The Washington times., 1895-05-17
BOSS BAKERS PERPLEXED
They Are Seeking an Excuse to
Raise Price of Bread.
BUSY SEASON IS APPROACHING
Journey men Want Their Wages In
creased and Their Employers Say
1T Can Only Be Done by Restoring
the Old Scale of Prices-opponents
Say it is Not Necessary.
FRIDAY.

''Up with the price of bread is the
watchword with boss bakers and journey
men alike to-day. The Bakers Exchange
was in session last night TO discuss the
advance. The harvest time of the baking
trade is at hand.
While the loss to the great bakeries by
the reduction from cents loaf TO cents,
in keeping with the low price OF flour, has
not been considerable during the winter
months, it bids fair, they claim, TO be
heavy with the hot weather.
During the winter thousands of families,
being obliged to keep up fires for warmth,
utilize the extra heat by baking their own
bread. The smaller bakeries, after the
cut in price last fall, to considerable
extent quit selling bread This III part
made up to the larger firms for loss in
profit per loaf by giving them larger
number of customers. Is at the lower
price fewer families hl6d for them
selves, and this kept up trade.
But now the low price will make very
unfavorable showing as ascompared with last
years profits The Journeymen are used
| to be content with lower wages during the
winter. but now they are demanding the
usual increase and they don't see how they
| will get it unless the price Of bread goes
| back TO five centsa loaf.
MEETING OF THE BOSSES.
The BOSS" Bakers meeting last night
was at Charles Eschneider's office at No.
| 415 / street northwest. About a dozen
| were present.
mo news tonight" said Mr.. Schneider,
! as Times reporter stepped into the entry
of the office.
| mo change as YETI?
The journeymenin the union have already
| put in their claim for the usual increase
| OF pay but the members of the Bakers
| Exchange are protesting vigorously against
any change in the scale unless they can put
| the price OF the loaf back To the olu figure.
| They are holding frequent meetings to
consider the problem.
The price of flower has advanced rs
cents OH the barrel, they say in argument,
| and their expenses are as heavy in every
/ other direction, if not heavier than usual.
| They must advance bread, keep wages
| down or shut up shop. Some of them
! even hint that Washington may wake up
some morning and find the leading
| baker9es closed and be put on short rations
! in conse quence.
They point out that John Weinberg is
! now running only four wagons out of his
! former seven, Carl Hoffman, of Mount
/ PledS1DG, mas VIII HQTdWn dll Dub one
| wagon, which supplies large customers;
William I. Seine ider has quit selling
bread and some eight small bakers have
! gone out OF the business entirely.
CAN SELL PROFITABLY.
On the other hand it is figured out by
those interested in the consumers getting
his bread cheap that the bakeries can just
as profitably sell bread at cents loaf
now as at any time in the past. Among the
! most important interests on this side are
! the hotels, restaurants, lunch houses, and
! the like. Customers at the latteEs have got
| accustomed during the winter to bread
| without stint with all orders ana 1t VIII
| be difficult to return to a more saving use.
| II is shown for these and the house
| keeper in general that from every barrel
| of flour $50 loayes of bread are made, SO
| that even if the price of floHr is put up
| 70 cents barrel, the advance in rhe cost
of the loaf will be only. two-fifths Of
cent, while the advance of price to the
customer is 60 per cent. more. AlSo
4 there are many expenses in winter. suLh
| as fuel for warmth, and plumbers Hills
that do not occur in summer.
Then the claim OF inability to pay the
| advance in wages is, it is said, shown
to be unteDable. For the Increase III pay
called for is only So per week, while
the average baker makes 800 leaves of
bread a day This makes 3,600 leaves
a week which calls for possible ad-
vance OF one-eighteenth of l cent per
| loaf instead OF an advance OF cent, as
the bosses are proposing. All -ogc,h er,
/ accepting the statements of he master
bakers themselves, the total advance
in cost will be only forty-one ninetieths
| of cent on the loaf.
| The statement that the master bakers
| are making no profit is treated by the op-
ponents of the advance as absurd.