The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1882-06-24
Berlin Milk.Venders.

n frequent SiSnt In Berlin is the great
iron' white-painted tanks, which 90
trundling about the streets drawn by one
or more horses, and bearing in their ca
pacious interiors the daily milk, so to
speak, of the great city. In America, it
Is matter of considerable doubt as to
whether one will get his cream out of the
same can from which the oblging milk
man, IN mysterious way peculiar to
himself, has just furnished some other
citizen with ordinary milk-or, rather,
there isn't much doubt that such will be
the case. The friendly hydrant. it is
also darkly limited, aids the gentle Amer
lean milkman to add to his necessary
small profits; but in Berlin the thing is
different. The town pump, by force of
law which is observed, is entirely elm
mated from the milkman's equation of
profit and loss, and the purchaser of his
ware may rest perfectly satisfied in the
certainty of getting Just the article he
wishes and pays for, because these iron
tanks are divided into several large COM
partments, each labeled in plain charac-
tiers with the quality and price of the ar
ticle within; so that he who stops and
wishes to purchase may see at glance
from which spigot he wishes his measure
filled, and may watch and superintend
the drawing, so that the milkman NAV
not practice any Straightforward upon
him.
And one may be perfectly sure that the
compartment contains exactly what its
label says it does. For there'is another
law which provides that each cargo of
milk shall be examined and tested by
certain gentlemen in the employ of the
Government before it goes its rounds.
And laws over here are obeyed in spirit
and in letter. When one halls one of
these carts, it draws up to the sidewalk
and the driver dismounts from his high
seat in front and presents himself clad in
blue jeans, politely asking your desire.
You run your eye over the row of labels
on the side of the tank, make your selec-
ton, and your pitcher is promptly filled
by the boy who rides on little seat be-
hind, and who turns the triangular faucet
ny means oi 4 key hung about his neck.
If you are little luxurious you get
quart of cream-real cream mind YOU
six and quarter cents if cream dis
agrees with your dyspeptic stomach,
there is milk to be had for about five
cents the quart if milk be also too
strong, there is faucet which yields
skinned milk for three cents; and finally,
if you want little honest German but
termilk. it is at your disposal for about
two cents per quart. So that one has
much the same feeling when getting his
milk in this way as if he were milking a
sort of magical cow, from whose udder
the desired quality of milk flows simply
by wishing for it. One is certain that he
is getting what he orders, and is, there
fore happy and contented, not being
afraid of being kicked, milk and all,
clear across the yard. IT,.
Of course there are other less preten-
tious, but equally honest, milk carts sup
plying the Berliners with their coffee
dilutant; and these are much like our
San Francisco institutions, except that
the rear end of the wagon is not occu-
pied by cans, but is reserved for waste,
bread crusts, cabbage leaves, potato
parings and the like-swill, in short.
which the thrifty owner generally a
woman) of the outfit carefully collects
and feeds, let us hope only to the COWS,
pigs and poultry. These wagons vary
greatly in size, from that of the preten-
tious and wealthy peasant, who carries
dozen cans and employs horse to do
it, down to the more modest and poorer
one who sends his little wagon out
equipped with couple or three cans,
and drawn by an old woman assisted by
a dog All these methods, of course,
have only to do with the retail trade in
the tactical. The wholesale trade is sup
piled by kegs-that is, the milk is deliv-
cred in kegs, which are supplied with a
little hinged trap in the head, out of
which the milk is ladled. Now, it seems
to me that it would be rather difficult
matter to wash out and keep clean these
iron tanks and wooden barrels so that
one may not get the taste of last weeks
soured milk in his portion of this weeks
sweet milk. Be that as it may, how
ever. one never does get such taste, and
therefore it is hardly the thing for me to
express any doubts as to possibilities, nor
to endeavor to throw cold water upon the
enthusiasm of the trusting and happy
Berlin milk purchaser, nor to place any
obstacle in the way of the milk sellers
making an honest living berlin Cor.
San Francisco Chronicle. '.