TOPICS FOR TRADESMEN

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17281, 23 September 1916, Page 6

TOPICS FOR TRADESMEN

[FeOM OtTB CoRBESPONnENT.J LONDON, July 29. THE PRICE OF MILK. Recently, increases in the price oi milk gave rise to an agitation on th< part of consumers (notably in London) and suggestions wero mado as tc action with a view to a reduction Tho case for the milk dealer and re tailor is very fairly stated by the Board of Agriculture. It is pointec out that under contract for the sis months, April to December, 1916, tin prices generally secured by producers averaged about 13-iJd per gallon foi April, 11 Jd for May and Juno, am 13id for July, August and September, These prices are on tho average 3fcc per gallon above those of last year and ojd, or 73/per cent, moro thai those obtaining before the war. It i: evident, says the board, that tin dealer has to pay tho farmer now 6Jc more per gallon in tho case of Londoi and Birmingham contracts, and 6it moro in tho caso of Manchester con tracts. In tho same period, retai! prices have risen by 4d per gallon gen erally, though in some districts by 8d so that it appears that retailers art making lid to 2Jd per gallon less profit in some districts and lfd pe; gallon more profit in other district; than before the war. But the boar< is careful to point out that it was frequently urged before* the war that the usual retail prico of 4d per quart wa: not remunerative to tho retailer wher ho was paying tho higher contract prices prevailing during winter months and that he was dependent on summer prices to make his business profitable. Added to this, both dealers' and retailers' working expenses are unquestionably heavier than they were beforo tho war, owing to increased wages, and, where horses are kept, increased cost of fodder, apart from other incidentals. STANDARD SAUSAGE. A suggestion by tho Medical Officer of Reaitn for Kidderminster is mat the liocal Government Board should be asked to adopt a standard for sausages. This ho does on the ground that a large number of the woriimg classes buy sausages thinking that tliey are obtaining their meat supp.y in a convenient iorm for cooKuig, whereas, says the doctor, sausages often consist or two-ihirds of bread or rice, so that the public pays a shilling a pound for what, to the extent of two-thirds, costs fourponce a pound. It is distinctly unfair to sug'gest that it Ls the rule to sell sausages in which the proportion of bread is so large, and one would soy, without fear of contradiction, that, in practically every ease, sausages, selling at a shilling" a pound, would never answer to the description of this health officer. Further, it is common knowledge that bread does enter into the composition oi the sausage, and the seller is practising no deceit when he offers a mixture of wholesome ingredients such as this. The suggestion that a standard is required to safeguard the public is well dealt with by a legal authority, who points out that like any other article of food a sausage must be of the substance and quality demandeu by the purchaser. If a person asks for a Tx>rk or beef sausage ho must get sausage with a certain proportion of heef or pork in it, with sufficient bread or flour, or other material, necessary for the manufacture. There must not bo an unreasonable amount of constituents other than bread, and if an inspector buys a sausage which has 80 per cent of bread in it, he can take proceedings. This point lias been decided in Court. Apart from tho legal aspect, it may bo taken for granted that tho retailer who sells sausages containing so a proportion of bread as mentioned by the medical officer, would soon lose all his customers. BAKERS AND APPRENTICES. In times past, in common with other trades, baktrs had to serve an apprenticeship beforo they wera allowed to work at tho trado. In those days when machine-made oread was unknown and home-made yeast held sway, tho ordinary journeyman baker had to possess considerable mechanical and technical skill; much more than he needs to-day in the usual course of baking. But a prominent London baker contends that thero 13 still need lor the apprenticeship system, and ho pleads for its revival on the ground that apart from the mechanical operations there are other branches in bakery which require more skill than is ordinarily possessed by journeymen. No doubt it would bo a good thing for the trade if an apprenticeship system could be successfully brought into being, for the lac!: of really skilled men in this trade to-day is pronounced. But to revive the apprenticeship system is a hopeless proposition it it is intended to run concurrently with unchanged working conditions. In the first place, for apprenticeship to be of any value to tho trade, conditions should be such as to attract youths of a good class, and sufficient also to compete with the attraction of other classes of trade or profession. It is asserted by men in the trade that baking still offers regularity of employment ,in spito of machinery, and that the' opportunity for tho smart and hard-working youth to rise to the position of master-man is little less than it was when tho pursuit of bread making and baking was essentially that of skill. The remuneration is also, compared with that given in other trades, not much less than what it should he. But the hours of labour would have to be revised, and the conditions under which the journeymen have to work, particularly in some of the bakeries in the lower parts of large towns, would require considerable improvement. It is declared, also, that what is needed is to make the leading positions in the bakeries worth having in the matter of remuneration, and to set up a standard of qualification, and, with this end in view, tho suggestion is put forward that a special committee of bakers should investigate the whole question of apprenticeship and conditions.DRAPERS AND INFERIOR HOSIERY. Complaint is made by retail drapers concerning the inferior quality of a large proportion of the hosiery now being produced by British manufacturers. Ono retailer writes: —"The shoddy, narrow cut, badly coloured, poor-wear-ing articles and garments we are expected to ' pahn off ' as British-made fill mo with disgust," and he proceeds to draw comparison between the articles sent out by these British houses and ! those produced in America, greatly to I tho disadvantage of the former. Other drapers support this view, and declare that the stuff which is made up and sent out—particularly stockings—is absolutely unworthy of an intelligent manufacturing nation. While manufacturers do not attempt to defend the" wearing quality of much of the hosiery now being produced, they give a variety of reasons why this state of things exists. It is pointed out that much wear cannot he expected with transparent hose, which are kept con- ' tinunlly on a strain by over-tight suspenders. Again, canvas-lined shoos, wh'ch net as a file, rub holes, while. oiviti<! to Government restrictions and dyo trouble, goods cannot be made exactly as in peace time. Tho last conditions will, of course, disappear I when the war ends.