, 1885-02-21
AFTER THE FEAST.
WHAT BECOMES OF THE FRAGMENTS
WHICH ARE LEFT.
Remnants of Fashionable B~anqusts Oath
cred Up and Sold as a Regular Busi-
Woodworking the Restaurants
and Free Lunch Places.

Ihero had Dean some enter talnmonrs at q
handsome house on Madison avenue the pre-
ceding evening, for the canopy still stretched
from the door to the curbstone. The hour
was 2 a. m. A dilapldatsd wagon stood In
front of the house, drawn by an aged
horse. A belaSsd reporter chance to pass by
and noticed two men hurrying from the
cart, with empty pans and pals, into the
basement OF the house, and returning speed
lily with the same filed 70 the brim. For a
moment 1t looked like q burglary, but the
presence of a policeman on the nearest cor
ner was assurance to the contrary. One Of
the men paused as II to rest for a moment,
and the reporter accosted him:
whats the racketf
agrhe same ole thing. Free lunches, cheap
restaurants. and Eyetalianan
Il don't quite catch on. What are you do
ing in the placer
~Why, don't you see, they've had a party
there tonight and a big supper. They've
left three times as much as they've eaten,
and we're buying 1t up from the eward.
Wen take 1t around TO our regular custom
ers and sell it all before 0 O'Clock to
morrow"
Regular customersl Why, is this a regrr
lar trader
~Of curse it Is, and has been for over ten
years of my own knowledge. You see, there
aA0 n EAA bAC1 aAhA v kAN0a v .
night here in New York. Nearly all OF them
are supplied by regular caterers About
half are noticed in the daily papers. Now,
at these rackets they always put up a lot
more than they want They can't help
themselves, because 1t would never do to
nave just as much as their guests
needed and no more. It would look
just as If they were dead broke. Old fam
lilies order generally twice as much as
they're going to use, new families about
three or four times as much, and shoddies
Eve and ten times as much. Why, last
week w took in a swell place where they
Ind fifty people, and they had enough grub
for 500. Now, what happensf The party
or wedding is all over, and there's all that
stuff left untasted. All they can do Is to
throw il into the swill barrel. That's where
We come in. We come along and buy it
Sometimes we buy II from the caterer. 1t
saves him trouble and time, as we clean off
all the dishes and leave them ready for his
washers. Sometimes we make the deal with
the cook or the butler, and sometimes. but
not very often, with the old man OF the
house. Anyway, we manage to connect and
get the stuff"
what do you payF
~well, that depends. With a reliable
caterer we can find out what will be left
over, and can make a fair bid. With cooks
and servants we generally stake him with a
s. or IS note. Almost always we come out
ahead, but now and then we get left. Cooks
are getting two smart and want too much.
With the head OF the house, though, it's
easy work, and a V will satisfy him every
time.n
What do you do with the stuff"
"Sell it to our customers. There's, first,
the cheap restaurants. They're always
ready to take anything cheap. II they can
get a chicken salad for 81 that would cCst
them S. to make they'll take it every time.
You seq, they can afford then to sell 1t at
90 cents a plate and make money. Why,
one time l sold lobster salad, thirty pounds
for e. %. 1t cost the restaurant keeper cents
a plate, and he could sell it for 10 and make
money. As a matter Of fact, he sold IL all
before 4 o'clock for 10 cents a plate. Then
there's the free lunch saloons. They want
sand witches, pickles, bread, cheese, olives,
and nan. They don't pay much, but they'll
take all you bring. There's one place town
where they give a fried oyster, a sandwich.
or something with every drink. That man
Is of my best customer.
@After you've worked the restaurants and
free lunches, you can always sell out whats
left to the Eyetalians. They'll buy anything
il it's cheap enough I've sold them melted
ice cream Of different colors, half eaten
Charlotte Russes, chicken bones, and broken
cakes. At a street cleaners restaurant In
Marion street last year l sold the leavings
from the plates Of a big wedding reception
for 81. They made about three pailsfuls,
and had over fifty different things In them. "
@What do you get mostly from partiesl"
First, l~eavings from plates; then melted
ice cream; next sandwiches, and then cake.
Occasionally we get Charlotte Russo and
candieL In the old days VIC almost never
got salads; but since they've used veal and
boiled beef In making chicken salad. we get n
good deal. On warm nights we collar a
good many fried and picked oysters; on
cold nights almost none at all When they
put up cold ham, corn beef, turkey, and
v~enison, people don't eat a quarter of It, and
then we come in solid.
aBut you see it all depends on the kind OF
party IL is. Liternries are the worst OF all
they only nave b~ouillon, coffee, sand witches,
and salad, and there's nothing left over.
Musicals are almost as bad. Kettledrums
and afternoon rackets are not much good
either. The best is a wedding. They send
out 1000 invites and set up for TOO, and then
about 100 come. Receptions to public meu
are the next best Then come birthday,
christening, and tin wedding parties. Wakes,
too, are sometimes boss. The only way to
size them W is to know the caterer and get
all the points from him.
"Do you ever get any winel'
HNa-ol The old man Of the house always
comes down and collars what's left. II he
don't, the walters drink 1t, and they're
always helped out by the servants. I've
been in the business ten years, and ! never
got even a half bottle. That is, l didn't get
the empty bottles. They don't pay, though,
unless you get more than fifty, and the n
they bring you in about sl.00. But I've got
to stop, as I'm off now to Washington market
for our first customer"
EornIfua