The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-07-22
ROUND OF THE MILKMAN.
HUSTLING NEEDED TO DISTRIBUTB
NEW YORk'S DAILY SUPPLY.
About l.i3O.OOO Quarts Delivered Every
Morning East Side Routes the Hardest to
serve-Sourccs Of the suppiy-New York's
MIX Il a Very Pure Article Nowadays.

w
The milkman wiped the pcrspira,ion from
MS brow. Shoocd the flies away from the milk
can, and looked at THE SIN reporter.
IHtell you one thing about the milk bust.
ness he said. in a weary way. There's
heap more watching than praying about It,"
The milk supply Of New York represents
more watching and labor than the average
citizen dreams, a. he polrs his cream into the
morning coffee. From 1000 10 500 cans Of
milk, each can holding forty quarts. are distrib.
uted in the city every day, When one real.
lies that almost all Of this L.I2O,OO0 quarts Of
mix Is delivered before 7 4 ~, the fact con.
lures up a mighty vision Of early morning
husthng, BY far the largest percentage OF
the milk comes from Orange. sullivan, Dutch.
e-S and Columbia counties. and l. brought on
special milk trains. being from two and a half
to i've hour' on the road, Much Of II reaches
New York n ! p. NJ Still more cones in at
noon, and all Of 1t is packet way in ice, a. as
various milk depots. until distribntion time.
The large dealers have a central dairy and
branch departments in different quarters Of
the city, the milk when taken from the train
being truCkcd 10 these branch diaries, each
OF which has H. own contingent of milk
wagons and employees. The more important
dairy firm have from h'ty Ia seventy wagons
on the street and handle possibly from COCO
to ?j,om quarts of milk each day.
II is only within recent years that the bottle
system Of milk delivery has been introduced
and tho mill,man'- trouble, have Increased
with the innovation. The old ia ,hioned light
wagons, in which the dipped milk was dis.
tributcd. are impracticnble under the new
regime for the bottled milk j. carried in heavy
,A- Vp.I al .. AHl H-
room. Tn" thorough cleansing Of the bottles
j. n problem much more difficult than cleaning
the cans Servants and mllkmrn wage con.
tinual war over IN" bottles. and through sheer
carees-nc,, hundredo Of bottles are broken
or lost during the year, one dairy firm alone
spent 5000 on milk bottles last year. OF
course the bottled milk ha, its advantages,
II isn't expo d 10 the air after il, leave, the
up-country dairy, and so runs less chance Of
being invaded by the germs that cut so large
IA figure in modern science. Then, too, the
cream Is left 10 rise in peace. and each bottle
has H. own quantity Of cream, 50 that IL 10
easy 10 tell whether the milk has been skim.
med or in any way disturbed. on the otheD
hand. there are old-fa ,hioncd housekeepers
who natly refuse to buy bottled milk. saying
that cooks are careless about the cream when
II - Cp0l'lFU IN nv NOUN 81 IIt Dolilf, Use
il at one fell ~woop, and then have nothing Left
but impoverished akin milk, A. a result OF
the difference Of opinion the dalrymen have
to send out both bottled and dip milk, but the
public show, a preference for the former.
Down on the East Side. whore the difference
Of two cents a quart between the two atyles II
delivery i "A thing Of tremendous magnitude
the milkcan still holds sway. and the milk IL
sold in small quantities, a pint a day being the
allowance Of many large families. II is only
in this quarter that the milk trade increases II
time, Uptown. where the exodus -
the country ernpties private houses, hotels and
boarding houses. the milk trade flags sadly
after the first Of June, and the dealers who cater
TO this trade arrange matters 81 that their
supply of milk ard cream ia greatly diminished
during the hot months, but with the coming Of
hot weather the demand for milk on the lower
East Side is more than doubled. The ordinary
diet Of the dwellers in that part OF the city be-
come, practically intolerable in the summ0.
Babies are i'll, work and heat and p~rivation tel
upon the strength Of the adults, and milk Is the
most nouri.hins and Wholesome food that 10
within their reach, 80 they turn TO II, and it
helps to pull them through the hot weatheS
suffering Of the poor.
The East sid isn't n route popular with milk
men. and the delivery man who Is sent down
there considers that his guardian angel doesn1
know his business, but almost every new man
serves his apprenticeship in that quarter Of the
town, The country boys who come down
fromth farms where the milk supply originates
discover the "submerged. tenth" with horror.
and their illusions about the great and glorious
city are n 'rine frayed about the edges after q
week or two on an East Side milk route. They
bring in pathetic tales about the folks who live
ten in a room, about the sick babies who are
dying Of want and hunger. about the innumer:
where human life is chean, and the other drivers
laugh At tho hayseed- with that easy acceptance
of the misery Of others that is a part Of city
philosophy. One boy. came down from Dutch
ass county only a week ago and began an East
glad 10 be in a city. hopeful. ambitious. optim-
i ,nS r ey, Ia la'I SATURDAY ~ he called on the boss
There were too many men down here before
I came" he sait, The comuetiticn IS too big.
don't see much change Of Getting rich and y
poor in tho country. I've found out what Q
good place the farm is, ard Tn going back
where can sleep nights without bclns haunted
MANY Of the poor buy heir MIX at the little
groceries and markets where II Is. advertised
at three cert. a ganr,, SOM OF ,nli hhmnd ~
That j.. a Part II the butter fat * extracted
from it before. II is sent 10 the city and this
butter fat being told seraga,rlH in cream dsS.
cqses tho throe-cont milk Is quite a. good an
the dairy milk. is in fact bought from honest
dairy firms, but i sold AZ an actual loss O
Il lose . cent on every Quart q milk ! sell.
said one Fast side grocer frankly. "But there
is nothing In tho world that will draw Gus
toners In this town like cheap milk. The
milk brings people who otherw'se would never
rome near my shor, md The chances are thar
tho milk. That Is where ! get nv money back"
on the uptown rllk routes things are dif.
fnront and the d~eliy"rvmnn's Nork Is easier
and more agreeable Tn" mix Is left in
larger quantities, the average allowance Tor
n private family being from two 10 FIVE quarts
n day. Tho hotels, Of course, buy largo Quan:
Titles. but in many cases the milk J. trucke0
from the train directly 70 the hotel wEere therD
arc refriepra'ors for It's accCnmodation.
The on" item ~ ice cuts n large. figure In
wnil has gone up from the dairyn,en this season
because 81 the price Il ice, However, each
dairy Of ans importance has iceholses OF tts
own at the up-Country end Of the line, and u
n the Ice Trust, save for tho
fifteen or twenty tons used In the city dairy.
Each dair, has is own list Of farmers who
furnish IL with milk year after vonr. Breaking
in n farmer TO scientific milk Trigclples Ia
proposition calculated 10 strain the, temper
and patience " the most bland and imper-
once ACCOMPLISHED Il Va 10 the interest OF both
partia- that they should keep On good terms.
Each dairvman has his own particular require.
mentS and the farmer who has learned 20 Ill
them doesn't care 10 70 through another train
ing with another customer Dairy agents
through the country cuntirGallN.- investI
eating the farmers methods ~ caring fer milk,
feeding COWS. nc. and II any carelessncss. A
discovered the delinquent i brought W with
n round turn.
Tic mix * usually cooled NJ the farm by
1nr1tnr. which remove MI the animal neat;
upFprtruutply all dairy farmers are not