Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-10-22
BAKERS PERSISTENT
Claim Advance in Price of
Bread Necessary.
THE COST OF FLOUR
FACTS CONCERNING FORMER AT
TEMPTS TO RAISE FIGURES.
Housewives Don't Know Whether to
Pay Prices or Do Their
Own Baking.

Are the merchant bakers of this city
justified In deciding to raise the price OF
bread l cent a pound loaf Monday next!
Ever since the announcement that they
would do this was made public yester-
day this question has been agitating the
minds of consumers.
Another question that is being consid-
cred is: If the bakers are going to ask
cents loaf for their bread would 1t
not be best in every way to make bread
at home? Housewives are seriously con-
sidering this side of the proposition, 1t
was learned today.
Unless 1t can be clearly shown that the
price of flour to the bakers has advanced
enough to make 20 per cent increase jus
tifiable. 1t is believed the old spirit that
actuated the perpetrators of the Boston tea
party of revolutionary fame may crop out
in the capital city.
In answer to the first of these two ques-
lions. the local bakers themselves present
considerable evidence. which. they say.
justifes the proposed Increase Of price.
The following Is quotation from a let
ter received from William C. Leistikow
proprietor of the Grafton roller mill. Graf
ton, n. D.. dated October IS last, and writ
ten in reply to communication from a
prominent local baker:
Price of $3.50 is good as we can do
today on the present market, and we would
not be surprised If we advanced this price
to you tomorrow. as wheat is very strong.
and 1t is getting to be hard to buy at any
thing like the market quotations, and farm
ers generally feel that on account of the
shortage of good milling wheat that 1t is
good property and will make money by
holding until the coming summer; but mil
lers must have 1t in order to use as a mix
ture with some of the low-grade wheat now
being put on the market.
Wheat From Canada.
I'VE are now negotiating to secure sup
ply of wheat from Canada, on which we
undoubtedly will have to pay duty of %
cents per bushel, but If we can possibly
| use it to advantage we intend to do So
The same local baker to whom this COM
| munication was addressed said today to
Star reporter that prices six months ago
were over 81 a barrel lower. He said the
present condition of the wheat market had
every aspect of permanency In fact, the
prices are steadily going up, according to
his statements. He is now paying more
| than the $685. quoted in the letter for the
same product, he claimed
Exceedingly interesting in this connec-
ton Is the account of former attempts to
raise and lower the price of the staff of
life in Washington. The Evening Star de-
feated an attempt to raise it on one Occa-
sion in particular by showing conclusively
that the increase was not justifiable. This
occurred in April. 1898, when the market
S6.25 to $3.50 per barrel, practically what it
is today. 1t was proposed to raise the
price of a loaf from cents to cents.
1t is claimed however, by a local baker
to be manifestly unfair to regard the pres
ent conditions as the same or similar to
those of that time.
A Bakers View.
In regard to the two conditions he said:
| prices were worked up by SPECTATORS over
the country In 1898, and the condition was
confined to the United States and those
countries directly dependent upon 1t. In
fact, at that time, persons were not COM
PEELED to pay the market price for wheat,
AS was stated in The Star at that time, and
so when the consumers entered their OBJ
lection to the raising Of the price, which
the bakers were considering, in order to
protect themselves against possible loss.
the latter yielded, they were able to
hold out longer on the lower price. AS a
matter of fact the high price condition in
1898 was only temporary, as 1T proven after
ward.
"On the other hand the condition now has
every indication of being permanent, until
another and a better crop Of wheat Is in
| sight. And prices quoted are actually be-
| ing paid here aid all over the country
| Tie shortage OF wheat is the same in many
! v'heat-producng countries of the world and
| is not confined 10 the United States. 1 have
| reliable Information that the wheat crop of
, Ontario, Canada, is alone 100000 bushels
short of last years crop"
Some Interesting Figures.
| When an effort made to have the
| price of Tread lowered from cents to 4
| cents per pound loaf in 1885, reporter of
| Tie Star secured the following statement
| from boss baker of the city:
"A barrel of -four will make go pounds
or loaves of bread. AT So cents loaf that
comes to 500 Flour is now $3.50 a barrel
which leaves $500. Now allow $3-a very
liberal allowance. too-for the other ingre-
JnIN1
other expenses, and you have $3.50 clear
profit on ever barrel of -four used"
1t is understood that the big baking e5-
Establishments of the city today use any
where from three hundred to five hundred
barrels of -four each week. With bread at
cents loaf and not at cents, it was
assumed to be In this statement, and taking
into consideration the increased cost of
flour and other things necessary, how about