The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-04-17
LOCAL BAKERS ARE WORRIED By Jump in Wheat
 Market. MAY CUT SIZE OF THE LOAF Flour Higher Than for 3I Years
 Past. Are Buying Flour for Immediate Re- asirements Only, But Some
 Bakers Were Prepared
 for Advance.

With the big jump in the price of hour recently which Is in sympathy with the advancing tendency of wheat. some of the baking concerns here in Montgomery will no whaye to con- front the problem of either raising the price of bread or reducing the size of the loaf unless they have purchased enough flour beforehand to last them untu the new crop comes in next fall.
 Ever since the first of thesy year the price of wheat and flour has been on the upward, until today flour Is bring Ing " per barrel, an advance of s150 since Jan. 1. The bakers all over the this probitkI, especially those who have only been buyins flour for immediate requirements, and thls is the case of some Of the local bakers.
 When asked yesterday how the ad- vance of the -four market would af- feet him and what he would do in the matter. James Too1e, one of the lead. ing bakers of this city stated that wheat today was higher than 1t had been for thirty-one years, and flour also was correspondingly as high, but that he had foreseen the coming ad- vance and had purchased enough flour to last him for sometime. While this amount lasted. MT, Toole said. he would not raise the price or reduce the size of any loaf He further stated that sew eral of the bakeries We're in town. no matter how high -four is. will sell bread and pies at dut prices and are even now cutting the price this week with flour as high as 1t is.
 Gallagher & Diny, when seen con- cerning the matter, stated that the advance in hour necessarily would hurt every baker, and that at the pres ent price of flour. they can hardly bake bread at profit. IL was also their opinion that the bakers of this city
 would have to come together and agree either to cut the sise of the loaf or
 raise the price in self-defense. as none of them could make expenses selling bread ct tbe same price with the big advance in flour.
 Paul F. Hansen of the baking firm of Hansen & Joh.. when asked how hs would confront <the problem and how
 Montgomery. people would be affected
 for their daily bread. stated that he
 had bought enough -four to last him until fall. when the new crop comes tn and that the advance would not affect
 his prices or the size of his loaves l Continuing, Mir. Hansen said that bak- CTS who had prepared for this emer' gency were better fixed than those whs purchased flour in small lots, and that | this advance in flour would eyentuaii, knock out domestic baking, al | the housewives could not compete witf | the bakers since they had to buy houl
 In such small quantities.
 Duncan May said that he only car l ried bread as side line ,and did no sell 1t wholesale. but mostly by ths single loaf at cents. Re, however stated that there was no profit In II at the prevailing price, especially witf the last advance in flour. Continuing he said that some of the leading bake rses in Montgomery were cutting prices and trying to force out the smaller bakers, but that this price-cutting ol the advance in flour would not anecl him very greatly. as he did not sell enough.
 It is generally conceded. however that the Toole bakery has the breac market cornered in Montgomery anc control the price of the so-called staff Of life, and unless the other bakeries in town have prepared for this ad.
 vance and bought -four enough to ias' them for competition with this bak. cry. that in time they will be forced either to cut the size ofsthe ioat ol raise the price on bread. If this advance continues, and noui of the leading bakers runs short, Mont gery people will either have to pay { l little more per loaf sur their bread oi be satisfied to~take a smaller size fo' | their money.