Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1886-10-28

and about 1000 bus drivers. The cabmeD
have fixed rates for passengers, but they eX-
pect penny or two additional with every
fare The hanson cab is the great vehicle
here, and its rates are for two persons about
a shilling or twenty-five cents for a two-mile
trip. 1t is a two-wheeled one-horse affair,
open at the front, AM. -
and drives with his lines over the top of the
cab. They do not obstruct the view and they
make excellent time. These cabs are owned
largely by capitalists, who let them out to the
drivers at so much per day, and their pay is
in what they can earn over this. The ham
som was for years peculiarly London in
stitution, but it has been lately taken up in
the United States, and Washington, Phila-
delphia and New York are adopting it.
Speaking of restaurants and eating, it is
wonderful how much meat these English
people eat. and what good meats they have
The English grill room has an international
reputation for its chops and steaks and all
over England you will see the sign "Grill
Room" tackled to the walls of many restau-
rants. The grill room is part of the restau-
rant where the meat is broiled in the same
room it is eaten, and where one can pick out
his own steak or chop and have it cooked for
him. 1t differs from other restaurant rooms
chiefly in the grilling part, which consists of
a wide fireplace at the end Of the room, built
into the chimney, about as high from the
floor as that upon which the blacksmiths fire
burns. Upon this fireplace are masses of red
Goals, and over them CRATES of iron and spits,
on which, with an appetizing odor, are broil-
ing meats Of various kinds, A cook in white
cap, white waistcoat and apron presides over
the grill, and at his side are big counters,
upon which are laid out all kinds of raw
chops, steaks and birds You can pick out
your own piece of meat, and see it put on the
Goals. In ten minutes, or less, it will be
brought, smoking hot, to you, and you will
find it delicious. If you are an Englishman
you will order a mug of beer with it, and
about quart of heavy beer will be handed
you in a big silver mug. You also have
potatoes or other vegetables if you pay for
them, and you close your repast with bit of
old Stiton or Gorgonzola cheese, which looks
as old as cathedral ruin and as moldy as a
damp, unused cellar
There are numerous old and noted restau-
rants in London. I came across one the
other day called the Falstaff restaurant in the
vicinity of Mark lane, and on Fleet street
there is one at which Nell Gwynne used to
dine which dates back into the Seventeenth
century and has the sign "Nell Gwynne Tav-
ern, founded A. D. 1866" upon it.
The Cock tavern near by has been noted
among lawyers for years, and it is a little six.
teen-feet wide building of many stories, sand
wiched in between more modern structures
1t has golden rooster for sign, and it looks
very old. 1t is the restaurant that Tennyson
speaks Of in the beginning of one of his
poems
Oh, plump head waiter at the Cock,
To which most resort,
How goes the time? Tis five O'Clock.
Go fetch pint Of port,
But let it not be such as that
You set before chance comers,
But such whose father grape grew fat
On Lusitanian summers
l dropped into the Cock yesterday. The
grill eating was going on in stalls, while
very pretty maiden presided over the bar /
took glass of port for the name of the thing
and found it very good indeed, but whether
it was of the Lusitanian kind or that for
chance comers know not
Among the noted London restaurateurs of
the present, Spiers & Pond stand very high.
They have restaurants with silver gridirons
and lots of colored glass all over London, and
you find their establishments connected with
the principal theatres and the railway sta
tions. They are Australians, who have in
troduced French cookery into England, and
many of their restaurants furnish meals on
the Duval plan. Duval was French
butcher, who has founded restaurants all
over Paris, at which everything is sold at the
lowest remunerative rates, and everything is
charged for even to the napkins. A bill of
fare is given you with the prices attached to
each dish and you pay for just what you
want and no more, except fee, perhaps, to
the walters. These restaurants of Spiers g.
Pond are higher in price than the Duval es-
Establishments of Paris, but their service is ex-
cellent
There is big one in Fleet street. near the
new law courts and in the locality Of the
large newspaper offices of London. 1t was in
Fleet street that DR.. Samuel johnson lived,
and this restaurant is not far from where
Isaac Walton's house used to stand. I have
dined in it many times, and am always able
to get good dinner for about fifty cents
Everything you have here costs something
The use of the washroom to clean your hands
and face costs six cents, and for this you get