The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1882-08-16
Bread Baking In London.

A London bakehouse is almost invari.
ably situated in cellar. Generally it is
a cellar that might do well enough for
the reception Of lumber, but is utterly
unfit for any other purpose, and, Of all
purposes to which it might possibly be
put, for the manufacture of bread. The
writer spent night in such place q
short time ago. The walls were bullying,
,Obwebby and old; the ovens were un-
der the pavement Of the street; the
refuse of the bakchouse was deposited
near the ovens; the four or five com.
partments into which the cellar was
divided were small and close, and when
the gas was lighted at midnight cock
reaches were swarmlng over walls and
ceilings, chasing each other about the
sacks OF ilour,and holding assemblies in
the bins. This, however, was rather IL
superior bakehousc. The dirty and
dismal cayerns in which most Of our
bread is made are inaccessible. If the
/ baker does not regard cleanliness rs
moral obligation, he is, at any rate,
fully aware that the cellars in which he
practices his mystery are not quite such
show places rs they ought 10 be. Tho
circumstance that thcyare underground,
and that the ovens are 50 placed H. TO
draw the air which feeds them often
from the close proximity Of the drains
over the trOughS In which the dough is
kneadcd, is in itself sufficiently appall-
ing. Bread readily ab,orbs the air that
surrounds it, and ought never to be
made or TO be kept in confined places
In London, however, it is habitullly
made in dcns so confined and nauseOug
that the bakers trade is one of the most
unhealthy in existence.
The condition of the bakchOuses is
one of the least evils connected with
! the existing system Of brcad-making.
Bread is made now after much the same
fashion rs was in vogue, probably, in
the Cities of the Plain. The baker still
uses his naked arms in the process of
kneading. The "spongeh is laid in long
wooden troughs. Over these the jour
neyman baker, often working in a tenn
perature Of ninety degrees, bends for
hall an hour or so while he kncads the
dough OF course he perspires. Ills
occupation is rs laborous almost rs that
of the blacksmith, and produces similar
| outward effects. However much he may
be disposed to cleanliness, he can not
pursue his occupation except under
conditions that to any one not accus-
toned to the process are sickening TO
behold. After bclaboring the dough
much as a housewife bolabOrs feather
bed, he "rubs his arms out'-that is,
he clears them of the paste with which
they ore cncrusted by dipping his hands
in dry flour and rubbing them down his
arms. The dough comes off in little
rolls, which are returned 20 the trough
ane kneadcd in with the bread. This is
not the case only in bakehouscs whiclt
are doing n "cutting' business. 1t is
the process common in all bakehouScs.
The dough which adhercs to the arms,
saturated as it must be with inquiry,
would otherwise be so much waste, and
in bakchouse nothing is wasted.
Such things are not pleasant TO dwell
upon; but bread is the chief food of the
people, and it is as well that we should
KNOW lOW IL Is lllWUluClulcu' Itlult
being made up into loaycs and put in
the oven it goes through n tiresomc
amount of handling. After being
kneaded in the troughs it is pulled out
in pieces and rolled vigorously on II
bench. Now and then II knife is taken
up and the bench is scraped, and the
Scrapngs are returned to the trough.
The old provcrb about eating peck of
dirt has more literal application than
is generally supposed. We take great
deal of our allowance in our bread. 1t
is remarkable fact that there is moro
popular ignorance on the subj jet OF food
than on anything else which is nccessa'
ry to our daily life. In nothing, more
over, do we take so much on trust rs in
the article of bread. If, by some acct
dent, the public could watch our bakers
at work for few hours there would be
q general and immediate resort TO home
made bread. Pail MAI Gazette.