, 1880-03-14
AlLL-NIGHT COFFEE-HOUSES.


! The Great Work They Haye Done as
| Experimentation Agency.
! The healthy mornl effect Of the night coffee
houses Of this city upon that numerous portio
| Of the community whose occupations compe
them to turn night into day and day into nigh
is probably no botter exemplificd than in tn
case OF the men who set up, print, aud distribut
the morning newspapers. This improvement Il
moral tone has been a matter Of observation
and cause for congratulnuon for severn
years past among those VITO bay
been brought into close business re
lattons with the classes referred to
though until now 1t has not met with that public
recognition which 1t deserves The coffee
houses, 1t is not TOO much to assert, have served
ADMIRABLE ADJuNcrs TO TIE TEMPERANCE
CAUSE,
and 1t IS time the Temperance agitators gave
them credit tor it.
These institutions are OF comparatively recent
growth. They came in with the big 1re-were
built up on the ruins before the latter were
hardly cold, and before it was possible to put up
substantial structures. At first it Wus tho COM
the remnants OF some Discarded wagon-and It
was not long before they became tho popular
thing with men who had been burned out and
nerly on the fat Of the land and at the
fa puspose, :,a cup Of hot tea e Or
days,-eycn if 1t wasn't served In the style Of the
more modern cafG,-and when one desired to go
beyond that one had the opportunity to do so,
as cash or credit did. It was soon noticed that
the tea and coffee came to be preferred to whis-
ky, and that chronic drinkers found thai the
warmth they inspired was better than the gen
eruIly unsatisfactory contents OF the liquor
glass. The little cotfeo-houses grew and multi
piled, and all the while they. thus practically
%c+ fof>pF
short, they bccone established institutions.
EARLY in their career 1t was found profitable to
KEEP SOME OF THEN OPEN ALL NIGHT
for the accommodation OF people who are COM
% time from o. W evening @ usri the The ncxt morpine' The
printers got into the habit of going around for !:
cup Of coffee after getting through their work
home. Then tho carriers. VINO had formeris e
been valuable customers ut the saloons, forsook
beer and whisky, and built themselves up for
Coming from home cnrly in the morning, they
hud no stomach for anything before starting out
A After being out IN hour 9ar,,o Or two>howovor,
sbS i P e the so&ac5s e. sens
which coffee and something light and nonrish-
ing. followed by 4. cigar Or pipe, were more apt
The moral tone among the carriers soon began
to Improve, IND the publishers heard Of it ind
noticed it. The eas,-goIng, liquor -guzzling rel-
ness, ness s.. saScd ther rnotaey~i Short % got aone IL
he world. Arriving al the newspaper Offices in
the morning, they produced their noticcs.-bits
Of paper from the ofrculators equivalent to
checks for SO muny papers. lucky was the
earIy bird who got his notice on the
spindle first, for his was the first lot
Of papers delivered With time still on
his hands, he retreated to the coffee house,
folded his papers and drank his coffee, smoked,
and by the time 1t WIS necessary to start out
On bis long walk he #as ready for business.
At present the folding Is all dune BY machin-
ery, SO that A portion Ut the carriers labor is
They still 10 to the caEee-houscs,
however, meeting their brother Carriers gwap''
With them where they deliver two or more
papers along their routes, insert the supple
nents, get their lunch, and are OF. Two Of
these all-night coffee houses are on Fifth
avenue, two on the corner of Dear
born and Monroe, End one or two on
Lake street, about half dozen
n all near the newspaper quarter. While the
,roprfetors have not become mfIlionaires thev
lare done modest. fairly profitable business
The houses on wheels hare practically disap-
reared, and In their place are to be found small
,ut substantial one-story buildings set on brick
rails, chcaply but neatly furnished, and cleaner
han person on the outside would perhaps I'M
gfne. The prDpriet0rs have thriTed and SO
,ave the carr7ers- Their dimes have been d.
'erted from the saloons and gone to the coffee
Iouses, and to-day tt would be difficult to.find q
more sober, industrious well-to-do class of |
workers. than the newspaper carriers Of Chi
ago.