The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1885-10-24
VOLUME XVII.

machine. Out VI ODc uouSH hiAtuiO ~
a foundation half dozen different sorts
of cake may be made by the addition OF
some slight ingredient. But the science
comes in knowing .'what kind OF an
oven" as women say. to use for each
variety. The decorative material is
ordinary frosting. made out of pulver-
lied white sugar and eggs, with enough
acid, lemon, or cream of tartar to cut
the grain off the sugar. The frosting is
put into cloth or rubber bag and
squeezed out through a tube, just
as the paints with which plaques
and landscapes are evolved. There is an
endless variety of tubes through which
stars and carriers and different styles OF
posies and foliage are squeezed. The
finer work, however, such as the tracing
of vines. birds, and other elaborate
patterns, is done with a minute tracing
tube, and gives room for real freehand
drawing rather than mechanical execu-
ton. The more elaborate solid pieces,
such as wedding bells, horseshoes, COO
ing doves, and palpitating hearts, which
surmount the most pretentious table
architecture. are made of gum paste,
and are not edible. so the foreman OF
the cake department said. They are
imported from Italy along with organ
grinding and macaroni.
What is the work of an apprentice
ct the bakers artp''
"Well. he begins by sweeping up the
floor, washing dishes, and doing odd
Jobs of any sort. Then he dusts the
turnovers with powdered sugar. or beats
the eggs. or paints over the Ioayes be-
fore they 90 into the oven-anything
for which he is needed. II he is apt
and industrious he ought to know his
business pretty well in three or four
years. but it is trade,in which there is
always something new to be learned,
and there is wonderful facility to be
gained in practice. y
The cracker factory. which is an i'm
mense business in itself, was yet to be
inspected While the bread, cakes and
pies go to feed hungry Minneapolitans
only, the crackers are largely shipped
to,supply outside demands. p
The process of cracker making was
found to be more mechanical and less
freehand than bread. pie or cake max
ing. Winter wheat is used exclusively.
Crackers made from spring sown wheat
are tough and springy. The cracker
sponge is set over night in an immense
trough. and is worked the next morn
ing through patent screw mixer.
The dough comes out in round columns
about foot through, and is dumped
back two or three times until 1t is well
kneaded. Then it is sent down through
chute in the floor to the platform,
from which it is fed in sections to three
rollers. one after another. The piece
is passed under each one several times,
and the rollers are so graded that the
dough gradually thins aud lengthens
out as it proceeds. 1t finally passes
into what is called the form" which
determines the width of the strip Of
dough. This strip is then started upon
a canvas revolving belt, over which is a
large revolving bush, which constantly
dusts flour upon it. Two or three feet
further on the dough comes under the
stamp, operated also by machinery, and
the crackers are given any one OF the
dozens of shapes known to the trade
and families. Ii It is the usual square
soda cracker, there will be five in a row.
and the strip. of course. is endless as
long as the dough holds out. AS they
emerge from under the stamp a boy
stands ready with sort of very thin
wooden shovel, without raised edges,
and with a handle several feet long,
and with this instrument called a
peel" he takes off section about
three feet long. which he dexterously
flirts with a twist of the wrist into the
| oven, or rather upon one of the i'm
mense revolving iron shelves which are
contained in the oven. These shelves
are about three feet wide and fif-
teen feet long, and one revolution
serves to bake the crackers delicate
brown. AS they come up done,
another boy stands with rake
and hauls them unceremoniously into
larger baskets, in which they are trans
ferred by elevator to the third floor for
packing. When only partially cooled
they are put away by girls into barrels
and boxes neatly lined with white paper,
and are left uncovered until cooled and
dried. While still warm they have a
toughness which makes it possible to
handle them in way that would break
them into bits when cold. ..
In getting perfect edge on the out
side rows of crackers strip about
three-quarters of an inch wide is Incl.
dentally sacrificed on each side, and this
thrown back into the general mass Of
dough, is supposed to greatly, i'm
prove it. The batch must consequently
improve from first to last, as the
amount of scraps keeps climbing UP
toward majority. Cracker dust is
another branch of the manufacture
Any crackers that may have beer
broken in handling or packing are
ground fine and sold. principally to
hotels and restaurants, for breadine
meats, oysters. and soups. All the
four. sweepings are sold to farmers fol
cattle feed, so there is little actua
waste anywhere about.-Minneapoli'
Tribune