The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1916-09-21

ton. When the time comes for it to
go into effect, the railroads will I'M
doubtedly contest it. So a nation
wide strike still threatens. With the
railroads tied up and shipments sus-
pended, the bakers will be glad to get
flour at any price, and the mills with a
large flour reserve on hand will be
especially fortunate At least, so argues
good business.
Already the bakeries have retrench-
ed on all possible expenditures. No
tees have even been sent out to the
trade warning grocers and retailers
not to buy any more bread than they
can sell, since owing to the present
low margin of profit, stale bread could
not be returned. This condition also
prevailed couple of years ago when
the price of wheat was excessive.
Within the past few weeks, however,
the possibility of relief in the wheat
shortage has come from an unexpect-
ed direction. Roumania has Joined
the Allies. 1t is belived with her fresh
troops and new equipment, Roumania
will, sooner, or later, be able to force
an overland route either to the Aegean
or to the Adriatic, thus releasing both
her own and the Russian wheat supply.
Before the war Russia exported about
l46, 600, 900 bushels of wheat a year, and
since the war it has been announced
| that the harvests are running far above
the average. An official estimate places
her 1915 crop at 500, 600, 600 bushels.
Hence, it's possible that there is a
large accumulation of wheat in Rus
sian warehouses waiting to be exported,
which, together with the Roumanian
surplus. will go long way relieving
the American resources, and will create
radical change in prices.
Thus it Is just barely possible that
we may escape paying.six or ten cents
for our bread. All that is needed is an
extra supply of wheat to send the price
of flour down and mitigate the hard
ships imposed upon bakers. The in
creased cost of sugar and delivery ex-
penses alone would hardly be accepted
as sufficient excuse by the American
public for rise in prices. At least a
partial bread boycott would probably
ensue while American house wives
turned their hand to bread making.
There is stiIl.many American house
holds where bakers bread never en-
tiers except in an emergency. These
are usually provided oyer by women
who have figured out to the tenth of
a cent the economic and physiological
advantages of home made bread oyer
the industrial variety. In a series of
experiments conducted by domestic
science classes!in different parts of the
country it was found that from the
standpoint of economy there were very
little, if any, difference in the price,
but in some Instances the results have
been in favor of homebaking. One
woman, for example, buys a fifty cent
bag of -four every Saturday, which con-
stitutes her weeks supply for both
cooking and baking. Two leaves of
bread e,baked twice week and the
rest of the hot rolls, biscuits mullins
and hot cakes are placed upon the
table. Every bit Of bread, pastry and
thickenlng for cooking IS made out of
that one bag of flour. Counting the
other ingredients of sugar, lard. milk
and yeast; the gas used in baking
bread, and the time devoted by the
servant who does the baking, this
housekeeper asserts that the expense
is less than that of three loaves of
bakers bread day at five cents
loaf, which would be required by her
family.
The widespread substitution of bak-
er's bread for home made bread how
ever, is not entirely based on conven-
fence. In many cases the bakers pro-
duet is infinitely superior. Usually,
the recipes are worked out by expert
enced chemists and bread makers in
the baking laboratories. AS a result,
the finished PRODUCTS mostly uniform
in quality, and very digestible.
In the meantime. however, the mat
ter is in the hands of the United States
district attorneys who are investigating
the alleged difficulties of the bakers.
If the price of bread goes up, when in
the judgment of these men conditions
do not appear to warrant it, prosecu-
ton by the government may follow
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