The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1888-08-24
A FREE LUNCH SCARE,
FASTIDIOUS NIBBLERS HAD SETTER
WATCH WHAT THEY EAT.

FASTIDIOUS NIBBLERS HAD BETTER
WATCH WHAT THEY EAT.
New York Barkeeper Drops Into a
Confidential Mood-What He Knows
About Cheap and ''Free' Lunches-Hid-
eous Mysteries Made Known.
eyes" modify assented the barkeeper.
''the weather is pretty warm, but it is a cold
day for me, all the same, for 1 have emphat-
ically got left The boss Is away to fu-
neral, Dan was taken sick suddenly and had
to 60 home, and here I've been all alone on
the keen jump for SIX straight hours I'm
tired out, and so blamed hungry that could
eat anything except free lunch"
"What's the matter with the free lunchT
queried the reporter.
"oh, nothing. Only know too much
about 1t, and as for eating it-excuse me-"
Ten feet from that starving brkeeper was
long, narrow table, covered with bowls,
dishes and plates in which were displayed
quite an assortment of seeming articles Of
food, some Of them rather tempting in ap-
pearance for hungry man. There were
several kinds of sausages, bits of fried liver.
pork and beans, cheese, picked onions and
beets, thin slices Of a sort of marbleized
compound Of gristle and grease that was
called ''headcheese," small fshballs, fried
eels, pigs feet cut in chunks, strange ma
terial said to be picked "ox mouths" which
were salty sour with curious roughuess.
toughness and graininess in them, and other
things needless to recapitulate. Men had
been nibbling at the piles Of them all day.
Some men fancy that their drink tastes
better when they take a preliminary bite Of
something; Others have an erroneous idea
that bite or two after drinking makes the
odor OF the liquor less conspicuous in their
breath; many believe that alcoholic liquor
does less harm to the coats Of their stomachs
when they take a little food with it; thou
sands take bite because sight of the food
awakens fictitious appetite in them, and
tens OF thousands snatch up mouthfuls of
whatever comes handy, just from the habit.
TASTES OF THE PUBLIC
Although the hour was not much past the
middle OF the afternoon, some of the plates
were pretty well cleared The taste Of the
public that day seemed to have run to the
picked mussels, water crosses and radishes.
for these supplies were almost exhausted.
Next to these the fried liver and beans had
found favor. The sausage did not seem to
have tempted many, but there had been
some nibbling on the kind made Of liver and
on the imitation bologna, that was hard,
black, and oily Of look and goaty in smell.
Plenty Of forks stood handy, thrust in deep
In greasy and grimy water, that is supposed
to give them sufficient cleansing as they pass
from mouth to mouth.
In lull Of business the barkeeper went on
In confidential tone.
Few saloon keepers are sufficiently good
stewards to buy properly for first class
lunch, and fewer still have either the knowl-
edge or the conveniences for getting up the
lunches themselves. The result has been the
building up of very considerable business
which is generally in the hands of broken
down caterers and dissipated ex-cooks, in the
supplying of free lunches to saloons at stipu-
lated prices according to quantity and
variety required. They charge all sorts Of
prices, from seventy-fiv cents up to IS or
even 81 per day. OF course, there is a good
deal Of keen competition among them, as
there is in everything connected with the
saloon business, and they are all the time
trying to cut under each other in price
What is the consequence That they use
always the cheapest and often the nastiest
materials, and spend as little as possible of
either time or money on preparation
Let us look that stuff over now to illustrate
what say-but mind you don't give it away
that told you, for the boss would give me
the grand bounce if he knew 1t. Smell that
liver sausage. Don't you notice little faint
sour taint2 That liver had commenced to spoil
before it was made up. Sniff one Of those
slabs of fresh beef sausage. That moldy
smell tells sufficiently the story Of the meat
it was made from. This oxen maui seems
all right, but we had q lot few days ago
that was terror. There's no use putting
that smoked bologna to your nose. I can tell
you about it. It is made of refuse scraps,
too far gone for use any other way, that are
sailed and seasoned up, and smoked so that
their quality is efectually concealed.
THE H1DEOUs MYSTERIES.
II gave a chunk of that headcheese tho
other day to dog that looked hungry. The
intelligent brute took it, but laid it down in
stantly, gave me a look of bitter reproach,
and walked out. Inspect that mess Of pigs
feet and you will observe that the CRIME and
filth Of the pig pen is still on them. They
have actually never been washed, any more
than that in the processes of boiling and
picking some of the dirt has dropped Off So
l could go on directing your attention to tho
true inwardness of more of the banquet until
made you sick, only that it sickens me
to think about it. will mercifully draw q
veil over the hideous mysteries of the OK tail
soups, stews and other hot made dishes sup
piled in quantity by these free lunch cater
ers. l dropped in, on some business for the
boss, at one of those caterers places over on
tho west side a few weeks ago and saw them
making kettle of OK tail soup The memory
~ Ia eLo.l
mind, would be enough to drive a man to
hard drink.
''They are very skillful in arresting de-
and hiding its evidences by
means Of chemicals and seasoning, SO that
you can't really tell how far gone the meat
may have been that you arc eating, and
though some people like tainted meat and
say that it is wholesome, tho very idea Of it
disgusts mo. What do they user I don't
know what all, but do know that some of
them employ permanganate Of potash to kill
the smell of bad meat, and salicylic acid
to keep the soup from souring in hot weather.
The more free lunch article is seasoned the
more legitimately open to suspicion it is. By
the way, have you ever noticed branded
cheese On the free lunch tables Oh! you have,
and you think it isn't bed. Well, barroom
cheese is, rule, the cheapest that can be got
When it is unstable for any other purpose |
It is offered to the saloon; but whea it goes
beyond ttat point, end even rsts fight shy OF
it, it is still ell right for saturation with
bogus braudy-naGe Of favored rect;fed
spirits-aud cones up smiling as branded
cheese
"Of course, tho lunch caterers will howl
denials of oil this, but it is true just the same,
and anybody is welcome to my share. Never
trust anything in q free lunch that is not
actually gotten up by the saloon keeper HIM
self. He is bound to have solre conscience,
and don't know the tricks of the caterers.
And you will do well to fight shy of every
hing but slices that you see cut Off big joints
Or hams, fresh vegetables. like radishes o.
:eesses, and clean pretzels Q: crackers. New
Sleep in Old Age.
In old age one Of the essentials to longer
life is ample rest in bed. Seep does not
come as easily to elderly persons as to those
younger If sufficient is denied, an opiate on
retiring is Justified, says medical authority,
because at that period OF life the continuous
use of one such dose daily can, if needed, do
ttle or no harm and promise; to do n,uc!, |