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CHAPTER III.

LARGE INSTITUTIONS ESTABLISHED ABROAD FOR THE PERFECT AND ECONOMICAL FABRICATION OF BREAD BY MEANS OF MACHINERY AND STEAM POWER, WITH M. ROLLAND'S APPARATUS AND OVENS.

The Bread Question more seriously considered Abroad than in England.—The great interest manifested in it by Intelligent Men.—The Insalubrity and other disadvantages of the old System of Panification exposed.—Difficulties of the Bakers.—Wilful Blindness in England to existing Evils.—The French Press on Bread-making, and on Monsieur Rolland's Apparatus and Ovens.—Magnificent Establishment at Lyons planned and executed by Monsieur Lesobre.—Particulars of the Rolland Invention.

The bread question, in all its bearings, appears to have excited a far more earnest degree of interest in France, Belgium, and some parts of Germany, up to the present moment, than with us; and the practical results of it in those countries have been highly satisfactory and beneficial.
    A general impression seems to exist there, amongst the intelligent orders of society, of the absolute necessity of a thorough reform in the old methods of "panification," or bread-making; some not very attractive pictures of which are given in several of their recent publications on the subject, written by men of ability, who have entered with great zeal into the subject. They all concur in stating, that for centuries past there has been no real improvement in the operations of the baking-trade; and that while striking and rapid progress has been made in all other of the industrial arts, these—faulty as they are—have remained unaltered. The insalubrity, coarseness, and want of economy, which distinguish them are thus described, and commented on, in the archives of the French Académie des Sciences, and in various expositions which have been made through the press, or at the meetings of learned societies. I insert some of the details —unattractive as they are—without softening them for the fastidious reader, because any disgust which they may inspire, will be a natural and healthy consequence, and may awaken a desire to aid in their abolishment. It is not well to shut our eyes, and determine to ask and to see nothing of evils which more or less affect life itself; though thousands of irreflective persons prefer to do this, rather than to investigate and endeavour to remove them. Many do not even choose to believe that the water supplied to the inhabitants of London requires purifying before it can be drunk with safety; or that the imperfect sewerage of that mighty city, so taints and loads the air with disease, as to render it often a deadly poison to those who inhale it. So it is with regard to the bread they eat. They do not wish to be disturbed in their belief that it is all that it ought to be; and treat as pure fancy, or prejudice, the idea that it can disagree with anybody, or be productive of serious and painful disorders. The common mode of making it is too well known to admit of contradiction. It is thus not very invitingly described by a foreign contemporary:—" It will be asked by our descendants, with astonishment, if indeed it could be true that, at this epoch of industrial progress, our principal aliment were prepared in the gross manner that it is, by plunging the arms into the dough, and raising and tossing it about with such force as to exhaust the strength of the half-naked journeymen, and cause streams of perspiration to flow and mingle with the alimentary substance?"
    And again:—
    "If instead of being satisfied with the aspect of the loaves exhibited in the windows of the bakers' shops, we were to descend into the offices where they are made, and witness the want of cleanliness and wholesomeness which attend their fabrication; could see here a reservoir of water which is never changed; there supplies of flour exposed to the influence of an impure atmosphere, either too damp or over-heated; and above all, sickly, perspiring men in contact with our food, we should turn away with a very legitimate feeling of disgust."
    These are revolting pictures, but they are true; yet much which repels us in them is beyond the control of the bakers themselves, arising from the want of space, and fitting accommodation for the trade they follow. How can the air of the ill-ventilated underground premises in which their operations are carried on generally in populous and crowded cities, be otherwise than most unhealthily foul, destructive to the men employed in them, and having the worst effects on the food which they prepare? No article of our nourishment requires more scrupulous nicety in everything connected with its fabrication than bread. Its value—which cannot well be over-estimated—is dependent on its purity; and this can be preserved (even when it is composed of genuine ingredients) only by the utmost cleanliness in all the details of its preparation, and the absence of every unwholesome influence in the locality where it is effected.
    The leading journals of France, in their notices of an invention which fairly promises to supersede, at last, the old objectionable routine of the baking trade, are unanimous in their severity of remark on its glaring defects. The Courrier de Lyons, 16th February, 1854, treats it rather humorously, thus:—"From the fine arts let us pass to the art of bread-making, which is not in itself a fine art, but which has the merit of contributing to the existence of all others. If we call it an art at all, it is from pure politeness, and in conformity to common usage that we do so; for in fact it is nothing but a barbarous routine, unworthy of the civilisation which has created so many industrial miracles. There are truly singular anomalies in the march of material progress which nothing but custom prevents us from remarking. For example: we have decomposed all the original elements, water, fire, air, and earth; have conquered pain by means of chloroform; annulled distance and time by the electric telegraph; measured the mountains of the moon; brought to sight stars which were imperceptible; analysed light; and made tables dance! We have launched upon the ocean marvellous vessels which defy the tides and the winds; and created and subdued horses of fire which can drag a rolling village over precipices or through the bowels of a mountain with the speed of a hippogriff. In a word, we are become Titans through the medium of science, which nevertheless has not given us bread worthy of man! This fact is certain. In the midst of the general progress of civilisation, the important art of bread-making has remained very nearly as coarse and barbarous as it was in the times of the cabbages of Fabricius, or the plough of Cincinnatus; and yet nothing can be easier than to carry it as nearly as may be to perfection."
    The writer then proceeds to mention in the most favourable terms the "Appareil-Rolland," as it is called, which is, he says, so "superior in point of economy, uniformity of produce, and cleanliness," that it cannot fail to be generally adopted by the trade, except perhaps by those avaricious members of it, who prefer, before every other consideration, the few centimes which they gain by the weight of their water-logged loaves.

    Extract, on the same subject, from "The Cosmos," a scientific review: —

    "We might refuse to believe, if the fact were not forced on our conviction, that the most important and the most ancient of all the arts is the one which at the present day is the least advanced, and we might almost say, which is still in the rudest and most barbarous state; but enter into the first baking establishments of the capital, and follow in all its details the conversion of flour into bread! You will be grieved to see that, though incessantly repeated for thousands of years, the process has remained absolutely devoid of improvement; and you will turn away from the sight of it with a saddened spirit, even if it should not have inspired you with deep disgust.
    "In the middle of the nineteenth century bread making is still a cruel labour!* The closed knuckles must be violently thrust into a huge mass of tenacious dough, which must be raised by the muscular effort of the arms, and turned and tossed over repeatedly with the most violent exertion. The workman who performs this hard task has consequently received the too-expressive appellation of moaner (Geindre), because the exhausting nature of his toil is betrayed by the heavy stifled groans which it forces from his chest. Every part of his body is soon overflowing with perspiration, which falls in large drops, and is amalgamated with the dough he is kneading; and he is entirely overwhelmed with fatigue by the time he has reached the end of his killing labour."
    The further sufferings of the unfortunate workman, from the fine dust which he constantly inhales, and which is said to cause various pulmonary affections, from the manner in which it clogs the lungs; and the destructive effect on the eye-sight of the burning atmosphere, which he encounters when placing his bread in the oven, are dwelt on by the journalist just quoted, as well as by other writers, in the most influential and popular of the French papers; and it is obvious that some great modification at least is imperatively needed, of a system which combines so many serious evils as those which they describe; and which is not confined to their country, or to our own.
    For some years past persevering efforts have been made in France to supersede manual labour, by the use of machinery in fabricating bread. None of these seem to have answered the purpose entirely, until Monsieur Rolland — himself an experienced baker —completed what other experimentalists had begun, and introduced, not only a complete machine by which the dough was perfectly mixed and kneaded, but an oven also of novel construction, in which it was baked in a superior manner. It will be seen that his inventions were met for awhile by the most vehement opposition on the part of the trade; but, to judge by a long list of places where they have been adopted, and of persons who have given the highest testimonials in their favour after having practically tested their efficiency, their real utility is now appreciated.
    A Monsieur Lesobre, to whose intelligent agency and indefatigable exertions the Appareil-Rolland owes much of its success, addressed himself thus, upon the subject of it, to the Scientific Congress of France, at its meeting of March 1st, 1856:—
    "Gentlemen,—In the list of questions which are to be discussed by the Congress in the present year, there is one which is especially opportune, and which deserves its most serious consideration. It is proposed in these terms: 'What measures ought to be taken for the introduction of mechanical power into the baking-trade, that its processes may be simplified, and bread obtained at a moderate price; and which is the best system of bread-making?'
    "It is because these questions have occupied my attention for many years past, that I beg to have the honour of addressing a few words to the meeting.
    "You all know, gentlemen, what, even five years since, was the state of the bread-trade in France as elsewhere. The kneading of the dough was effected by the arms; and in countries where it was customary to make it very firm it was prepared by stamping it with the feet! This practice has been continued from the most remote and barbarous ages, up to our own times.
    "Nevertheless, within the last century numberless attempts have been made to improve the fabrication of bread; and the annals of The Conservatory of Arts and Trades* will show that more than a hundred inventions have been produced during that period for its mechanical preparation, and for a more economical and cleaner mode of baking it.
    "Still the trade has remained obstinately unadvanced; rejecting with dogged and almost savage resolution every proposed improvement.
    "Are we then to conclude that amongst so many new inventions there have been none which could have been generally adopted with advantage? Assuredly not! There have been several of which the general application would have been a great step gained; but which, having been tested only in individual cases, were wrecked in the storm of opposition which they encountered.
    "The aid of machinery in bread-making is opposed equally by the journeyman-bakers and their masters; by the men, because they fear that it should throw them out of work; and by the masters, because they are not in general very enlightened, and for that reason adhere the more tenaciously to their old customs; and also because the purchase of the machinery would be expensive to them.
    "This, gentlemen, explains the slight success which has attended the inventions designed for the improvement of the bread trade.
    "But in 1851 a new state of things commenced. At that period the paste-kneader of a distinguished inventor, M. Boland, was in operation in several establishments, and produced very good results; but it required a propelling power which precluded its adoption in small bakeries.
    "Another invention, applicable alike to the preparation and to the baking of bread, appeared at this epoch. M. Rolland, the originator of it, thus presented to the world a new and complete system of panification. His kneading apparatus and oven, both of remarkably simple construction, have been described in two favourable reports; in one to the Académie des Sciences, by M. Payen; and in another to the Société d'Encouragement, by M. Gaultier de Claubry. These two reports mark the commencement of a real revolution in the baking trade.
    "Certainly it would ill become me, of all people, to present myself here, after such distinguished and learned men, to pronounce an eulogium on this or that apparatus. I desire simply to state certain facts, and to leave them to the just discrimination of the Congress.
    "I have earnestly examined and entered deeply into the subject, and it has assumed an aspect of far higher importance than it originally bore. It is no longer a mere question of converting the small bakeries, conducted on the old system, into mechanical bakeries; we seek to ascertain what results can be obtained by employing the perfected apparatus in large public bread-making establishments.

*        *        *        *        *
    "Convinced that the problem of obtaining bread, at the cheapest rate, was to be solved by the creation of large establishments, in which all the labour of converting wheat into bread would be concentrated, and entirely effected by mechanical means, I have endeavoured very energetically to disseminate this idea; and have aided in the organisation of two hundred establishments for mechanical bread-making. I myself founded one at Fontainebleau; and afterwards, in conjunction with a very active and intelligent man, Monsieur Delort, created a second at Lyons. I will not speak further of that at Fontainebleau, which still requires the addition of a mill to render it complete; but I could wish, gentlemen, particularly to draw your thoughts to the Manutention Civile of Lyons, which is really worthy to fix your attention, from its interesting economical results.
    "There, on a wide space of ground which twelve months since was entirely waste, a magnificent building has been constructed. Two powerful steam-engines set in motion twelve pairs of millstones, and four kneading-machines, of sufficient size to prepare the dough for eight of M. Holland's ovens, erected in a line in an immense bake-office.
    "The work is continuous; there is no cessation in it by night or by day.
    "The mills prepare 150 quintals of flour daily, which supplies in bread from 18,000 to 20,000 kilogrammes, enough for the consumption of 30,000 persons.
    "Thus all intermediate agencies are suppressed, and the processes of grinding and bread-making are completely concentrated: the wheat enters by one door of the establishment, and leaves it by another in the form of bread.
    "The results obtained by this organisation are as follows:—
    "The finest quality of bread is sold at two centimes; the household bread at four centimes; and brown bread at six centimes the kilogramme under the current price; at a cost, in fact, scarcely exceeding that of good average harvest years; and this by means only of the concentration of labour; the employment of highly efficient machinery; and without any sacrifice from any body.
    "These three kinds of bread are of a quality, cleanliness, and an appearance truly remarkable.
    "The arrangements of the Manutention Civile de Lyons reflect the greatest credit on the director, M. Delort. It is the finest and most complete which exists in the world.
    "Furthermore, if the bread be reduced in price to the profit of the consumer, the capital engaged in the enterprise brings also large returns. Indeed, from the 1st December (1855), when the establishment was first in full operation, to the 31st of the same month, the clear profits after deducting all expenses, and even the interest of the capital itself, were eleven thousand francs, a sum which would appear altogether incredible, if the immense quantity of bread fabricated in it were not taken into consideration.
    "It appears to me that these facts answer the double question proposed to the Congress, and solve it most completely; and, therefore, I have taken the respectful liberty of laying them before it.

"Lesobre."

    I have no further knowledge of the inventions and establishments spoken of by Monsieur Lesobre, than that which I owe to his having courteously supplied me, through a friend now residing in Paris, with the information of which I have made use here; and the favourable reply which I received in answer to my inquiry of the only English baker* who has given a trial to the Rolland kneader and oven, as to whether they really answered their purpose well or not; but should the reader desire such full and satisfactory evidence of their merits or demerits, as only a personal inspection of them can ensure, a direct application to Monsieur Lesobre himself (17, Rue L'Estrapade, Paris) would be met, I am persuaded, by the most urbane attention, and every facility afforded by him for seeing the effect of the machinery, as well as for ascertaining all particulars of the large bread-factories, in the organisation and direction of which he has taken so prominent a part. I am informed that he has entire confidence in the speedy adoption of the Appareil-Rolland in this country, if it could once be fairly known and tested. Many of the French bakers, both in Paris and in the provinces, have ceased to oppose its introduction amongst them, and appear to consider it a most advantageous innovation on their old system of labour. Some of them are quite enthusiastic in their expressions of approval, and give animated accounts of the striking success which has attended their experimental trials of it. Others have withheld their testimony until they had tested it thoroughly by months of uninterrupted operation, and then added their tribute in confirmation of its practical value. As their names and places of abode will be found in a work by Monsieur Lesobre, entitled, "Notice sur les Appareils de Panification Rolland," Thilloy, 17, Rue de L'Estrapade, à Paris, any of them can be referred to at pleasure. I insert a few of them here, taken at hazard, because, if it can be shown by a careful and unprejudiced examination of facts, that genuine, well fabricated bread can be secured to our population at a cost below that at which it has hitherto been procured of far inferior quality, leaving increased profit to the makers as well, a highly important object will be attained; and it appears desirable to open at once such channels of communication as may facilitate it. M. Rolland's inventions (or any others), which would effectually aid in its fulfilment, could scarcely fail to find immediate favour here, where the need of better and cheaper bread is beginning to be sensibly felt; though great innovations, however beneficial their tendency, are almost invariably met at first by a spirit of resistance, which defies all reasoning; for some individual interests generally suffer from their introduction; and there is often also, much misapprehension of their real nature and bearing, and an exaggerated idea of the injuries which will attend them. The English bakers may possibly take alarm at the very mention of mechanical bread-making, and imagine that it will materially injure or destroy their trade; but it appears, on the contrary, to be attended with remarkable advantages to those who have adopted it in their bakeries.
    The following document may serve to reassure persons who are apprehensive of any ill consequences from its introduction.

"Paris, 25th November, 1852.

    "We, the undersigned bakers, having made use of Rolland's kneader, declare as follows :—
    "The trade has hitherto stood opposed to mechanical bread kneading; but more, it must be owned, from the faultiness of the machinery employed, than from that of the system itself; for none of the machines invented hitherto have combined the qualities essential to successful kneading; moreover, these machines had, in a commercial point of view, drawbacks which prevented their general adoption. The mechanism was very complicated; difficult to clean and keep in order, and requiring a high propelling power; and the kneader was usually very expensive. For these reasons, but few of them have been brought into active operation; and in most cases they have been abandoned after unsuccessful attempts to employ them.
    "It will not be the same, we have reason to believe, with the kneader invented by our confrère M. Rolland, who has perfectly solved the difficult question of effectual bread-kneading; consequently, his kneader (petrin), though invented scarcely a year ago, is now being used in a large number of establishments, both in France and in foreign countries.*
    "The Rolland kneader (petrin Rolland), which is of remarkably simple construction, and of moderate price, requires scarcely the strength of a man to keep it in action; is of moderate dimensions, and easily cleaned; and the amalgamation of the flour and water is effected by it more perfectly and uniformly than by the human hand.
    "In a word, the work of the Rolland kneader is clean, wholesome, and rapid; always regular and noiseless; and, moreover, it considerably alleviates the painful toil of the journeyman. Every day affords us confirmed proof of these advantages in our establishments; and we give here with pleasure the most favourable and complete testimony to them.

    (Signed)
    "M. M. Kauffman, 77, Rue de Sèvres, Paris.
            Fntaine, 39, Rue Aumaire, Paris.
            Aubourg, 77, Rue St. Homoré, Paris.
            Joubert, Rue Grenelle, St. Honoré, Paris.
            Pelletier, Rue du Petit Lion, Saint Sauveur, Paris.
            Mainguet, 96, Rue du Temple, Paris.
            Lesur, 319, Rue St. Martin, Paris.
            Thilloy, 40, Rue Grenelle, St. Honoré.
            J. Lelièvre, 94, Rue de l'Ecole de Médecine, Paris.
            Cernay, Barrière Fontainebleau (Seine).
            Baudon, Rue Picard, Gare d'Ivry (Seine).
            Ringenbach, à Bar le Duc (Meuse).
            Matifas-Debray, à Amiens (Somme).
            Fauconnier, à Paris, Rue de Douai, 1.
            Humbert, à Paris, Rue de Clichy, 67.
            Bayle, à Senlis (Oise)."

    From the accounts given by the various writers who have inspected it, and which are cited by Monsieur Lesobre in the work already mentioned, M. Rolland's oven appears to be of a truly novel and ingenious description. It is heated externally by means of hot air conveyed from a distant fire; the admission of smoke or other impurities into the interior being thus prevented. The floor is a moveable platform, which can be raised or lowered at pleasure, and which turns on a pivot, put in motion by a winch, so that every part of it can be brought round in succession to the opening, and filled with bread, without recourse being had to the awkward, long handled peel, which is of necessity used for ovens of common construction. The roof is not vaulted, therefore the loaves receive a more equal degree of baking than they do under the old system; and they can be watched through a pane of glass fixed in the door of the oven, the light from a strongly reflected flame of gas being thrown upon them.
    There are many other particulars of interest connected with this invention, of which the principle appears admirable, so far as an idea of it can be formed from words, by persons not possessing sufficient scientific, mechanical, or practical knowledge of the subject to enable them to form any correct opinion on it; but able judges may perhaps be led eventually to bestow some attention on it, and to perfect it, should it be found to need improvement.
    A French gentleman, of very superior powers of mind, accustomed to enter deeply into, and to examine in its most minute details, every question of importance presented to him, and who is a real connoisseur in bread, tells me, that for more than twelve months past he has been supplied exclusively with that fabricated by M. Rolland's appareil, and finds it so superior for its cleanliness, flavour, and general excellence, that he cannot reconcile himself to any other. As he has resided in England, and in various parts of the continent, he has had good opportunity of comparing that of different localities; and his testimony may be entirely relied on.*
    In conclusion: M. Rolland has furnished all the bread supplied to the Ecole Polytechnique for more than a year, to the entire satisfaction of the establishment.
    Amongst the bakers who have written to certify the success which has attended their trial of the Rolland oven and kneader, and to express their obligation to the originator, are a Monsieur Constance (ainé), 4. Rue de la Monnaie, Dijon, who delayed his testimony for five months, wishing, he says, to make quite sure of the durability, as well as of the effective working of the machinery, and also to ascertain the real extent to which both labour and fuel were economised by the inventions.
    From Besançon, Rue des Granges 37, on the 17th January, 1854, Monsieur Mosel, also a baker, writes thus:—"I have had a baking establishment on your system of panification open from the 11th of April, 1833. To tell you all the approbation and all the encouragement which it has met with, and all the satisfaction which I experience at having introduced your oven and kneader at Besançon, is beyond my power. The quality, cleanliness, and beauty of their products have brought me so many customers of all classes, that I cannot. Our work is continued by night and day. You will soon receive orders for more of your ovens and kneaders from Besançon; for the advantages of your system over the old one are so certain and so decided, that no hesitation can exist as to which should be preferred."
    To close the list of the provincial bakers, whose names and addresses I have selected to afford the reader who may desire it every facility of reference to individuals whose own experience enables them to form an accurate opinion, and to impart precise particulars of the result which these inventions give, I append the two which follow:—

    "Your Rolland kneading machine has come to hand very seasonably; for there is much to do in these parts just now, and good workmen are scarce; but that does not put me out at present; for with my two boys—one fifteen, and the other sixteen years old—and the new kneader (pétrin), we get through our work better than with the best journeyman. I, who was for eighteen years a baker's journeyman, and passed ten of them in Paris—where I was foreman in various shops— have never seen our work so well done as I find it done now with Rolland's machine.

"Bézault,                                                      

            "Boulanger, à Drouet, Loir-et-Cher."     

    "I must assert it, because it is my conviction, founded on a thorough knowledge of the baking trade (boulangerie), the Rolland apparatus will cause a complete revolution (in baking), and ought to bring to intelligent bakers a better class of customers, and a much increased amount of work.

(Signed)        "Duzan,                                

"Ancien President du Conseil General
des Syndics de la Boulangerie de
France.

"Rue des Piliers du Tutelle a Bordeaux,
        October 4th, 1853."

    The baker of the Hôpital Saint-Jean, à Turin, named Ruffinetti, says, "The advantages of the new oven are very numerous and considerable," and that his workmen appreciate and wish to see it generally adopted in their country.
    A Monsieur Delmehae, of Rio Janeiro, whose oven was constructed from plans, directions, and models, sent from France, speaks of its success in the highest terms.
    In Venice, Vienna (à la Manutention des Vivres de I'Armée), and in a long array of other foreign cities, it is also at work: but I am unable to devote further space to it; nor is it necessary to do so for the simple purpose of directing attention to it in England.

    Note.—In the slight description of M. Rolland's oven, which I have attempted to give at page 48,I find that I have made a mistake in saying that it was heated by means of hot air "conveyed from a distant fire." The door of the furnace is placed quite away from that of the oven, but the fire is under it; and the hot air is made to circulate over and round it, by means of flues, which branch off from the main conductor in different directions.