Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-04-26

w with meals at their residences is
carried on far more extensively in
Washington than in any other city
x In the Union, said a fashionable
caterer to a STAR writer yesterday. This is
holiday town. and its Citizens great proper
ton OF them wel-to-do-are much given to re-
heving themselves as far possible from the
cares ordinarily incidental to housekeeping. in
order that they may devote the time thus saved
to social pleasures. After all, the labor of keep
ing house Is almost altogether a matter of
meals; relieve the housewife of that care and
very little toll is left for her. Not any number
OF servants Will make things easy for her, for
servants have to be superintendent and are
themselves a source of fret and worry. What,
then, can be 80 great a luxury as to have the
family meals served in ones own house and on
ones own table by a skilled cook at any hours
desired! No cooking to be done, no market
ing no anxiety as to what is to be provided, no
kitchen to look after, no cooks relatives to
Keep supplied from the pantry. and, last but
not least, no washing of dishes to be done-for
| even that service Is performed sby the pur-
veyor Think Of what all that means in the
way OF ease and comfort to the mistress of an
| establishment! Why, the average woman
| WILL PRESERVE HER YOUTH
| Tor ten years longer under such conditions than
she otherwise would. And the price at which
such service Is performed has been brought
down so low by competition here in Washing
ton that there Is no reason why any family that
Is not really very poor should not practice this
method of living
hat Is the eXpense?"
1--WE serve for SO a week two meals a day for
one person-breakfast and dinner; or for 81 a
week, We serve one person with dinners only.
Dat our provision lis on SO liberal scale that
our customers. as rule, order their meals sent
on a basis OF one meal for two persons. or at
all events not more than two meals for three
persons. No objection is entertained by us to
Ieedlng as many people on single-portion
meal as care to share it. We deliver the given
quantity OF food and there our part ends We
take care to make the allowance ALWAYS plenti-
ful. and you can see for yourself that no plan
could well be SO cheap for young couple. say,
just beginning housekeeping to pay Sc
week for their dinners and breakfasts in this
way. Certainly they could not provide salts
| factory meals for themselves on that amount,
| even II the cost of provisions only was in ques-
| ton; and 1t must be remembered that this
saves the necessity of a servant. far as
kitchen work Is concerned, and the considerable
| Item OF fuel Is also saved But all these advan-
| tages, take it, as nothing compared with
| the saving OF wear and tear upon the house
| wife. The time ought to arrive when all the
| cooking tor everyone will be done in great es-
adjustments and the meals sent out"
| HOW TO BUY FOOD CHEAP
| "But how do you manage to provide things
so cheaply?"
In the first place, by doing things on large
scale. The more people you serve of course
the cheaper you can do 1t. | get my provis-
ions. too. much cheaper than any housewife
| can get them. | buy by wholesale and invari-
| ably for cash. NV business | run Oh a weekly
| haS1g which / hat npII frnp
customers weekly. Thus | am never obliged
| to ask for credit myself, and, paying cash down,
receive large discount on everything pur-
chase. If people generally realized how much
more they can get for their expenditure by
paying ready money they would be much less
| inclined to run accounts. II L had monthly
/ bills for. groceries and provisions / could not
! serve meals at the rate L dc. And yet many
| other caterers who do this sort OF business IN
| Washington are cheaper than L am. Twenty
| five dollars month for two meals daily is a
| common price, and some establishments charge
| only go No, We don't often lose money that
| Is owed u.s. though people try to beat us now
| and then. My biggest loss was made not long
| ago through the delinquency of a man whom
supposed to be a millionaire, judging from his
| mode of living. He drove a beautiful pair of
| horses every afternoon Oh the avenues but
learned afterward they were hired. 1t isn't
safe to judge by appearances i'll such matters,
! particularly i'll Washington.
| TIN KITCHENS VERSUS BASKETS
| do you send the meals in tin ktchens?'
! mo. We used to do SO, but We found OBJ
jections to the plan. 1 suppose you know how
tin kitchen ID constructed-a tin box with
| shelves across it to set dishes on and place
| underneath for few hot Goals or heated
| brick. The great trouble with it is that the
vapor from the hot dishes fills the tin kitchen
! inside and communicates to each dish more or
| less of the flavor OF all the rest so that every-
| ka
| Is not exactly consistent with the highest ideas
| of cooking and SO we have dispensed with the
contrivance, convenient as it is for keeping
| things warm. The method we adopt now has
| been found entirely satisfactory. Big baskets
like clothes baskets are used as receptacles, one
| basket being filled for each house that is
| 10 be served. In the bottom OF the basket
| is laid white cloth, so as to hang
| over the sides. On this are placed the dishes
| and on top of them are inverted tin pans
| These tin pans, well the plates &C., are
made very hot before being put in, and finally
| over all laid cloths, tucked in, SO that the
heat does not easily find any way of escaping
| The baskets thus prepared loaded into
| covered wagons with doors that close at the
| back and are rapidly conveyed to their destina-
! tions. We able i'll this way to supply meals
| that are sufficiently hot upon arrival anywhere
within q radius of ten blocks, though we do
not like to try it any further. The driver of the
| wagon-we employ four such conveyances--de-
for and leaves it there. 1t only remains for the
family to
PUT THE THINGS ON THE TABLE.
Gan hour or SO later the wagon returns and
| takes away the basket with the dishes. We pro-
vide everything that is needed for the meals.
except table linen, silver ware sugar and milk.
OF bread and butter we always send plenty and
we do not think it good policy to skimp desserts.
And veto show how many pigs there are in
this world-we frequently get notes from Gus
toners complaining that they do not get enough
of this or that, and asking that more shall be
sent in future. These are apt to be the very
people who are trying to make one portion do
for three in the family. One day not long ago.
| by the way, man gave me an order to serve
him and asked me If I did not think two por-
tons would be enough for himself, his wife,
three children and a servant told him that
| it would depend upon the size of their appe-
! tites. We used to provide silver ware, but had
| to give it up because SO much of it was lost.
Our loss on broken crockery Is about 800
| year; We never charge for it. Coffee and tea
we send all ready to drink in pots. Soup goes
| in covered tin pails / think of procuring for
| the conveying of liquids some small editions of
! those patent tanks which are used to carry hot
| coffee in quantities. In Boston the business Of
| sending out such tanks filed with agreeable
beverages ready for drinking occupies q large
establishment on Scollay square. The tanks
are sent not only to parties and picnics in and
| near the city, but also to neighboring towns,
the coffee being