The Washington herald., 1912-03-10
WRAPPED BREAD
CRUsADEIND0RsED
Mrs. Caroline B. Crane, of
Michigan, Gives Her Sup
port to Movement.
POINTS OUT CONDITIONS

Inc necessity oil having bread wrap
ped at the bakery before distribution was
emphasized yesterday by Mrs. Caroline
Bartlett Crane, OF Kalamazoo, hich.s a
well-known civic worker, who is spend
ing several days in Washington. Mrs.
Crane came TO this city as a delegate
TO the National Civic Federation.
She has carried on campaigns for
bakery-wrapped bread in more than fifty
ties, and in the cities where the desired
reforms were effected a notable decrease
ia the death rate has been noted. In
addition TO her Hrapped-bread campaigns,
Mrs. Crane is well known as a civic in
vesttgator. studying living conditions -
large cities, and making rec lamentations
for desired reforms to the authorities.
Women Behind Movement.
The crusade for bakery-Wrapped bread
which is being carried on by the women's
clubs OF this city, was called to the at
tention of Mrs. Crane by members of
the Housekeepers' Alliance. among them
Miss Georgia Robertson, chairman OF the
committee on civics and sanitation, which
Is endeavoring TO interest local bakers in
the proposition.
Speaking generally" said Mrs. Crane
yesterday. "the wrapping OF baked prod
ucts is important, inasmGch as such
foods as bread, cakes. cookies, &C, are
eaten without being reheated, so as II
sterilize them.
1T is especially important that bread
should be properly wrapped. Both be-
fore II leaves the bakery and afterward
bread passed through many hands and
is very likely TO collect disease germs
OF dangerous character. This is true
even before II is taken out OF the bakery.
It is allowed to lay on shelves and to
collect particles of dust. II is then placed
in baskets. which are very seldom looked
after. and carried in wagons where dust
is allowed to collect. Dirt from the
streets is blown in on the bread through
the front or rear OF the wagons. and the
loaves are oftentimes handled by the
drivers. who fix the harness, attend TO
the horse, and hold the reins. In gro
cery stores it is placed in exposed places,
is frequently handled, and is likely to be
reached by dust and flies.
'T have found the main objection OF
the bakers to wrapping bread is in the
cost. They protest that II puts an extra
burden on them to be forced TO install
bread-wrapping machines and to buy
paper and twine. 1t is also expensive
for milkmen to bottle their milk. They
could make a much greater profit on
their product If they did not bottle it
for the sake Of health and sanitation be-
fore delivery.
Objection of Bakers.
Then some bakers claim that the
housewives themselves don't want wrap |
ped bread They claim that people like
60 see the kind Of bread they are getting,
so that they can determine the condition
and texture. This is true to q limited
extent, and for this reason. Several bak-
ers have wrapped their bread for an ex-
pertinent, but in every case have done II |
while the bread was hot, just as it came |
from the even. As a result, the heat was |
kept in the bread by the wrapping, and |
IL became damp and soggy. A baker once |
told me that this was done because the |
loaf weighed from two to three ounces |
more IL wrapped while hot. In this man. |
ner the bakers saved the price OF the |
wrapping and cord in flour and other ma |
terials from which the bread was made.
In order to attain the best results the |
bread should be allowed to cool for sew
eral hours. 1t is then ready for wrap /
ping and will not become soggy.''
As a result of the efforts OF Mrs /
Crane, compulsory bread-wrapping laws /
have been adopted in Erie, Pa; st. Cloud, |
Mimi, and a number of other cities. She
has carried on campaigns in Minneapolis
st. Paul. Louisville, Rochester. Nashville,
Knoxville, Chattanooga, Duluth. Saginaw,
and a number of other large cities.
Congratulations poured in on The
Washington Herald yesterday from the
various women's clubs of the District
and from number of local residents in
terested in the crusade for bakery
wrapped bread, as result of advices
which were received by Miss Georgia
Robertson and other members of the
Housekeepers' Alliance from one of the
large local bakeries to the effect that
experiments are being conducted with
a bread-wrapping machine with the view
of putting out wrapped bread.
The efforts of The Herald in the in
terest of the health Of the community by
calling attention to the dangers OF dis
case transmission in Unwrapped bread
were heartily approved by the women's
clubs. and The Herald was given credit
for bringing about the partial victory
which has been attained.
Credit 10 The Herald.
'If it had not been for The Herald"
said Miss Georgia Robertson, chairman
of the civics and sanitation committee
OF the Housekeepers' Alliance. which
has been prominent in the fight for
bread. we would not
have attained the success We have. We
are more than grateful for the tremen-
dous help II has given us"
It is stated that IL will be several
months before the bakery in question
will wrap its bread. owing to defects
in the machine
The civic and sanitation committee
has taken the matter up with a num-
Der Of local bakers, and hopes that
others will follow the example Of the
bakery which has signified its inten-
tion of wrapping bread. The fight will
be prosecuted with additional vigor In
view Of the partial victory which has
been gained. II
The Housekeepers' Alliance will hold
its next meeting next Friday at the
residence OF Miss Madeira, 1880 Nine
teenth street northwest Mrs Robert
M. La Toilette will speak on Matters
Of interest to women" The question
Of bakery-wrapped bread will be taken {