New-York tribune. [volume], January 16, 1898, Page 12, Image 34

About New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
AN ITA MAN BAKEBI IN OAK-ST.
BREAD FOK NEW-YORK.
BAKERIES OP HIGH AND LOW DEGREE
THAT BUPPLT MA. KINDS.
BOW FOREION rui.MS OP Tlir, sTUT OF L-PB
WERE INTKi'M ''i:l> INTO TH 13 CITY
?YSTRHATtZED WORK IN THI
BIU BAKB8HOPS.
To inpply the Inhabitanti of New-Tork wltb
thelr dally bread, ple, cake ard crackers about
n,:;?Mi bakcrlci ar.- kept busy, and the varloui
procenei of baklng are carried on al all boun
of the da) and night In all parti of the greal
rity. it is natural that tbe bread trade should
have grown with tbe development ..f the clty,
but thc lncrease in populatloi la only partly re
sponalUe for the growing bread bualneaa, The
foreignera who came to New-Tork in the lifti-s
end aome yeara later had ideai as t.. bread
wblch they cultlvated In thelr new bomes, and
tho Bchwarzbrod of the Germane, tbe flat, large
loaves of the itaiians an.l th- coarse graham
bread nf th- Bcandinaviani were baked in tbe
homea >>f tb- new cltlsena However changed
their Hurr,.unditiKs may hav been. When thi
forelgn worklngmen reached th-ir homes after
a day's labor they found in the bread on thelr
tables a glimpae of bome and a rem'nder ..f
thelr earller daya "Store bread" was used only in
emergenciea >.r l.y familles where tb.- art of bak?
lng wjus unknown. Bcattered thickiy through the
City were bakesh.'ps wh-r- people who had i
no large ovens brouprht th-ir bread t.? be baked,
and these places were beaieged l.y customera
OO the last days of the week. I'-ople <>f all na- j
ti..n. flocked to these bak.-shop.s and carried ;
away "twist.s" iprinkled with nimv s?>1, Mg
loaves of rye bread flavored with caraway s.-eds,
milk bread through which n.islna had been lib
erally scattcred, ordlnary Whlte bread and all
aort.. of cak(.s and kuchen untll llie atreets near
by wer.- fragTMt witb the bakeshop fumes.
I-ut the baker waa not alow to see that he
could make more money by furnlshlng the par
tlcular bread direct than by baklng It for hls
customera, and so, after ? wblle, thi housewlfi
ceaaed t.. baki the bread <<( her -ountry, be
cause she could buy it ready rnado for only a
iittle more-than it. would coat ber to make it at
lmme.
Th>T- are now riundr-ds of bak-ri-- In the
erowded dlitrict where the Poles and Russlani
get thelr Barchea on Prlday evening, baked In
the aame way as ln their homea In the Itallan
quartera Large, Sat elght-pound loaves of bread
ar- baked every night, whlcb resemble in every
reapeel thi loaves which a few yeara ago could
be baked only at bome. The bakerlei where
th.-se necessary arti,|-s of fcod are produced
ar.-, for th ? most part, in .. llars. They aro
dingy, , lamp-(1 and uninvltlng, although fre
quent Inapectlon l.y tb ? Health Department
keepa them falriy clean. The work usually be
glni iat,- in th.- afternoon, ,.and eontlnuei
througbout the night, so that the customera
may have their bread early in the mornlnK. The
mixiiiK vati, the tables on wblch th.- bread li
ahaped aml the ov-tis are all In one room, and
toward mornlng the temperature becomea bo
hiph that the men w >rk almost naked. Toward
the .nd of the week extra work in thc way of
fancy bread and caki is done in these bakertes,
although tbal branch "f the buainess is carried
on t.? a greater estent ln the upper Kast Slde
bakeri. s, wher- kucheti play.; a more importanl
part than with the people of the low-r Kast
Blde.
When th.- bread aml rolls have been sent out
for dlstributlon to the customera and sracked
ou tln- sb-lv.s and the counter.s of the store thc
ku. hen baken come, and bef. re noon jrreat llat
tlns of many kinds of Qt nuan cakes <are made.
whlcb become the chief part of the St_nday
breakfait of the German custi men,
Some of these bak-ries also make the pecullar
breads for whii.h there ls only a limlted demand,
CUTTINO AND STAMPING DOUGII IN A GRACKEB BAKEUY.
and have customers In other cltlea to whom
thelr product ls shlpped rcgularly. One of these
apeclallles ls a baker of rumpcrnickel, who aaya
that hls bread Is "aa good, as hard, as digestible
and as gonulne as any that *... baked ln Ger
many." He explained that by rights the black
bread should bo called Bon pour Nickel. "It
waa like this,"" he said. "When tho First Na
polcon came to a llttle Bavartan town on hls
triumphal march through Kurope ho mado his
headquarters at the home of a peasant, who
servcl hlm with the best he had in the house.
Napolcon looked at the black bread which was
plaeed before him and said with dlsgust: 'C'est
bon pour Niek.-l.' Nickel waa the name of bla
horse. From that time the black bread beeame
known In that region as B..n pour Nickel, and
the words were Ilnally run into one as Pumper
Utcket, aml that's what It Is called to-day."
These small bakerles which are seattered In all
parts of New-York where there Is a large for?
elgn popuiatlon use from one to six barrols of
flour a day. Then thero ls a better class, where
tiie accommodatlons are less cramped and where
from six to flfteen barrels of flour are made
into bread and rolls every night. Many of the
ment, for hotels and reatauranta, atcamers and
for evening dellvery, and when the ordlnary
worklngman goes home to hls family the bakef
who belongs to the night gang goes on dity,
The bakers of N-w-Vork are mostlg .oreign,
ers; they earn good WSgCS, and a aober, good
man has llttle difflculty in Ilndlng iteadj work,
They have a number of unloni and other or
ganlzations, but most of th. large, w ll-rejju.
lated bakeries are non-unlon -StabllabnMalQ
and for the purpose of keeptog th.-se plaets __Up.
plled wlth help an employment bureau ls niain
talned, where many good m.n have been alded
in lOCUrlng work.
A walk tliroush one r.f the large l,,ik. ri. s when
the work ll at Its belght at night il InteresttM
enough to n-pay ono for the 1, aa of ili p -\ hich
it entails. One of these mode. eom erni has oa
the top floor of the large bulldlng wblch it o-cu.
ples a seri-s ,f ti-rs where the Sour ls slfted
and mlxed. Thero every bit of f-.r. Ign mattlf ls
taken from the flour, and ur.til ine ? Naminej
what t* mains after th<- ll-ur has | ne through
he can form no idea of how much th- re |_ to
take out of the cleanest and best Sour. Aft-r th.
purified flour of various kinds has been mixed
ICIXING MACHINE IN A KODEL BAKI.I'T.
latter class have dough-mixing machines, and
those wbo work there throutrh the hours when
the average man sleeps breathe air that is less
beated and less Impure than thelr brethren ln
the llttle shops, although the attite of a haker?
or rather his lack of attlre? in the best of shops
gives hlm the appcarance of an athlete stripped
for tralnlng.
There are about twenty bakertes ln New-Tork
where twenty barrels of flour or more aro used
every day, but most of these work day and
night. During the day stock is made for ship
it goes on tlny elevat rs to large Wns, where I
few hours' supply is always kept. Prom th- bina
the flour goes to the mix'.ng-rootn. and there
men In white wooll-n shirts and duck tr-.usera
mlx it wlth the various ingredients whlcb go to
make the sponge. In thei hUgl inovabli
troughs the mass is allowed to "_>-t f r a eer?
taln tlme. In some bak-ries the maaa b_ then
turned over to brawny m-n, who kn-ad and
rr.aul it while they puff with th- ezertion, In
the perf.-ctly equipped istabllihmentl the
kneading is done by iiku hin-ry. Whlle it is Id
the kn.-a.ling machlne other Ingn llenti are
added, and then the mass la put m tr-uglu.
where it remains from one to two hours for
"raising," and when in Its ambition it overstepi
the limits one of the white athletea quicklj*
takos up the apongy mass anl forcea ;t back
Into the trough. When the time '??.r taking lt
out conies two brawny, Bour-covered mengri-p
the douizh and carry it to a table, arbeie lt il
cut up into small pie-.-s ,f c.-rtaiti B'elght, ac
corditig to the size of loaf that is I 1 be prodM-4
Then it is t brown into a largi ia ihi
table, wblch leadl by means ..:' a ite to thi
lower floor, where the bak-r r. ? ? Ivei it.
In the lower apartm-t,t th. r- ire Dg, whlte,
flour-.ov-r.-d tables, at each ..f which stand. A
group of eight or ten bak.rs. ., Bgat*
Ing costumea They catch the d i I oBBt
fn.m above, or aa the carr:--rs bring .1 '" th-m,
and with knocks atul twists at d turna mould the
ahapol.-ss mass into plecei ->f unlform ihapUM
range them in trays. These at.- then carrisial
the ovetis which enclrcll the room, and come
forth brown, yellow anl lomet-mei i;.,ik white
bread.
Notlees to the workmen ai- posted " Ihi B*\
to the effect that a pln found on th- perm ot
an employe will subjc t him to Immedlatl -_?"
charge, and that no person will be lilowii ta
carry tObaOOO into the bakery in any '? rm.
An el.-vator takea the warm, fragrant havea
to the d.-hvery department on tbe Btreet noo.
where aa the nigh: advances th- ioaded b.-.ket-.
trays. boxes aml hampers flil the ipace, l.-.iving
only narnnv passag-ways for the shipi ing clerka
and delivery men.
At mldnight the wagons which tak- bread t
dlstat.t polnta recelve thelr flrst load, anl from
then untll 4 or 5 o'elock the stnam ?'? \*tm8m
wagor.3 contlnues from the bak. ry gati I I-1^
tru.ks tak. the br >ad and rolls for the Iittle
Btore... smallcr wagOCI come for nearby cstab
lishmcnts. and then come the route WSgOBI from
which the regular -ustom.-rs are lupplled. The
various batcbes which came through the iiiixiaf
room only a ahort time befora ksavi In the.h--.pi
of rolls and brcaul of all deecriptlons, rr..m tha
old-fashioned ' home-made'' to tl..- latesl Krench.
Those who recelve and consunie tt at tbttt
breakfasts have only a falnt Idea of the wors
that has boen done to produee ouc da>'_ ?upP?.
of the bicad of N'.w-Toik.