New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-02-04

commendable effort TO avoid the i'm.
pending increase in the price of bread
Will you advise this department il
legal means exist TO restrain -four deal
ers from advancing prices TO the spec.
ulative wheat level?"
Bakers Willing TO Wait
The conference was held in Commits.
sioner Dillon's Office, az II West 23d
ST. No limit was set by the bakers as
70 the time they will wait for an
answer. Most of them feel, however
that it must be short.
The price Of -four is apparently OF
more present concern to the people OF
the tenement houses than the price of
bread A careful inquiry yesterday
among many of the corner groceries
and bakeshops of The lower East Side
showed that the price of bread such
as is used by the poor classes had not
advanced materially during the last
three months. The "small bag" of
-four. however. which is as indispensa-
BILE to the humber housewife for home
consumption a. the barrel is to the
kitchen of the wealthy, is getting al
most beyond her reach. The price on
the Small bag" has gone up two or
three cents within the last few days.
1t is likely to keep on going as the
price on the barrel nears the 81 mark.
All notions TO the contr, ry, the East
Side woman is particular about her
-four She wants the best. and now she
has to purchase a cheap grade to suit
her meagre household expenditures or
q, nd ch ic cd
and berates the grocer when she comes
TO buy. lie tries to explain he is not
TO blame. A scene like the following
occurred in several groceries visited
yesterday:
Three poorly clad but discerning
housewives, with shawl-covered heads
and rosy cheeks not the kind of
cheeks usually credited to the tene-
ments visited the neighborhood gro
cery store and bakeshOp to buy -four,
among other things. The clerk
wrapped lin newspapers three "small
bags" of a well known high grade. the
kind "they always call for" he said
afterward. The women put the exact
change which they had been sccus-
toned to pay on the counter.
Up Two Cents Bag.
ne NltIh tADldIutu lUdl Nne price
had gone up and he demanded two
cents more on each bag. A surprised
and excited conference ensued The
clerk offered cheap grade at the old
price. The women returned two bags
and split the third into three parts,
each taking her small portion Of about
three or four cups.
These housewives 2il purchased
bread. They paid four cents a pound
for the rye bread, which is the stand
ard kind on the East Side. That is one
cent more than they paid three or four
months ago. but the raise came soon
after the European war began. and has
remained at that price ever since. In
a dozen other bakeries the same price
/ prevailed Only one was found where
& nickel a pound" was charged. and
there we're comparatively few custom
( cTs il ;he place.
The standard small loaf of rye bread,
such as Is sold on the East Side, weighs
a pound and three-quartcrs and sells
for seven cents. II used 20 weight two
pounds 20 two pounds and a half be-
fore the European war began, but was
reduced in size when the price poun /
wee increased cent. Some unscru-
uu.ous bakers now attempt 10 sell the
lighter loaf for the full weight Of the
cid loaf, charging al the rate of four
cents q pound. IL was said. No such
dealers were found yesterday among
those called upon. II is unlikely that
they thrive for any length of time, for
/ observations indicate that the average
Fast Sido housewife buys her bread
* he pound mostly a pound at a
time gnd insists upon seeing il
weighed
Little Call for White Bread.
There were plenty OF the regulation
size "white bread" loayes at five cents,
such as you might buy at any bakery
in other parts of the city. but ap-
Darently little demand for them. The
Fast Side bakers seemed little con-
,erncd whether the price on white
leaves advanced or not. What few they
sold they would sell at n loss II neces-
sary. they declared, rather than raise
the urice, or else take them out OF
etock entirely Rolls and biscuits were
selling az the usual price, or IL cents
p dozen. depending on the grade.
So the East Side will live and have
its bread. but perhaps not ITS Hour.
icnV after the siN-cent loaf has become
a reality in other parts OF the CITY
where most Of the housewives arc more
sblc "a nav the advance. For the SIX
cont loaf is coming. perhaps "ithln
twenty-four hours. perhaps TO-DAY
Targ, and small bakers throughout
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