Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1916-11-17
BATTLE AND BREAD
SHIPS BAKER TELLS OF ExPE.
RIENcE IN JUTLAND FIGHT.
Stuck 70 His Post During All the Hor-
rors Of the Great Action, and VI.
tlmately Saved Batch Of
Dough on Hand.

Bread is the staff Of life; and men
must have 1t ever If they live on the
very brink and boundary of death.
The baker of a 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
$50 pounds of dough rising in the tins /;
and his bakehouse, which was stu
ated on the upper deck, was in a very
exposed position. His orders were to
leave 1t and go below under V 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 gan.
while my dough was proving (ris-
ing) in the tins," he wrote, II 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 bulls 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. l was so in
tensely interested that / could not
realize the risk until I observed a
cruiser near by on fire.
II 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 mere proof.
Being very lOath to waste the mate
rial and labor, l put the tins into the
oven and CHANGED to luck"
While waiting, TIE gallant baker
tried to concentrate his mind on read
ing 1.-THE Meditations of Marcus Au-
relius;" but he did not succeed very
well. He could ignore the thunder
of the guns, but when reports came
in, first Of n 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 1t up. The time was too
clearly unsuited to meditation. After
about two hours came a lull then the
main armament Of his ship opened fire
on the Derflinger.
II discovered just before going to
my action station that my batch of
bread had actually BAKED without any
fire and had turned out fairly good.
And although l did not know how
long the bakehouse would remain in
tact, l was anxious to save it, know
ing full well we might be glad of it if
anything happened.
II went to my action station. Fir
ing had commenced again, but l re-
quested the feet surgeon to allow me
to go and draw my oven; he was very
reluctant, but eventually consented
that | should 60 at my own risk. l
asked for two volunteers out of our
staff, and without any hesitation two
men cane forward"
So the bread baked in hot but fire.
less Ovens during actual battle was
saved; but the faithful bakers task
was not yet ended. There was the
morrow to provide for.
There was not much sleep In the
ship that night" he recorded, and
added simply, II made a batch Of
dough at midnight and then lay down
on the lockers with my life-saving belt
on"
Gallant bakers + not unknown IL
our W history, remarks the Youths
Companion. There was no quainter,
more picturesque and more useful per-
sonage Of the American Revolution
than the soldierly old German.born
Philadelphia, Christopher Ludwick,
whom General Washington often in
vited to his r,ess, whom he called al
ways my honest friend" and upon
whom was conferred at his recommen-
dalton the proud title of "Superintend-
ent of Bakers and Director Of Baking