The Opelousas courier., 1888-02-25
{ RIG DINING A
where 10000 People Daily Sat-
isfy Their Hunger.
A. interesting Tour Over the
Great Establishment.

IX&t E M u W
chen d Sun man entered a ve1y large
rsstaurant near Washington Mar
1T in New York, and took a
seat at one of the many tables. Tt
struck him that they did q very large
husiness in that place, as no less than
three or four hundred people were seat
"a at the tables. Being of an iuquisi-
live turn of mind, he began to ask qucs-
TONS Of the white-aproned waiter who
,resided over the table at which he sat.
..You must feed a great many people
ii The course Of the dayw the inquisi
tive man remarked to the waiter.
aFecd a good many peoplea Well,
IshouId remark that we do. We feed
Thousands, sir, every day, but just how
many / can't tell you. If you would
like to know you car ask that man
sts1ding over there near the cashiers
counter, and h~e---coffee and a piece of
mince2 all right, sir---will tell you any
thing you may wish to know about this
place" and he hurried away to fill the
orders of later arrivals.
The mar alluded to was Mr.. S. Wad-
dell, the head bookkeeper Of the place.
who conducted the inquisitive man over
the entire premises, and a very inter
esting tour it proved to be.
eWe provide meals for 12, 600 people
every twenty-folr hours" said Mr..
Waddell. 'EThis is probably the largest
place of its kind in the worll. We
have six dining rooms in all, with a seat
ing capacity of between 800 and 900.
Five of the dining rooms are on the
ground floor, with entrances on two
streets, and the other is on the second
floor, where thu prices are a little
higher and the service better"
There are over $50 persons employed
to do the work of this place, and they
IRE divided up as follows: One chef
aud / head waiter, who have each 4 as
s~istants; rs walters, 90 kitchen girls, %
laundresses, who are employed ten
hours a day washing and ironing table,
cloths, napkins and walters aprons and
jackets; 25 bakers, and the remainder
consists of c%arvers, order takers, &c.
Az this season we keep 6 men regularly
employed baking griddle cakes
How many cups of tea and coffee do
you dispose Of in a day@
t.About 10, 90, 900 cups of tea and
5000 cups of coffee. In addition to
that a great quantity Of milk and choco-
late is consumed
"What particular article of food is
mostly eaten2' s.
ssRoast beef. We buy about 5000
pounds of beef daily, of which 1900
pounds arc hips, 1000 pounds short
rib. and 800 pounds loins. We buy
headquarters Of lamb aud mutton only,
and about 500 pounds are consunecs
OF the other meats we work up 800
pounds Of fresh PORK, 100 pounds Of
ham, 100 pounds of sau,ages, 159 pounds
Of veal, and about $40 pounds of poultry
and game. On Fridays about a to1 OF
fish is consumed, and about half that
quantity on other day,- In addition to
the above articles, over 800 pounds of
butter, 80 barrels of potatoes and tur,
nips, 8 barrels of wheat, aud 2 barrels
Of buckwheat are used. Buckwheat
cakes are eaten more by strangers and
country people in this city, who are as
well, if not better, satisfied with wheat
md rice cakes. Pie is eaten much more
than it used to be, and we make daily
about 800, of which 1a5 are mince,
which has thu call iustnow, with pump
Mn q good second.
What wages are paid the employees"
The chef AMI head waiter each gel
s25 a week and their board, and theil
assistants $40 a week each. The walters
get Sill d week, and- the kitchen ane
laundry girls from S. to 81. Nelrly al
the employees eat and sleep on the prem
ises. Their hours of work vary from
eight to ten q day. The expenses of the
establishment arc about SIS, 900 q month,
and tho receipts between 81, 500 and
&. 900 q day.
What system have you Of giving on
checks ID order to prevent perso1s from
cheating. if they are so disposeda'
Cur check system IS 50 complete tina
cheating is almost impossible. Every wal
erhas his own number or the checks b,
handles and they are changed at every
meal. We have d great maiy different
sEts but they are changed SO often that
Il would bother any one to keep tracl
q them. Occasionally a few persons
VIII skip out without paying for thei
meals during the very busiest part q
TIE day. We lose napkins by the dozen,
though. Persons come In d hurry ant
order their meals, and after they ar
through eating they will shove the nap
klna II their pockets, through mistake,
suppose, for their handkerchiefs and
81 i 10 q hundred i eyer returned
IA what other way il loss incurreda'
The principal loss IS the glass ans
tableware which IS broken. Il cost