The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1875-02-19
TIse a}larlrtta SoNtnal.
TWENTY MINUTES FOR DINNER.
Brlnkley'a Station.


"Brinkley's, twenty minutes for
dinner ~ -,
So we ioiu the crowd which, ike
bees, are attracted by the Sound q a
bell. We enter long porch on the
front Of which is the "wash place.
This "wssh place" is constructed Of
a single plank, on which are placed
buckets, tins pans and soap. Each
bucket contains water, more or less
clean. The soap is Of the yellow
turpcntine pattern, that being--as
the proprietor informed passenger
who has a weakness for Brown
Windsor"-tbo on,y kind of soap
worth a dime for "car dust"
The tin pans are not as clean as
they we're yesterday, but doubtless
cleaner than they viii be tomorrow,
On the back side Of the porch are
dozen endless towels we have the
authority Of a fellow passenger Tor
saving that they absorbed water
with rs much facility as a duck 5
back: and that, while as samples OF
water proof cloth, they might prove
a complete success Yet as towels,
they were a perfect fraud. There
was, also, small mirror, or what
had the appearance Of one, TO which
we're fastened by brass chains, as
though it was feared they might run
awav-a and we are not certain but
they did have some life about them
"a comb and brush ''for the use
of gents exclusively"
We looked into the mirror with a
view of determining whether he
could venture into the dining-room
without undergoing the penance Of
the wash place" but the image
that was reflected back, was SO hid
cons that we inyoluntarily retreated
and determined come what might,
we would mot try that over again"
We have never banked much on
our good looks, but if we, for mo-
ment, believed that we saw our
selves in that mirror as others see
u, we should feel imFelled, for the
good of the next generation, never
to show our faces in the cars, on the
streets OF elsewhere, unless closely
yelled.
The dining room was about rs
emight have been anticipated from
the surface indications. The ia.
hle-cloth reminded us Of an excuse
given by Jolly young fireman, re-
turning from an excursion to a
neishboring city, for looking sleepy.
The landlord" said he, "waked
me up Just about day, and said
couldn't sleep any longer, for he was
compelled o have the sheets for la
he-cloths.' The crockery was Of
the Whitley browny or white mate
rial, that never showed dirt, and
which all the water in the hississip-
pi river, and all the soap that ever
bore the imprint Of Colgate & ca.
could not make look clean. The
cutlery had been wiped with towels
made OF waterproof material until
it had become as much "pitted"
from rust as the human face does
from continent small pox.
twas impossible 10 say What
were the original Ingredients Of the
CUISINE. Like The whims of the
wo-, we'll "cant most always,
sometimes tell" Whatever they
must have been, they were appa-
renlly manipulated by being all
thrust into the some vessel and boil
ed together until they might have
been worshippcd vithou! the slight
est fracture Of the second command
ment-aud then set out to cool he
fore being semitic the table. Every
thing on the table was cold, except
the butter, the water and the coffee.
The coffee On, coffee What
vile decoctious are brought forth in
thy name 1t must have been here
that Dickens heard the western man
ask the lacdlord If he called that
the way to fix God Almighty's Wit
ties"
As we handed the landlord our
dollar, We looked at him to see
whether he would rot have, at least,
the grace to blush while receiving
the tuli price Of good square meal
but he took it quite as a matter of
course, and if his countenance indi-
Gated any chagrin it was that the
pay rather than the dinner was 50
meagre.
We went forth-IIence--Fcrth.
Our stomachs, all of US, were filed
with weight, small in quantity,
but the quality, we shuddar to think
OF 1t. Like a mountain, it lay there
cigars did not tighten it. The Jolt
ing sleeping car did not relieve it,.
There it lies while we write this,
protest grave, silent, despairing,
against Bnnkley's.
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