Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1917-07-23
: DR.. L. G.. Reese

. DR.. T. Wesener. president Of Column
bus Laboratories, Chicago, advocates an
addition of 20 per cent. of cornstarch or
corn -four, to the wheat -four as now usel
for bread He states that the blended
flour would be as good for bread making
as the pure wheat flour, and that the plan
would not only increase our yearly supply
of -four by 100000 barrels, but reduce its
price by nearly one dollar per 1856 pounds
Eighty-fve per cent. -four would give a
bread quite similar to the kind OF bread
we now call whole meal bread, as always
a good proportion of ordinary white -four
is added to the pure whole meal in order
to make it possible to convert it into a
fermentable dough. The loaves produced
would be small. sodden and of taste
which the people are not accustomed
to and do not like; it would contain about
5 per cent more water than the present
ordinary wheat bread which is also an
important consideration.
As far as known, Parmentier proposed
first in 1913 whole wheat bread. 1t was
used as war bread for a short time during
the French revolution, and also by the
English during the Napoleonic wars, but
it had to be abandoned quickly. Then
Sylvester Graham 0794-1S5D. a Presby-
terrain minister and vegetarian, made an
immense stir; and whole wheat -four
and bread are still named for him. The
propaganda never ceased it is a dogma
inherited by the son from the father, in
stilled in the disciple by his teacher.
Sometimes it was successful, here we'll
as in Europe. but always only for a very
short time. The masses of the people ac-
customed to white bread, prefer this food
to the whole meal or standard so per cent.
bread. because it has a better appearance
and is. therefore, more appetizing because
it has a better taste and flavor, and be-
cause it is more easily digested. The fact
instinctively known to mankind for ages,
that bread made from the pure white
-four obtained from the endosperm of the
wheat berry is more easily and complete
~ digested than a bread made from the
whole berry containing a portion Of
the bran and germ. has been fully con-
frmed by very numerous physiological
tests and feeding experiments made in
this country and Europe.
The people who advocate the 50 per
cent. IS per cent or whole meal bread
are in general sufficiently well-to-do to In
dulge in most kinds Of food and eat very
little bread, often less than a quarter of
a pound per day. 1t matters thus very
little to them what kind Of bread they
take; they live on other things; and, as
they usually also do not perform any
manual labor and lead a sedentary life,
this kind Of bread which has for their
mode of life the benefcent effect Of a
gentle laxative. appears to them health
full. For the masses Of the people, the
workers who do hard manual labor, eat
regularly one pound or more Of bread per
day, and are accustomed only to white
bread, the change to a whole meal or
similar kind of war bread would soon
lead to disturbances of the bowels, which
fhnir
fully and easily digested as before. and
would thus weaken them in health. Ali
hard-working men, as iron workers, min
ers, golfers. stone workers. blacksn1iths,
bakers. soldiers, sailors, etc, prefer a
good white wheaton bread to any other
bread because the light spongy loaf, af-
fording ready access to the digestive
juices. is easily and completely digested
and quickly recuperates the consumers
strength without putting much strain on
the digestive organs.