Los Angeles herald., 1909-04-19
BAKERS DECLARE
RISE IN FLOUR
DEMANDSACTION
WEIGHT AGREEMENT PLANNED
ON OKLAHOMA STANDARD
SAY GROCERS AND RETAILERS
MAKE LARGE PROFITS
Urqe That Plan Will Not Work Hard
ship on Small Dealers or Public,
City Council Will
Act
IN HE small boy figuring on the hen
nd q half nnoc q nd 4 half nrnlAn-

and a half, egg and d half propo-
Il sition had nice easy time of 1t
yesterday compared with the Los An
geles bakers trying to figure out just
how much of q hole Jim Patten has
made in their dough barrel. The gem
| eral conclusion seems to be that Pat
| ten on the one hand and the grocerS on
the other have decidedly the nub end
of the argument and that weight
agreement must be reached to prevent
the bakers profits from vanishing alto
gether.
Taking the bakers proposition Of
selling thirteen 26-ounce loaves Of
bread at wholesale for 81 and figur-
ing the cost of making the bread by
the Oklahoma standard, which local
bakers agree is fair estimate, the
grocer or other retailer of the bread
still makes more than twice as much
profit as the baker
This is on the basis proposed by the
bakers of Los Angeles for their agree
ment regarding a uniform weight of
the 10-cent loaf of bread and assum-
| ing that they pay the rate of $500 Il
barrel for flour.
The Oklahoma standard was worked
out by Secretary NJ G. Bales of the
| Oklahoma Bakers association from
correspondence with the leading bakers
of that state and was based on the de-
sire of master bakers ito create II
standard by which they can make their
goods so they might make a safe profit
for themselves and give the customers
the very best they can for their money
while at the same time giving a liberal
profit to the retail baker," The cost
schedule resulting was published in
the Bakers Helper of Chicago and
aroused a great deal of comment
among master bakers of the country.
Says Bakers Lose Money
"Take those Oklahoma figures, which
are good for Los Angeles, and see how
you will come out on the way you have
been doing business with what you are
| paying for flour and labor" said
| Charles H. Bradford to Los Angeles
bakers at the meeting held Saturday
night to discuss the situation follow
ing the rise in the price of wheat and
the consequent higher price of -four
Mr.. Bradford said large number of
bakers were losing money on every
loaf of bread they sold. and this state
nent met with approval by others at
| the meeting.
A baker finds that he will make S39
pounds of dough with a barrel of flour,
using in addition 120 pounds of water,
not counted in the cost total; 3 pounds
of salt at go cents per 100 pounds, ac-
cording to the Oklahoma figures;
| pounds of yeast at % cents a pound;
POUNDS Oh sugar at 30 d HuHufeI
| pounds; pounds of lard at s cents a
| pound, and pounds of dust flour at
! $3.50 per 100 pounds. These figures will
vary somewhat at Los Angeles, but
| if anything the change works against
| the Los Angeles baker. This 339 pounds
of dough will make 203 loaves of bread.
each weighing 26 ounces, or 406 13-
ounce loaves, although the bakers will
not make the latter if they can get
out of the job.
Figure Additional Costs
Additional costs figured in the Okla
homa STANDARD are labor at so cents
per 100 loaves, delivering at so cents
per 100 loaves, rent and fuel at 271s
cents per 100 loaves.
The total cost to the baker on this
method of figuring would be $3.50 for
the 203 10-cent loaves which he can
make from a barrel of flour at the
| weight proposed for the bakers agree
ment, figuring that he pays $500 per
barrel for local -four By selling these
loaves at the suggested rate of thir-
teen for 81 his profit will be $2.11 on the
20S loaves. assuming that the Oklahoma
! COSTS apply exactly in Los Angeles.
The retailer however, will make $469
by selling the 203 loaves at 10 cents
each, not making any deduction for
his delivery, rent or other costs of
carrying on his business.
The bakers who have figured on this
believe that the change they propose
will not work an injustice to the con-
sumer while at the same time it will
not menace fair profits by the retailer
to whom the baker sells. They are go
ing ahead on this basis. preferring 20
consider any proposed ordinance when
it is drafted and ready for definite at
tention. The committee appointed to
take the matter up will meet today AMI
endeavor to submit an agreement to
practically all the leading bakers be-
fore the meeting at Mammoth hall
Wednesday evening. Those who cannot
be reached personally will be urged TO
attend the meeting in order to get an
understanding Of the situation, which
the largest bakers agree is serious
one.
Driven to Action
eff the public can stand for Patterns
gambling on wheat we can't unless we
want to 60 out of business" said one
of the men at the Saturday night meet
ing.
The bread subject will be brought TO
the attention of the city council to-
morrow by message from the mayor,
who will ipclose a communication from
SeaIer of Weights and Measures Green,
| and ask that the suggestions of Mr..
Green be seriously considered.
These suggestions are that the coun-
ell establish standard weight for
bread, preferably two pounds. says
Mr.. Green, and that an ordinance be
passed compelling the sale of bread by
this weight Loaves of two pounds
would be about the size of those sold
now for 10 cents, but the loaves may
| also be a multiple of two pounds or
an aliquot part thereof
Before Council Year Ago
In his communication Mr.. Green say,-
that a year ago he called the attention
of the council to the fact that there
was no standard weight for bread and
that a loaf sold for cents varied
from eleven to fourteen ounces, while
the 10-cent loaf was from twenty-one
to twenty-five ounces. At that time.
says Mr.. Green, the profit on bread
was enormous. Flour was selling at So
barrel and rate war among tho
bakers resulted in the retailer receiv-
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