Evening star., 1886-09-04
CHEAP rooD ExPERIMENrs.
8esults Of the Successful ATTEMPTS
% Furnish English W0fkingmon
with Feed at Nominal Rates.

- Eufm100 English WOFk1MgmOD
wash Feed st Nominal Rates.
Rev. W. n Eide In the Pail Mail Gazette.
ABOUT two years ago 1t was manifest TO any
any one who was acquainted with the trade Of
snis oistrict that there would be great deal of
distress and suffering in the ensuing winter.
just at that time two articles appeared In the
Pau Mall Gazette descriptive OF the work Of
mr.. L. o. Smith, OF Stockholm, among the
laoorng classes OF Sweden, and the following
QuosaHon was given from one Of Mr. Smiths
circulars:
take mankind a. whole and you will ind
tnat OF the expenditure Of q workingman 16 per
cont only goes in house rent, while 60 per cent
goes In food. Therefore, II you provide every
~olHingman with . free house forever the effect
wenay Umy equal 70 saving him 16 per cent of his
wages. But If you can make radical reforma-
LION In his food you have q much greater mar
x witch e xs
now SO that he only needs to buy half as much
t o, II, or you give him as much food as he gets
stroke 80 per cent of his wages, or twice as
mucn as the whole Of his house rent And 1t
isa ae 0e done done For the proof Of that have done
~, anu tnere Is no reason why what have done
should not be done In every town and village
ID the whole world. Believe me, that is the
the wealth of our laboring poor. That is where
Ins waste ls-a waste which is not only felt in
actual ex expenditure OF money on food, but in in
eiacy ana craving Tor stimulants, which lies
sne foEt OF much OF the drunkenness Of the
When hrst read this had lust inauRurated
the penny dinners for school children which
nave now become SO universal, and, having
agement be made to do In the way of providing
ioou, visited Stockholm, and on my return
determined to try to adapt Mr.. smiths ideas
10 tne requirements OF the poverty stricken
population Of this poor parish, and endeavor to
inltlgate distress in q way which would not
Two disnsed aud dingy school rooms were
soon ntteo up, one as q dining room, the other
as Kitchen. In the Kitchen were placed i've
penny ulnner cookers which were heated by
gas The cost OF the alterations and all appar-
atus was just $50. The following tariff was
liked upon for food to be carried away: kea
o., small meat puddings locally known as
pot-ples) I'd: eacn. In the dining room the
prices were the same, with the exception that
| ior penny was given u pint basin OF soup and
Two rolls of about 1Our ounces each. There was
@ no !aGk OF custom, and at the end OF two
inonths we had net profit of f3S los; this was
handed over TO the general relief fund. The
pfont was perfectly genuine, lair wages were
PAID AMI no voluntary labor was employed.
!ne success which attended our experiment
led to the formation vi q company for the pur-
pose ol continuing the work on u larger scale.
IN November last our first establishment was
opened by Mi. Walter James, M. r, and Mr..
John Morley, NJ r. In this new enterprise we
continued the work on exactly the same lines
ana AZ the same prices as had been charged at
our seii-SuppOltlng soup kitchen, but In addl-
ton 10 the penny dining room we opened q
large and coInmOdious room for artisans, where
dinners OF Two courses are provided At a charge
OF I'd. There is also large room tor concerts
| anu meetings. BY substituting steam instead
OF gas as our heating agent we have been able
10 reduce the cost Oh Iuel for cooking and warm
Ing the building to Is. Cd. day. During the
whiter time, when the demand for soup Tor
home consumption was large, aud when we
supplied dinners for the chiiuren at some OF the
elementary schools, about 1000 persons must
nave been dependent on this establishment for
their Gally dinner. The success OF our expert
ment led TO the opening OF branches at New
castle, South Shields, and Sunderland, and the
financial result has already warranted the de-
clafation OF Il dividend oi per cent.
"a The beneht these cooking uepOtS are to the
| very poor there can be no question. The poor
est, whose knowledge OF cookery Is OF Lne most
ruuiInentary kind, and whose culinary uten-
slls are the rudeSt and most Steful, are en-.
aDied TO obtain ioOd we'll and ecOnC mlcsliy pre-
pared at a much lower cost than that at which
| .ney could possibly prepare II for them selves.
IL any Interested III attempts at improving the
condition Of the poor desire to try the expert
ment OF establishing cooking depots in poor
districts, would RECOMMEND them to begin as
we began, on small scale, and when tney
ascertain that there is demand Ior cheap
cooked food, and have mastered the technical
ulnculties OF supplying IL, they can venture on
opening one or more large establishments