, 1889-02-17

houses laying on not only gas, water, the tele-
phone and the electric light, but the opera
and church service. A landlord will adver-
tise q house to let: THE opera and church
service laid on the premises.n
Already the ladies of Chicago are able to
do their marketing at home.
The housekeeper goes to her telephone and
rings.
"He1oln responds the central office.
Put me in communication with z, 43Sn (har
butchers number).
In another instant the bell rings
"Hellor
"Hellolr
'Is it the butcher
"Yes.n
"send me two pounds of fllot of beef and
a leg of mutton by IL o'clock"
VERY goodl Is that anF
yes"
al right"
Upon this tho lady rings again.
"HelloI' from tho central office, where this
kind of thing goes on all day long.
"Send me l,267' the f~ruiterer this time).
Again the bell rings
"Hellop'
'Hellor'
as this tho fruiterer7n
yes
And the scene is repeatod-and SO on with
tho baker, the grocer, and all the lady's
tradespeople.
There is a great effort being made now In
New York, Chicago and other towns to find
out a plan to accelerate the service in restau-
rants and do ~awaywith walters. 1t is very
simple, and the Americans will not be bafaed
for such a small matter.
This is how the thing is to be done:
The restaurant is provided with mail
numbered tables. Each table is in direct
communication with tho kitchen by means of
rails. Close at hand are n certain number of
electric buttons upon which the customer sees
written beef" mutton 'chop," "vegeta-
bles, :" tart" etc. He touches three, four,
five buttons according to his appetite, and the
cook receives his order.
STEAK and potatoes, tomato, salad, choco-
late cream for No. 59-An right, readyr'
In an instant a tray bearing the meal ap-
pears upon the table, placed there without
hands. When the customer has disposed of
his food, he touches the button marked "bill.n
In a twinkling the bill appears on his plate,
and the assuaged American settles it at the
desk as he goes out The whole thing is as
simple as possible.
Til American complains that it Is impossi-
BILE to lunch or dine in less than ten minutes.
This evil will be remedied shortly.
II you want a really striking sight, go to
ono Of the great restaurants of Chicago or
New York at lunch time. Those Americans
using their knife and fork will make your
head swim. At q little distance, they look as
II they were all playing the dulcimer.
Those Americans are never still, never at
rest. Even when they are sitting, they must
be on the move; witness the rocking chair
habit.
No repose for them: their life Is perpetual
motion, n frantic race.
Opposite my windows, ut the Richelieu
hotel in Chicago, there was a railway station.
Every ten minutes or SO the local trains came
and went. Each time the bell announced the
approach of a train, l saw u crowd tear along
the path Of the station and leap into tho car
riages, taking them by storm. By leaving
their offices half a minute earlier, these good
people might have walked comfortably to the
station, and saved themselves this breathless
chase.
Go to the Brooklyn bridge car terminus,
w" ioh, aDpNb CIOCh III llb uIuSTuOOn-
There you will see a sight very like the storm
ing of a fort.
An American ono day wrote me u note of a
few lines, and thus excused himself for his
brevity; "A word in haste, | have hardly
time to wink" Poor fellowl only think of
1t, not even time to wink; 1t makes one giddy.
Outside certain Anglomaniac sets, to be
found in New York, Boston and Philadelphia,
no one boasts of living On his property.
In England, a man who does nothing goes
by the name of gentleman y in Chicago, b
goes by the name of ''loafer.n
In fifty years time, when America has
9oo,ooo,ooo inhabitants, perhaps she will i'm
pose her ideas upon the Old World. Then,
maybe, society will have no contempt except
for the ignorant and the idle.
A young man, with a very intelligent look.
ing face, was pointed out to me one evening
in a Chicago drawing room.
"He is very rich, I" said my hostess to me
softly. "For a year or two after he inherited
the property he did no work, and people be
gan to rather shun him. But he has just gone
into partnership with a friend in business,
and so he is quite reinstated in every ones
esteem"
Not only is work respectable in America,
but in certain states it Is compulsory. In the
state of Missouri, for instance, any idle, i'm
provident fellow who neglects his family or,
through shiftless habits, is likely to be q
burden to the state, may be sold at auction
to tho highest bidder for a term of six
months This Is a law passed twenty years
ago. 1t provides also that, after the vagrant
has worked out the purchase money, any
other sum earned by him, at u fair compensa-
ton, is to be applied by his purchaser to the
payment of his debts or tho maintenance OF
his family. II, when he is free again, he re-
turns to his bad habits, his follow townsmen
take the law into their own hands. They es
cort him to some public place and fog him,
and II that does not cure him, his wife runs
the risk of seeing him one fine day hanging
from some neighboring tree. The people
will tell you, as the most simple thing in the
world, that by acting thus they economic
the cost of a police force. Rather primitive
| this rpason II musf 10 odp,;ttaJ. b,t g.,