Omaha daily bee., 1883-05-09
CRACKER MAKING.
A Tour Through the New Fac
tory Of Joseph GaTn0au &
Company.
The Process Of Manufacturing
an Article Of Universal
Consumption,
The Building, Plant, and the Firm
Who Occupy 1t,

etuhASAbH W. 80
aad Farnam streets and looking toward
the Union Pacific tracks to the south,
the tall red chimney and broken line
of ~cornice Of the Garnesu cracker fac.
tory Is visible. 1t Is lefs than q year
since the establishment of this large
industry was first mooted by the firm
and scarcely more than six months
since the ground upon which 1t stands
was purchased and the first brick Of
the building laid. Last week the fac.
tory opened, and on Saturday a tour
of the establishment was made by q
BEE reporter, anxious to witness
THE PROCESS
of manufacture of an article of almost
universal consumption In one of the
best equipped factories In the coun.
try. Placing himself under the
guidance of Mr.. Joseph Garneau, jr.,
the active spirit of the firm, the re-
porter entered the door on Twelfth
street and found himself on the ground
floor of the factory, which was stored
with tier after tier of barrels of -four,
molasses and other materials which
enter into the manufacture of the
crackers.
80 you would like to see the whole
process2" said Mr. Garnesu, leading
the way to an elevator. "Then we
will go at once to the mixing ROOM"
Arrived at the third story, q busy
scene presented itself. Long troughs
each capable of containing many bar
rels of -four were filled with rising
dough, while two screw mixing ma
chimes were forcing from their ends u
stream Of the raw material ready for
the baking room. Two grades of
crackers and a special grade are man.
u%factured, the grade depending upon
the quality of the four and the amount
of the shortening and the quality al d
amount of the sweetening used. Al
the -four Is thrown in the trough, the
shortening and molasses Is added and
thoroughly mlxed In the mixer after
which the dough is shot down a long
wooden skute into the room below.
There 1t Is rapidly transferred to the
breaking machines between whose
bright steel rollers 1t Is repeatedly
passed. Another transfer Ia made to
the dough troughs where 1t is tested
to see whether 1t Is spfi ,iently
risen when everything being in
readiness 1t Is passed to
the cracker machine. A pair Of roll
ers first spread the dough to a thin
sheet and transfer 1t to a travelling
cloth, running 1t rapidly under q re-
volving brush which removes every
particle of -four from the outside Of
the paste. As 1t emerges from the
brush 1t Is passes under a rapidly lis
Ing and falling die, which CUT out q
dozen or more crackers at a clip and
transfers them to pans, while the sur.
plus dough is caught ready to be work.
ed up at another time. At the end Of
the machine stands the enormous
REVOLVING OVENS.
where four white sproned workmen
are constantly employed In placing tt g
pans of unbaked crackers and remov.
ing those which have stood the ordeal
of the fire. The fire below Is cut of
sight and nothing Is seen but a set of
thirteen slowly disappearing pans, ten
feet long and three feet wide, which
present their faces at the mouth of
the narrow opening only long enough
to receive their load and then disap.
pear to give place to others, re-
turning with the baked crackers after
sixteen minutes exposure to the heat.
AS the crackers come from the oven
the pans are placed on racks and
wheeled across the fl oor to the
PACKING TABLES.
There are six of these, each fifty
feet long, and fifty girls are busily en-.
gagged In storing away a countless
variety In the handsomely labelled
boxes which bear the Garneau brand.
Facilities are furnished to mix, bake
and pack 400 barrels Of fur, or
2,400 boxes of crackers and cakes a
day, and as soon as the factory Is In
full operation this capacity will be
tested to the fullest extent. There
are dies for turning out sixty styles,
and forty will be at once listed In the
three grades carried by the firm.
With ten machines, two enormous
ovens, aforty.horse power engine and
their own box factory on the premises,
the company are fully equipped to
capture the entire western cracker
trade, and they mean to do 1t.
A hasty run over the building
brought out the following facts: The
factory Is 66x132 feet In dimensions,
built Of brick throughout, with three
floors broken only by q line of pillars
through their centre. The first floor
contains handsome Offices, a large
storage room In which / 500 barrels Of
-four, 200 barrels of sugar, and an
equal amount of lard and molasses are
carried, an engine room, coal room
and the furnaces for the ovens The
second floor is devoted to baking,
cracker making, and packing. On the
third floor are the mixing room, the
box factory, the store room, and two
dressing rooms foc employees.
THE FIRM
Little needs to be said OF the firm
of Joseph Gsrnesu & Co., which
Is we'll known throughout the
west. Mr.. Joseph Garneau, ST., Is
the Oldest cracker manufacturer In the
United States, having followed the
business for fifty seven years. He 90.
tabllshed himself frat In st. Louis In
1882, when the city boosted of less
than 1900 people, and there made the
first soda cracker manufactured west
of the Allegheny mountains. He
boasts that In all his business he never
had a note protested. MIR. Garneau Is
a hale and hearty old man of nearly