Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1916-11-17
BATTLE and BREAD
SHIPS BAKER TELLS OF EXPE.
RIENCE IN JUTLAND FIGHT.
Stuck to His Post During All the Hor<
rors of the Great Action, and VI
timateIy Saved Batch of
Dough on Hand.

Bread is the staff of life; and men
must have it even if they live on the
very brink and boundary of DEATH
The baker of British battleship en-
gagged in the Battle of Jutland wrote
home to the mistress and pupils of
his old school in the little town of
LangWith an account of what he did
and saw in the great fight, and his let
ter was reprinted in the London Daily
Mail.
When the action opened, he had
360 pounds of dough rising in the tins;
and his bakehouse, which was situ-
ated on the upper deck, was in a very
exposed position. His orders were to
leave it and go below under cover as
soon as affairs looked threatening;
but he did not wish to waste all that
good dough, and so he went to the
commander and begged permission to
remain until the very last moment;
when his ship should fire her first gun.
while my dough was proving (ris-
ing) in the tins" he wrote, 81 went
out on the quarterback and witnessed
a most magnificent spectacle, one new
er to be forgotten. The whole visible
horizon, which was not more than
four miles, was one long blaze of
flame; the hulls of the enemy's ships
were not visible to~the naked eye, but
could be seen dimly through the haze
with the telescope, and the only
means we had of knowing that the
enemy were there was by the spurts
of flame from their guns. i was so in
tensely interested that I could not
realize the. risk until / observed a
cruiser near by on fire.
Il went back to the bakehouse and
| endeavOred to save my batch of bread.
| My staff, which consists of three men,
had gone down under cover. The fire
| party by this time had orders to ex-
| tinguish my fire; the dough required
at least twenty minutes more proof
Being very loath to waste the mate
rial and labor, l put the tins into the
oven and CHANGED to luck"
While waiting, the gallant baker
| tried to concentrate his mind on read
| ing 1.-THE Meditations of Marcus Au-
reliuS y but he did not succeed very
well. He could. ignore the thunder
| of the guns, but when reports came
In, first of one British ship blown up,
and then of another, and then of a
third, and lastly that the, cruiser next
them in the battle line was on fire,
he gave it up. The time was too
| clearly unsuited to meditation. After
about two hours came full; then the
main armament of his ship opened fire
on the Derfflinger.
Il discovered just before going to
my action station that my batch oi
bread had actually baked without any
fire and had turned out fairly good
And although | did not know how
long the bakehouse would remain in
tact, was anxious to save it, know
ing full well we might be glad of it il
anything happened.
Il went to my action station. Fir
ing had commenced again, but 1 re
QueSted the feet surgeon to allow me
to go and draw my oven; he was very
reluctant, but eventually consented
that l should go at my own risk.
asked for two volunteers out of oul
staff, and without any hesitation twt
men came forward" I
So the bread baked in hot but fire
less ovens during actual battle wa
saved; but the faithful bakers tasl
} was not yet ended. There was tn
morrow to provide for.
"There was not much sleep in th
ship that night" he recorded, AM
, added simply, II made a batch Q
dough at midnight and then lay dow
: on, the lockers with my lffe-saving bel
: on"
5 Gallant bakers are not unknown il
our own history, remarks the Youth
Companion. There was no quaintel
; more picturesque and more useful pei
: sonage of the American Revolutio
, than the soldierly old German-bor
S Philadelphian, Christopher Ludwicl
4 whom General Washington often il
4 vited to his mess, whom he called a
t ways my honest friend" and upo
r whom was conferred at his recommeI
s dation the proud title of "Superinten6
ent of Bakers and Director of Balin
q IN the Army of the United States"