Omaha daily bee., 1888-01-22
IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE.
Walters Who Serve Customers in a
Mysterious Manner
THE ENIGMA SOLVED AT LAST
Strange Names for Ordinary Dish s.
Restaurant Where No Formal
fty Is Manifested and Where
Poor People Live.


Surfeited with larded grouse, prime
beef, terrapin, rich patties, sweet pas
try. and all of the choice viands known
to the high salaried chefs, the average
Omaha newspaper man sometimes turns
his back upon such dainties, and just for
the novelty's sake, seeks a humber table
than that Of the gilded banqueting hall
sofamiliar to him. The resorts of clerks
who only draw $3.50 to 500 salary per
month-poor fellows-possesses an un-
usual charm for the lights of the press,
for they are thus enabled to see in just
what manner, the really poor. exist.
One OF the most popular restaurants,
patronized by the poorer classes, is situ-
ted not far from Fifteenth and Douglas
streets. Architecturally, it's interior
beauty would not impress the average
passer by. Neither would the interior
decorations bring to his mind the sump-
tious adornments of the Cafe Royal, the
Langham, the Hoffman or the Delmon-
leo. In fact the place is low. dark and
gloomy room with walls that may have
been white about the time that De Soto
discovered the Mississippi. There are
few embellishments upon these walls.
On either side is pasted a huge piece of
paper and at the top in large letters is
the legend bill of Fare" Then fol-
lows list of dishes provided by the cui-
sine of the house. together with the i'm
portant information as to the cost of
each one. The prices are not exorbi-
tant as may be seen from the following
partial list:
d..
MUTTON chopS. .......................5 sc
Liver and bacon ..................... SC
veal outlets. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 5c
Pork and beans. ns....................... SC
Tea, coffee or milk Observation-Disclosures. &c
Etc, etc, etc. ETC., etc.
With each meat order, potatoes are
served free OF charge. SO, for fifteen
cents, the customer can obtain a square
meal, for the proprietor is not stingy.
but serves enough for two men on each
order. The kitchen is at the rear of
the long room. and the guests can see
everything that goes on in that usually
mysterious department. There are no
tables in the house, their places being
taken by counter that extends the
entire length of the room. Stools
take the place of chairs, and the inform-
ality of the guests is really charming.
Nearly every one eats with his hat and
Overcoat on, and if he chooses to pick
his teeth with a fork, eat with his knife
or commit other similar triling social
solecisms, there is no one TO chide or re-
monstrate with him.
The great charm of the place, how
ever, is in watching the walters and lis
tening to the unknown language in
which they converse with the cooks at
the rear. When an order is given to a
waiter he lifts up his voice and shouts
an unintelligable order to the cooks, one
| of whom replies in exactly the same
words and with the same emphasis. For
instance---a guest orders pork tender
lOin." The waiter sings out: Motor
Line" with the accent on the first syl-
liable of the first word. One of the white
capped cooks yells back the same words.
These walters have a slang term for
| nearly every dish of the menu. A BEE
| reporter approached one of them-not
| the dish, but the waiter-last evening,
| and after having presented him with a
valuable gold watch and chain, pre-
| vailed upon the "Motor Line dispenser
| to give HIM the key TO this mysterious
language. Following is list of dishes
served, together with the proper detini-
tion as recognized by all the attaches
| of the house:
| Milk Toast-"Graveyard stew"
Dry Toast-"Coffin lids"
| Steak, -'Midlne."
Steak, with Moonlight on the
| Lake,
| Porter House Steak-"Brown stone front"
Double Porter House Steak - Marble
| front"
Broiled Mutton Chops-"Whiskers on the
| IRON
Fried Mutton Chops-'Whiskers in ihe
| pan"
Link Sausage-"Cable line"
| Ham and Eggs-"Romeo and Juliet :"
Spareribs tand Drowned Potatoes-"St.
| Louis browns"
| Liver and Bacon-''Adam and Eve"
| Pork and Beans-"Brass band with
| leader"
Poached Eggs on oast-"Chippies on the
| rail-
| Three Fried Eggs-'Three on horseback
Two Fried Eggs, Tuined-"Two in the
| air."
Boiled Eggs-"Three drops in the water"
| Oat Meal-"Summer-t
| Scrambled ggs-"Shipwreck" or "Struck
| by Lightning"
Egg Omelette-"Pool table"
Glass of Water-"Turn the hose on"
Coffee and Notwithstanding and
| sinkers."
Oyster stew, Il dozen-"six little fish in
| the sea-
Oyster fry, 4 dozen-"Six little fish IN the
pan"
| Cup of Tea--"One in the red"
Cup of Coffee-"One in the dark"
| Fried Onions" Morning dew"
| Pigs Feet-"Trottcrs"
| Full Stew-'Drunken man.
| In case the customer countermands his order
| the waiter yells, "Sidetrack so and sO.n If
| the guest asks the waiter to hurry his order
up, the cook receives the command to Rail
| road it,"
Where this slang comes from it is
difficult to say, yet much of it can be
analyzed to show that it is based upon
something more tangible than the mere
vagaries of the mind that usually in
vents slang"
DOckyards Burned.