St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1880-04-16

'ho oouhIy, anu is known to be one of
our most reliable business men.
When this firm commenced opera
ions, they baked from 10 to l2 barrels
Of crackers daily; now they bake 80
barrels per day-it being about the ca
pacity of the works. From 1900 to 1000
barrels of the best -four are used yearly.
They buy nice Minnesota flour made at
Henry Fletcher's mills in Minneapolis.
They purchase yearly 100 tierces, or
10000 lbs. of the best refined lard,
which comes from Chicago by the car
load, and they employ from 10 to IA
men which they pay every week.
The manufacture of crackers is con-
sidered the most scientific part of bal
ery work. The making of bread, cake,
or other kinds of flour cookery cannot
compare with it so far as skill is con-
cerned. Mr.. Cross invites us into the
work room, where several men are en-
gagged, and Just when the baking pro-
cess is going on. We are told that the
sponge is set in the morning, and the
dough made in the afternoon. The
dough is mixed by machinery run by
steam, which operation is the last thing
done at night, and stands until the next
morning, when it is put through the
rollers, making it into sheets the right
thickness, after which it goes through
the cutting machine, making the dough
which man stands ready to seize with
his shovel and throw into the oven.
Here stands the foreman Of this depart
ment, practical workman, who watch
es the baking process as it steadily goes
on, and in from Is to II minutes, us his
practiced eye detects, ne withdraws
from the oven shovelful of nice white
crackers sufficiently baked, which he
throws into large basket near by.
The oven is novel sight to the
stranger. Its operations are almost as
uniform and regular as the successive
motions of day and night. In fact it
has to be, in order that the baking be
truly and scientifically done; for no
establishment of this kind would be
patrOnized unless proofs of its capabili-
ty to do good work were manifested.
In the oven, and upon which the baking
is done, is Il large rotary, horizontal
in Il la
of soapstone, 50 evenly and properly
heated by coal fire, that the baker can
tell with great accuracy when his work
is rightly done. This oven has ca
pacity of baking two barrels of crackers
at once, and the coal the company pur-
chases amounts to from 60 to 20 tons
yearly.
After baking, the crackers are taken
to large bins, where one man finds all
he can do packing them into barrels.
These barrels are previously lined with
paper, so as to protect the crackers
from absorbing any foreign odor or sub
stance, and they hold from 100 to 1900
|
cording to size. The oven is constantly
heated, so that baking can be done "a
hours of the day if desired. Family
boxes of crackers are put up holding
about 30 dozens each, and are shipped
in crates of four boxes each. The diff
ferent kinds made, are the common, So
da, graham, oyster, and picnic crack
ers, so that whatever one may desire tC
put upon his own table in this line, car
be found here.
The company have three salesmer
upon the road, who have certain route:
which they go over once in three oil
four weeks. The territory covered 10y
the sales reaches from Newport on the
north to Springfield, Vt, and from Ma,
lone, N. Y, to Sebago Lake, Me. An(
in New Hampshire to Il considerable
extent in the region of Concord, anG
along the line of the Grand Trunk rail
way to Gorham and about one half o
the business is done out of the state
While the manufacture of crackers il
the main business of this establishment
yet the company are doing other thing
naturally connected with this industry
They bake bread, both white ant
brown, cake, buns, rolls, cookies, ETC.
for town trade, and six months in til,
year they run a bread cart through tn,
village. They also keep on hand fac
tory cheese, and the best dried apple
they can buy.
crackers are made, is composed of thre
or four kinds, so as to secure the bes
results. One kind is used for strength
one to give body, another to give com
plexion, etc. Of the -2000 barrels O
-four they buy annually, about 1000 ar
used for crackers, and the remainde
for other purposes. While the cOmpan.
t have considerable storage room of thei
t own, they nevertheless have to secur
, considerable more elsewhere.
' Another feature of this place is th
: peanut business. They purchase @
1 Virginia peanuts about 1900 bushel
f yearly, and they bake upon tin pan
: about four bushels at once. They dea
to quite an extent in cigars and confec
tiOnery. Their common candies ar
made at Montpelier, and other kind
: they purchase elsewhere. From one hal
to two tons of confectionery are sol
} weekly, and about one million cigar
, | apnuaIIv All Oonds are carefullv an