Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-12-09
Just an Effort to
Gouge the Public, Says
City Sealer H. D. Reel

''To my mind there is no reason for
raising the price of bread to six cents;
1t seems to me to be just an effort to
'gouge' the public!"
That is the view City Sealer Harry
D. Reel took to-day on the proposal
of the State bakers in convention here
recently to boost the bread prices
from five to six cents loaf.
Up until an early hour this after
noon Mayor Meals hadn't taken up
with the Sealer the question of re-
quiring sixteen ounces to the loaf if
the one cent advance is insisted upon
Thus far His Honor, the Mayor,
and myself have not gone in the sub
ject yet and in fact 1 know nothing
officially of the matter other than
what l saw in the newspapers" said
the Sealer. II shall certainly be glad
to consult with the Mayor on the
question"
The Weight Reductions
Mr.. Reel pointed out that the bread
problem has been the subject of care
full inspection for the last several
months and he has obtained consid-
erable data as to the recent reduction
in weight of the loaves for which five
cents is charged.
A month or two ago the Sealer ex-
planned, sixteen ounces was not un-
common and fourteen to fifteen ounces
was the rule; now the bread weighs
from nine and one-half to thirteen
ounces And no dealer sells bread for
| less than five cents q loaf.
| In this connection Mr.. Reel men
toned a curious coincident relative
| to the difference in retail prices of
locally baked bread-in this city and
in other municipalities of the State.
Cents Here; in Williamsport
'One of the firms here bakes a
whole lot of bread that is sold in Har-
risburg at five cents per loaf; in Will
| Transport the same bread retails at
four cents. This l know to be a fact
because the Williamsport sealer was
| in this city recently and raised the
question as to prices of bread when
he saw this firms delivery team on the
street.
BY the way he said, what retail
price does that firm get for it's bread
in this city?'"
Five cents told him."
why he replied, considerably
surprised, that same bread is sold in
Williamsport for four cents, retail!' F"
At the request of Mr.. Reel the
Williamsport official sent the local
sealer a loaf of the bread-which had
been baked here and sold here for five
cents loaf and sold in Williams
port for four cents.
Inquiry was made of the head of
the firm which controls the bakery in
/
baking establishments in this section
of the State, by the way, as to the odd
difference in the bread prices.
The Reason
THAT may be a local condition." he
answered. Our bread is sold at four
cents wholesale If some baker either
| in this city or in some other town
might want TO sell his bread at cost,
why we couldn't control that. The
bakers would have nothing to do with
that end of the problem as the dealer
might be a 'cut-rate' store or some
merchant who is making general bid
| for business by Offering bread or some
other commodity at cost"
The Bakers Viewpoint
The same bakery head discussed
briefly the increased bread cost ques-
ton.
IF the bread prices are advanced"
said he, "I think that the weight
might be increased somewhat, say an
ounce or an ounce and half but /
doubt very much If the bakers could
| afford to increase the weight to six
teen ounces. That wouldn't offer any
different solution to the problem OF
increased cost of production than to
keep the size and price of the loaves
as at present.
"The higher cost of baking bread
combined with the increased price of
materials makes 1t almost necessary to
my mind for the bakers to advance
their prices. That at least was the
way the whole subject was put up to
us when these bakers from all over
the State met here the other day. They
said they can't afford to raise the
bread prices unless we do; on the
other hand they declared that unless
we did go along the dealers couldn't
afford to take our bread. So what
could we do?"