Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-10-23
MAKING CHEAPER BREAD
some Bakers Have Already Net the Public
Demand
One Of Them Says He Can Sell NJ
Money-ResuIts OF the Agitation.

Good bread at three cents loaf and fun
weight rs not only pcsslhiuty, but a
fact. One bakery In town has fallen into
line with the demand for cheaper bread
and is turning out Ioayes OF eighteen ounces
at three cents, which it's makers claim to
De as good as any nve-cent bread sold.
III is new firm. doing business in the
| east end.
The Star man and the proprietor had q
| tank this afternoon. The bread maker said:
We hnd that three cents a loaf PAYS us
| already. even though our sales are not SO
big as they will be in a few weeks. II "a
| question OF simple arithmetic that the
bakers whO sell their bread at five cent.
loaf make a profit OF one hundred per
cent We make reasonable profit at three
cents. Our flour costs us four dollars per
barrel and from each barrel 10 loaves OF
bread can be made. This makes the hour
IN each LOAF cost but one and three-nfth
cents This leaves all the margin neces-
| sary for lard. milk and labor. our sales
have increased Immensely during the week
that We have been in operation. and one
Of our competitors has already reduced his
hve-cent bread 10 four cents. The big bak-
ers will be forced 10 meet the cut or quit
! the business. Attention was first publicly
called 10 the ehormity Of bread profits by
| The Star. This fact had been known 10
| those in the business FOR a long time but
as the public did not know II, & would have
| been uphill work TO make the uninItiated
| believe that bread good as that for
| which they had been paying I'VE cents a
| loaf Tor years could be sold them Tor three
cents. The manner In which the atten-
ton OF The public has been called 10 IL
has made il possible for new firm 90
| make the cut without being subjected TO
| the suspicion OF producing inferior goods
We use good -four, good lard. good milk
ana skilled labor. and II can sell all
the bread We can make at three cents, We
will grow lich. These are the iigures: One
and three-iifth cents covers the cost Of the
Hour. New, IL you can simply put I'm the
lard and salt and the usual little things
and sell that for 1--WE cents, there IS an
I almighty big profit In IL. The trouble with
| the big bakers is that they have Known
all along that just as soon the people
/ caught on to the fact that good bread can
be produced for two cents a loaf. and the
Very best may be made for a fraction OF
| cent above that rate, price cutting
would be commenced and Fronts would be
pared down by competition. This Is Just
| what is happening now. Orders for our
| bread are coming in now, Principally from
! small stores. and IL is but the question
| OF very little time when the bonanza
bakers will have 10 reduce the price OF
| their bread or yield up their trade.
THE Star has done a noble work In in
| augurating This crusade In behalf OF
cheaper bread Ore of the fruits OF its
work Is before you" and then tie baker
pointed to 4 lot of brown. hot and fragrant
loaves which had just been pulled out OF
the oven.
Thinks All VIII Come Down.
The reporter then VISITED another bakery
| where milk bread was being retailed for four
cents. The proprietor told him that hereto
fore that bread sold readily at five cents and
no questions had been asked by those who
bought it. But there lad been a change IN
the business II had been found necessary,
in order to hep up with the procession, to
make cut in rates. Although ne thought
his bread was worth five cents a loaf, yet
he was eminently satisfied with the profit
to be made in selling IL at four cents
Everything entering into the composition OF
the bread, he said. was OF the highest quail
lily. Il was exactly the same bread which
had found willing takers at the old figures.
He prophesied that IL would not be long
before all the bakers would come down in
their prices. Reduction of bread prices was
the order of the times. He thought that IN
another month all the flve-cent loaves would
be down to four ceLts. and those which had
sold at four would be on sale for three He
was not certain that The Star bad done
right in calling attention TO the bread ques-
ton, but he was certain that the present
cuts were due to the agitation which The
Star instituted and maintained.
In the Hands of the People.
To the Editor OF The Evening Star:
Like every reader OF your paper, / have
been interested in the bread question. i am
aware of the fact that the bakers are max
ing two 10 three hundred per cent. and as
long they can get their price and the
trade for their bread does not fall on /
think You or any one will agree that they
are right in maintaining the price at 8
cents a loaf. The fault lies with the pur-
chasers, who have the solution of the ques-
ton. Why not bake at home? A pound OF
biscuits, the most palatable and nutritious
form that bread can be produced, Will not
cost over 2i-2 to ~ cents Short cake,
mullins, tea rolls and great variety OF
bread can be made at less than the cost OF
bakers bread. Chemists claim that yeast
ferment destroys a part OF the nutr1tive
quality of flour. At any rate, a return to
good old-fashioned homemade bread would
teach the bakers that the people are not
entirely dependent on them. j. l.. X
The Agitation VIII Continue.
Washington Correspondence New York Times
The question OF cheaper bread has at
tracted much attention this week The
Washington public has just awakened to
the fact that while -four costs less by $3.50
barrel than it did two years ago, the price
Of bread is still cents a loaf. Just as IL
was when wheat was selling at 81 a busheI
and -four was considered cheap at 81 a bar
rel. This discovery resulted IN a demand
upon the local bakers for a Accent loaf.
Strange TO say, the bakers have yielded to
the demand, but in cheapening the loaf they
have reduced the quality Of the bread in
proportion to the price.
AS nobody wanted poorer bread, this
ton of the bakers has met with general op-
position, and the chances are that the bakers
will continue To be subject to criticism until
they retreat from their present position
There is a decided unNillingness to return
to the grade OF bread with which people had
to be content before the modern steam
bakery, with its advantages of fine flour
and new processes, came into vogue.
GEN. uoWARD's RETIREMENT.