Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-06-28
A WOMAN'S LUNCH.
A RESTAURANT KEEPER TELLS A RE-
PORTER ALL ABOUT IT..

try-A Lady's Sandwich Carrying
! Away the Remains-aIost Popular Food.
Leaving Articles Behind.
| In a restaurant where hundreds of
women lunch the reporter sat down in
the midst of the rustic and swish of skirts
and the Babel buzz and hum of soft
voices, and consulted the bill Of fare.
There were salads, ices, patties, eclaires,
soup, pickles and coffee, but no steaks,
| chops or roasts of any kind. The ladies
were eating rolls, chocolate cake, buns,
| charlotte russo and ices, while here and
there little basin Of soup or stew was
ordered. A tired little woman, presum-
| ably from the country, from the multi
! plicity Of her wraps and bundles, was
consulting the bill of fare. She read it
| through, furtively glanced On the other
side and then ordered one sandwich and
| glass of lemonade. The lemonade not
being on tap she moistened her lunch with
| the cheering contents of glass Of water.
| Now q lady's sandwich, as furnished in
| the restaurants, differs from a mans as
much as the perfumed scrap Of embroid
! cred vanity they call a handkerchief differs
from the comfortable half-yard square Of
| linen or silk which men designate by the
| same name The lady'S sandwich is about
as large as postage stamp cut in two
| triangles, is thin enough to see through
and seems to relish better if tied up with
q ribbon bow
Presently four country women entered,
consulted for some time as to what they
should order, and finally decided upon
| sandwiches and tea. Five sandwiches
were given them, and when four of them
had served their destined purpose a series
of words and pokes were INDUCED in by
the worthy chief of the quartet as to the
disposition of the remaining sandwich,
while she remarked, in an audible whis-
per: "We'n have to pay for 'em ALL and
might as well have it, AS no one needed
her advice, she appropriated the bit Of
bread and meat, wrapping it up in a scrap
of torn programme, and slowed it away
among the hairpins, handkerchiefs, combs
and other miscellaneous articles in her well
worn shopping bag. At the same time
delicate little woman in bewildering,
iridescent, prismatic sort of a costume, all
beads and sparkle and jingle, came flash
Ing and rustling down to the counter,
having her white hands sparkling with
jewels, ordered a salad, q lobster patty, a
cup of bouillon, a cheese cake, and an ice
with cup Of chocolate smothered in
cream, dipping first into one dish and then
into another as daintily as humming
bird darts his bill into flower cup
spoiled 50 paying for it all, tipped the
waiter with smile as dazzling as her
costume, and went flashing and sparkling
down the room like a glowworm in a
dusky thicket.
"How many people do you accommo-
date at lunch each day, and how many Of
them are women?' asked the reporter of
the superintendent Of the place.
about 1000 in all, and 1,1S5 are wo-
men"
''Do You think the average woman Sc
rules of healtl?''
Il don't think there is any average
woman If there is she buys her lunch
somewhere else or brings it in her pocket.
The economical woman eats the cheapest
food in the bill of fare, regardless of quail
lty, and her lunch costs ten OF fifteen
cents. Sometimes two women come to-
gether, give only one order for the two,
and tnen fume because they have to pay
the e. ira ten cents in charge for dishes
and service. They seem to get more
noU ,ishment and pleasure out of the few
cents they save than all they spend. The
eSravagant woman eats the most expen-
si'ye dishes she can find, and ENJOYS q
piece Of poor strawberry shortcake when
1t costs seventy-nve cents that she couldn't
touch at fifteen cents in the season The
woman IN hurry always eats some
thing that she can drink like bouillon,
and then buys half pound of caramels
to stay ner stomach on the way homen
docs women compare her check with
the list and raise rumpus over fancied
errors?'
''Oh, not very often, but when she does
1t takes every man in the place, from the
proprietor down to the boy that opens the
door, to convince her that she is not VIC
tim Of dishonest practices. You see.
economical women find out what a thing
costs before they order it, and extrava-
CANT women do not care whet their bill is
any way"
(Which had you rather feed, 100 women
or 100 men9''
"Oh, 100 women, because there's more
money In 1t, though they are little
harder to get along with and require
better service A man wants O dinner
Tor lunch, and Orders a cut of beef, pota-
toes, onions, sdccotash and celery, and
bottle OF claT4t or beer, and everything
not must o't steaming or ne swears, and
everything; cold must be freezing or he
fumes. The food, though commonplace
ana substantial, is more expensive than
the hipped wind, baked froth and
Irozel vanities we serve to women in
lang forms. They eat almost anything
II u only looks dainty and pay well for
IL, too. If they do find fault with the
II cd, as they know how to do very scien-
1l1cally, they are sure to come fiuttering
back again like birds to their old haunts
In spring time; but If msn is displeased
he says very little, but shakes the dust of
the place from his feet forever"
DO women ever leave their parcels and
pocketbooks on the tables and come rush .
ing back to find themf''
Leave thingsi Leave things, They |
rarely take anything away with them that |
they can lose off or lay down. We have /
property room full of gloves, handker- |
chiefs. eyeglasses, opera glasses, pocket |
books, latch keys, jewelry, hairpins, muffs, |
parasols and NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. but |
their poodles and their children; those |
usually follow them out. Sometimes one |
VIII come up here to the desk and in spite |
OF my cautions lay her purse down while /
she talks, then suddenly see some one she |
knows down at the door, and away she |
VIII dart with her pretty skip and swing |
and flourish, and the two will go chatter /
Ing down the street together. In little /
while she will want TO buy something /
from bargain counter, and then |
she will discover her loss and come
rushing back here TO tell me how she left |
the purse on just such corner. in just
such place by some particular book, and
wonder and wonder why it isn't there