The daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1873-1877, 1874-11-04
! KEEPING .Ah0TEt.

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lord Of 3 big House.
. b E0- !.
The Expense Of Entertaining wayia'-
,ne 9su-.Inserual Regulations
and Discipline Of an Army
Of Servants.
The American Plan Of Keeping Hotel.
From New York Paper
The great hotel of the present mas u! Inc
population of q small village; Dut .no
guests, Of the hotel have extraordinary ia az
and comfort, HumanityiS in one OF tne h,,
mammoth establishments catered TOT Wy
wholesale; but at the same time eacn in-
dividual guest receives as mucn a.tenaV9. .
as if he had one whole hotel to nimseI
and it is this combination OF large genera
figures with the closest attention 70 mln9'e
even petty, personal detail which form tne
chief problem Of the hotel-Heeper' anu
constitutes the real mystery OF hotel-keep-
ing. a- Is 5@ t.4. @"~
CONSIDERATIONS.
There are about fifty considerations
and points" in bookkeeping, as it is az
present conducted, which demand no tice'
each in its turn, Nowadays fashion able
location and a central location tpretty
nearly the same thingJ must be a first con-
sideration for hotel man.
As regards the size OF first class hotel'
experience has proved that it ought to oc
Ii kl,,I Nr
cupy as nearly as possible a olock' OF
the far grea ter portion OF it.
The ventilation of hotel Is an import
ant point. In large hotels, which occupy
block, or nearly SO, and which face on
two or more streets, plenty OF AR Is admit
ted through the windows, walls, etc. In
addition to this, the great hotels have
ventilating shaft which creates constant
current of air.
Particular attention must be paid to the
plumbing work. The sol! pipes run through
the building and open through the rooi'
The pipes are handicapped, and by this
means all the foul gases from the sinks and
all the stences of the kitchen escape into
the open air.
The system Of registering rooms IS re,
duced to a science, and the room clerk OF
hotel has to have an excellent memory
By system Of paper tags representing
the rooms, with the names of their occu
pants inscribed on them, and changed a
they change, the officials Of hotel car
tell at glance the total number of guest
and the exact location of each one of them
The aununciator, or room telegraph,is MOI
worked by electricity, and communicate
with the Office by ringing bell. i,
To feed the multitude of guests and tn
army of servants who are supplied by
modern hotel is problem which force
capital and skill to the utmost.
MARKETING.
To cook enough, yet not too much
please all tastes in a multitude of goul
mands and bon rivants; to have every
thing ready all the tme--these are tn
conditions of the problem, and they ca
only be fulfilled by combination
of system, arrangement, calcu
lation. economy and liberality of which tn
uninitated can form no idea The pro
prictors of hotel scrutize the provision
department more clearly and more person
ally than perhaps any other Some pro
prietors. in fact, do the bulk of their own
marketing, rising with the lark for that
purpose The head cook, who keeps alike
the run of the larder and the run OF the
guests (which latter he obtains from the
room clerks through the steward), directs
the steward as to the details of his daily
purchases The steward then proceeds to
market, to the grocer's, etc and orders the
necessary supplies. When they are sent
to the hotel they are weighed OF measured
as to quantity by the "weigher," then ex.
amined as to quality by another, and if
not satisfactory are sent back at once
otherwise they are forwarded to the cook
or deposited in the store-rooms.
The arrangements for keeping meat
storing groceries, etc., 10 our large hotels
are very elaborate. The basement floors
of the Fifth Avenue and Windsor Hotels
are worthy of visit from every house
keeper in the country. There is the stew
ards room, where the choice cotees, teas
spices, etc. are kept then comes the store
room, where some $4,000 worth of gro
ceries are constantly on hand the atmos
pheric ice house, where the meats are pre-
served the wine -cellar, where the choices
vintages lie ready; the chop house, wher
the meats are cut and dressed, etc. A
exact account Of every item purchased
kept, and the daily expenditures are RI
corded with the utmost minuteDess.
Some items, such as milk, eggs, butte,
coffee, and tea, are in steady and regula
demand The stock of other articles varie
largely Thus reed birds are sometime
an important item; sometimes they ar
not to be found on the list at all. In sea
son pumpkin pies are large item; buck
wheat cakes ditto. Each hotel has its ow
bakery, confectionery, etc., whose account
are kept separately. Five hundred dol
lars worth of meat and $3.50 of grocerie
and sundries represent the purchases O
one OF the leading hotels for one day i
the month of October, lS14. OF thi
amount $55 was invested in oysters III
total provision" expenses embracing o
items, may be estimated at an average
5000 daily, or over $4,000 every week,
BILLS OF FARE.
By long experience and daily S,lculi
tons hotel cooks and stewards have b,
come SO familiar with all the LITERALLY
thousand and one details which enter int
the caterers department that it very Sc
dom happens that any guest finds any dill
fculty in procuring any article on the bi
OF fare, while at the same time the ovel
plus of wastings of any one article is con
paratively trifing.
Making out the bill of fare is an impol
tant part of the routine of great hote
The menu for Monday is made out twenty
four hours in advance, and the stewar
makes his purchases accordingly.
The wlne-cellar Of one of the leadin
New York hotels holds at present
brands of champagne. 5 kinds of Amer