Weekly Caledonian. (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1919-1920, 1919-07-30
$4,000 L0AVES :.
OF BREAD SENT =
TO FOUR STATES

1
hot weather that it is some task to
cook her own bread will find some
consolation in knowing that IN st.
Johnsbury there is one little family
that makes 10000 loaves week.
yris is the Cross fanily on Railroad
street. OF course the Cross family
doesn't eat all this bread alone. 1t
takes the people OF four states,
Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire
and Eastern New York to consume
this big weekly output.
The Cross family is better known
to St. Johnsbury people as the
George H. Cross Co., bakers and
confectioncrs and manufacturers, Of
the famous "St. Johnsbury Crackers"
at No. so Railroad street.
The company has recently put III
lot of new bread-making machinchy
which has greatly increased its out
put and makes it one of the most
modern plants in the East. A des-
cription of their plant and process OF
bread making may interest the
housewife.
Beginning on the third floor there
is huge flour bin into which the
flour-which comes by two carload
lots-is dumped. There is an auto
matte sitter which works the flour
into an automatic scale before it
drops into the big mixer There IS
an automatic water feeder so that the
flour, water and other ingredients OF
the bread go into the mixer in just
the proper proportions.
This mixer stirs AGO loaves of
bread at one time. The mixture is
just as near perfect as modern SCI
cncc can make it. The dough is
dropped into eight huge troughs
where it raises and is knocked
down" three different times.
The dough then drops through
chute to the second floor directly into
a scaling machine which weighs out
Just the proper weight to a loaf. An
endless chain carries the bread to
the rounding machine from which it
is put into a "Merry-go-round" where
it remains Is minutes.
1t raises again to its proper tex
ture. Then it goes to the moulding
machine from which it is placed in
pans. On huge carriers the dough
in the pans goes into steam room
which is just the right temperature to
make the bread raise to its proper
state before going into the ovens.
There are two big ovens. One
bakcs Z8O loavcs at one time and
the 24O. From the ovens it goes down
a shoot to wrapping machine on
the first floor. Here 1900 loaves of
bread can be wrapped in oil paper and
sealed in a hour.
The bread is placed into packing
cases from whic;, it is hurried to the
railroad station by teams and deliver
cd to trains going north, east, south
and west, carrying the st. Johnsbury
product to eastern Maine, Northern
New Hampshire, Eastern New York
and most of the state of Vermont.
While this is the main industry OF
the Cross company there are many
important sidelines. For instance
over $50 dozen doughnuts are made
every day and shipped out with the
bread. There is an immense guam
tity of cake made daily. Over 75O
pounds of salted peanuts are roasted
and cooked in oil daily and shipped
out to all parts of the country.
The crackers department is an in-
stitution by itself. Over nine barrels
of -four day are turned into famous
St. Johnsbury soda and butter crack
ers. These are sold all over the
United States, large shipments going
to the Pacific coast.
There are over 40 people in the
Cross plant. The president is w. S.
Davis and B. B. Scribner is treasurer
of this progressive concern. The
heads of departments are: Archibald
Campbell, bread and cake; James
Hicks, crackers; Charles Lynch,
snipper; John Scott, office staff.
The company handle large amounts
of candy and in the winter there is
q largo arno,.pt nf nand1y m ao,Ifo ptur.