The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1895-05-24
UPPER MARLBOROUGH, MD, FRIDAY,

cent dinner includes soup. fish, roast, en-
tree, various vegetables, unlimited pic and
tea and cotfce,-even in one case ice cream
and cake. There was such Il table at u
large Nebraska town, with an expression
of prOfusion that to the avera gc eater seems
the only real essential But, though the
place was clean and the meal fairly well
served, there was not one article on that
table that had not been deprived absolute,
ly and entirely of any good or savory quail
ty nature had bestowed upon it. From
pastry, soups, chippy beef, soggy vegeta-
bles, down through the list, each dish rep
resented what not to do with its contents
and the traveller who ate had not been fed,
though assuring himself that he must have
been.
1t is because no one thing is ever thor
oughly good and of a nature to actually
satisfy appetite that the multitude of little
dishes into which he dips at random sur
rounds the American travellers plate In
the item of bread alone all that belongs to
the grain of whcat-itS sweetness and fine,
close tcXturc-has been lost, apparently
beyond hope of finding, and there remains
an overnight, tastcesS, chippy product,
warranted to produce very bad effect that
that is known to belong to such result of
human interference The bakers loaf as
it stands to-day, is "spongy, chatfy, over
raised, undermined, deceitful, and dear"
Il, ~. -. 6,
bakers advertise "High-class Bread sold
at highc class prices. Here and there are
the few Women's Exchanges provide an
article of the same order, but beyond the
purse of the ordinary buyer. And not on
" here and there. but throughout all our
vast stretch of country, the finest grade of
wheat is grown, and opportunity allowed
to do it Justice, with such results as we
have already noted. From Maine to Cali
fornia, north or south, east or west. the
story is the same: good bread may be. and
is now and then, found, but bad hrcal is
the rule and remains the rule.
At this point is at once encountered Il
stumbling block always in the way. The
woman. for instance, who reads the state
ment that the average grade of home made
bread, in America, is seventy per cent. be
low par, if she does so on behalf of her fam
ily or connections. 1t is certain that in
such statement either their mothers pro-
duct in that line has been insulted, or their
mothers special triumphs unacknowledg-
ed That nobody's mother is in question
makes no difference. The question is the
average grade of bread in America, and
there is no more occasion to call to mind
| ones own grade of bread than, when told
that the average length of life is thirty six
wears, to instantly assert that ones grand
father is eighty-three. But this resentment
is experienced and apparently stands in the
way of reform, since each one is ready to
admit that. while her own is unimpeach
able, Mrs Jones is of an order to discredit
the whole town. In the meantime the dis
passionate observer looks on in wonder,
and asks again, why, in Il land where ma
ture offers so lavish food supply, it Is i'm
possible to be really well fed In a recent
bread contest IN connection with pure
| Food exhibition, out of four hundred
loaves sent in not one was absolutely per-
feet The competitors were chiefly house
keepers who did their best. Lack of full
intelligence at one point or another mark
ed most of the product.
| In this contest well-known cooking
school teacher acted as "cferee. The first
prize was taken by Il woman who makes Il
business of breadmaking; the second by
woman who is her own cook and had had
training at home; and the third and last by
a professional cook, Il colored woman.
Most of the four hundred loavcs were baked
too quickly and underdonc inside, and
of them showed marks of imperfect mix
| ing These and other faults came from
lack of thoroughneSS, and this Is i'll all
forms of work Il national characteristic.
| With the bearings of this broad statement
we have at present nothing to do, while
the discouragng outlook on the four hun
| dred loaves is balanced by the fact that
Boston, in the New England Kitchen, is
showing us what brains can do in the way
of bread-making. One who has eaten the
bread made there gives Il fervent descrip-
ton of its quality in Il recent number of
| Kate Fields Washington: ''faultlcss bread;
sweet as the wheat can make it. hut not
Sweeter light and fine and close; exquisite
| " baked in the mild, slow heat of a bricE
oven" This bread sold in tiny loaycs, or,
! rather long rolls, ut one c'cent each Is the
pro luct of scientific intelligence, the first
six months of work in the New England
Kitchen having been supervised by Mrs.
Mary Hinman Abel, who has taken the
| Lomb prize for an essay on sanitary and
economic cooking: and hundreds of me; :
are sent cut daily, all of the same perfect
quality.
| A demonstration of what may be done
for a mere triie of money is found in the
description of the three-ccnt lunch bought
there. Il was hurrying to the Providence
depot" -" writes the enthusiastic de,cribcr of
the bread, without time for lunch and
with ideas above Il railway-statiOn rcstau-
rant. | was provided with a small paper
box. | bought one of the little lOaves just
described, and it nearly filled the box.
For another cent it was buttered. What
else could | carry? | was offered Il slice of
spiced, pressed meat, such as is made very
poorly in some houses and called veal loaf.
But that was not poor, but delicate and
savorv 1t was daintilv wrapped in para
fine paper, Ill ready to be handled neatly.
some. abundant, and delicate lunch for
three cents Ithpurht Of Franklin open
ing his career in Philadelphia with his big
Dutch nennN roll: and like him | inlulm-