THE COST OF FUELS

This Is the Statement of the Electric Companies.

Electric heat being so standard, the results of two separate tests made by each of the electric companies were the same as given in the following discussion and statement:

Women have long known that elec- tric cooking is cleaner, that it ban- ishes all the dust and ashes of coal and wood, all the soot and fumes of gas. They have known that it makes the kitchen cooler, the air purer, that it is the most convenient way to cook. It is this knowledge which is rap- idly becoming general which has re- sulted in the installation of thousands of electric ranges in the United States during the past two or three years and which has induced over 3500 power companies to make special cooking rates to attract the business. Our own city has the distinction of having one of the lowest of these low cooking rates.

Although many of the advantages of electric cooking are widely known, many people still have the idea that electric cooking is expensive. That this is not the case may be learned by asking a range user or by study- ing the table of costs given below.

To heat to temperature for baking bread, .0036; to bake six loaves of bread 45 minutes, .0128; total cost of baking six loaves of bread, .0164.

To heat to temperature for baking biscuits, .0091; to bake ovenful of biscuits (15 minutes), .0051; total cost of baking oven of biscuits, .0142.

After the first batch of biscuits is baked the temperature of the oven can be maintained at the correct tem- perature for baking subsequent batches at a cost of .0014 per hour or .0004 per batch.

Cost per hour for 1000-watt burner (medium size): Full, .0025; medium, .0013; low, .0006. Cost per hour for electric iron, .0018.

The electric range and electric iron have done more to lighten the burden of keeping house than any other household appliances that have come into use in recent years. They have done for the housewife what the tele- phone, typewriter and adding machine have done for the man.

In view of the present war the great saving in foodstuffs made pos- sible by electric cooking ought to in- terest every housewife.

George G. Bowen, assistant sales manager, Northwestern Electric com- pany.

A Later Letter.

(Today we have a communication from the electric companies, giving you good reasons for the use of elec- tricity as a fuel at this time in par- ticular, and as we are all vitally in- terested in this question, we print it as sent to us) :

Everyone recognizes the fact that we cannot live without cooks. Grant- ing this, does it not seem reasonable that cooks should have the most mod- ern and satisfactory cooking appli- ances on the market.

The other day two of my neighbors were discussing the use of meats in their homes. Mr. Black remarked that although meat was very high, his family continued to use the customary roast of beef for Sunday dinner, as he now had a means of cooking it, so that he felt he got as much for his money as he did a couple of years ago with cheaper meat and cooking it differently; that is, the shrinkage of the meat was so slight to what it had been. Naturally Mr. Black was anx- ious for his neighbor, Mr. White, to enjoy the same saving by using this same means of cooking. After some discussion the men decided that the solution of this problem would be to make an actual test, which they did. Two roasts of the same cut were ordered from the same butcher, both were weighed on the same scales, each weighing 6Yz pounds. Immedi- ately upon removing the roasts from the oven, they were again weighed. Mr. Black's roast had only shrunk nine ounces, while Mr. White's had shrunk 24 ounces. This was a saving of 27 cents for Mr. Black on this one roast, and as his family used about four roasts per month, he figured a saving of $1 per month, at the least on roasts alone.

The fact that Mr. Black's roast had retained so much of the natural juice and flavor of the meat, making it more palatable, caused considerable comment in the serving.

The last scene in the act of "con- servation of meat" was described to me a few minutes ago. The Whites are saving money, too, the same as the Blacks, as they are now cooking by the same method as Mr. Black, that is, they "Cook by Wire."

Portland has the distinction of hav- ing one of the lowest electric cook- ing rates in the United States. As a result, there are approximately 500 electric ranges in use in the city at

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