the eastern poriico, from
whence the barrels are rolled into the vault.
Whenever the -four II needed, II is Sided down tn
the floor below. Tho amount OF -four constant.
ly IN this room is between four and eight thou
sand barrels.
Retracing our steps, we came again to the
vicinity of the fountain, where we found eight
ovens in full operation, turning out about
10000 leaves of bread every twenty four honrs.
The bread Ia of the best quality, and each loaf
weighs 22 ounces. There are forty bakers
employed ut theseOvens, who have on one OF
two occasions, when pressed, run out $4,000
l0aves per day.
Adjacent to these ovens are two rooms, one
on each side of the entrance, from which the
a bread Is delivered. II nay not be uninteresi.
ing to know the form in use. When the requi.
sition Is sent by a quariermaster to the Sub
sstence Department at the Post Office for the
ratirns for his regiment, ar order is drawn for
the bread, on Lieut.. Cate. 10 whom the driver
of the wagon presents 1t, and IL furnished with
ticket, which is handed in at the delivery
window, and the bread is forthwith passed
out on smooth boar is to the wagon.
- The mess room and the kitchen Is also on this
floor, and the hands, to the number of one hun.
dred and sixty, here take their meals This
4 .t,.t, l.ll n
Pierce, formerly of the eighth Massachusetts,
regiment, and the cle"nly appearance OBJ.
servabe, as well as the well-catered meals set
out, give indisputabie evidence that he" can
keep II hotel"
Outside the building In the vaults heretofore
used for the slowing Of fuel, We find six double
sizod ovehs built emp yiug ten bakers each,
and capable of turning out 10000 loaves per
day, but at present averaging about 80, 900.
Near by are two other rooms, In which eight
men are constantly employed in making yeast.
Of which about fourteen hundred and fifty gal.
Ions Is made per day. .
The bakers are all under the foremanship OF
Mr.. John H. Sowersby, a baker of seventeen
years experience, and formerly of Bonds cele.
brated bakery at Wilmington, Massachusetts,.
The total number Of persons about the estab.
iishment is one hundred and sixty, of which
about one hundred are employed In baking
bread, thirteen delivering 1t, eight making
Yeast, six In the cook room, SIX splitting wood,
Your in the store room, three watchmen, twelve
teamsters, and the others rs clerks, runners,
and extra hands. OF the whole number en-
pioyed, about fifty are from the North the bal
ance being ourown citizens.
Ths pay roll for the last month amounted 10
over six Thousand dollars. The hands ARE di.
vded into four classes, the best of which get
s42 per month with ra,ions, and inferior ones,
s35, $40, and $40 each.
Too much praise cannot be awarded to 1t.
Cate, TO whose judgment and experience much
of the success of tho bakery is due.
The establishment is attached to the Subsist.
ence Department, of which Ma ajor Beckwith,
assisted by Lieut.. S. G. Green, A. A. G. s., has
charge.
The depot to which the bakery is attached is
in The Post Office Building from whence the
troops now on this side of the river receive all
their supplies, excepting bread, which Is pro.
cured from here or one Of the other minor ba'
keries, of which there are some eight or ten in
the city.