Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1916-08-29
BREAD MATERIALS
TAKE ASCENSION
Flour Makes Jump of SIS Per Cent in
Three Weeks-Loaves Now
Smaller.

There is no indication that the
people of this city will have to pay
more than five cents. for loaf OF
bread. At least, not for time. But
the size of the loaf is or soon will be
cut down. Where you used to get
twelve ounces for a nickle you now
get eleven, a decrease OF 50 per cent
in the weight of the loaf.
But when you consider that with
in the last three weeks flour has
made an advance of little better
than So per cent it is not surprising
that one of two results has happen
ed. The price either had to be rails
ed or the size of the loaf reduced.
A local baker when interviewed
by a Freeman-Tribune reporter this
morning said: "We have cut the
size of our Ioaves from twelve ounce
to eleven. Things got to the point
where something had to be done.
1 ulSc "cCAS dSo Il boliib wy io"t
for $3.50 per barrel. ! now have to
pay $S.S5 for the same flour. Lard
has advanced / ! cents per pound.
The lard, eggs and sugar l now use
daily costs me Just SO q day more
than they did year ago now. 1t
isn't matter of graft by any means
1t is only matter of having to do it
in order to realize any profit. 1t is
not my desire to try to hold up my
customers But when | can not re-
alize a profit from my business l will
close up shop. I have also found it
necessary to raise the price OF
doughnuts from ten cents per dozen
to a cent each. A raise will also
soon be made in the price of cinna-
mon rolls"
The above statement by one of the
bakers in this city shows the reason
for the cut in the size of bread loaves
and the raise of price in other bak-
cry products. When asked regard
ing the raise in the price of flour It ?
was stated that it was probably due
to poor wheat crops in certain sec
lions of Minnesota and the Dakotas.
He went on to say that he had been
told of places in the above mentions
ed states where the crops of wheat
fos n,,N 20, Il ,<,}
even go to the bother of harvesting
his wheat, but went in with mower
and cut it down, considering it
worthless. Other farmers, according
to the statement given to him by
people who had been in those sec
tions, realized very poor yields from
their wheat crops. or course, the
wheat is not failure in all places.
but in his opinion there are enough
places where it is failure that it
has caused the advance in the price
of -four.
Congressman Rainey, of Illinois,
to an interview he gave in
Chicago Tribune, seems
to be of the opinion that there is no
reason for the big advance in the
price of wheat. He asserted that
Notwithstanding the war, bread can
be purchased cheaper in Europe than
it can in the United States. He is
credited with saying: en- no other
part of the world are the people com
PEELED to pay as much as 3 cents for
q twelve ounce loaf Of bread In
London the people now get sixty
four ounces for 10 cents, or more
than twelve ounces for cents: in
Trieste they get 35.f ounces for II
cents; in Lyons, France, they get So
ounces for ~ cents; in Harve they
get 16 ounces for cents" He adds
that the bread in these European ci>
les is made from American f">.r,- and
claims that it sells there higher than
it does in the United States.