The Pioche weekly record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1877-1900, 1890-11-15
CHlCAG0'S NIGHT COOKS.
suesr Characters Who Furnish
Food for Street Providers.
feripatetic Restaurants Which DO Good
Business from Ten T.. NJ. Until Dawn
Pretty Fair Lunch Tor Five
Cents Walking Cefes.


Acting on the f2ets given him, Chi
cago News reporter selected Detective
Morgan Thomas, Of the Harrison street
station, and ut eleven O'clock started
out to explore th.s paradise of intiner-
ant cooks and +. ,.-aranls on wheels.
At the hour when Tho West and North
sides were silent Ia aleep The levee was
a lively scene. Ihs usual throng of
painted women, white and black, alleged
sporting men, with barber-pole pants,
bill-poster shirt-fronts, and dance-house
neckties, were to be seen.
There comes one of the cafes" said
Thomas.
Around the corner of Polk street and
Fourth avenue appeared swarthy lit
tie man. He carried small folding
table beneath one arm, and in the other
hand he held what looked like hotel
consomme boiler. 1t was made of cop
per and it shone like full moon. He
cried in sing-song voice: clash and
wieners, gut wurst.'
This class is the most common" said
The detective. 'See, he sells hash, bread
and Frankfort sausage, redhot."
"Vill de shentlemens haf some red
hots und brod?' asked the cook, as he
placed his copper kettle on the curb. In
a twinkling the table was set up. His
wares were good. Hot, homemade
hash, with good bread and butter, made
excellent sandwiches for hungry
rnlIn1ap I'M -.
were generally cutin two 1ongitudinally
and smothered in mustard. The mer-
chant willingly told how he made his
living.
"You see, frents, | sleeps me in de
daytime, cause de beeblers what wants
mine stock dey be sleepin, too Mine
woman, she cooks de hash efery after
noon und | cook de red -hots vile L
carries dem. Lots of fellows make
money NIT dis business. See, in dis
part keeps de hash, and here are de
red-hots. Under is de lamp what keeps
de blace hot. In dis box | carries the
brod und mustard. / shust walk me
round, und de peoples what is hungry
dey buys. Dey be peoples What only
work aroun' nights. Some be tieves,
some gamblers, some policemen und
odder ting. Oh, yes, make more money
ais vorkin in rsssaWant.'
'Tle is only mpie, ,'-said the. de-
tective, as the gay fellow picked up his
parapnernalia and departed shouting
his weird sing song cry.
The waffle man was also encountered,
but \, 20, ,f l. 10, l.
numerous in the daytime to merit much
comment. A little farther on the pop
corn man held forth his little court.
gasoline torch and supply of buttered
snowfalSes done upin pretty paper bags.
During the warm autumn evenings every
good nook shelters nocturnal sweet
corn cook. He gives you big, fresh
boiled earof corn with plenty OF butter,
such as it is, and seasoning for a nickel.
1t was not until the negro quarters
were reached that the night cook was
seen in all his glory, with his little
movable stall, where he displays appe-
tizing roasted tidbits of chicken, opos-
sum, corn and sweet potatoes. Who
could resist stopping to see the white
clothed fellows who assume gre tesque
shapes fitting about their ovens in the
darkness, now and then crying: "Come
on, brethren, an partake OBJ de feast.
Choice cuts heah. All yoh wants fer
two bits"
A great many well-dressed white men
stopped to get "a lunch of chicken or sweet
potatoes. These cooks are patronized
all night long. Not sign of their
booths is left by daylight, for as dawn
appears they pack up and go home.
"Those fellows just making a meal of
chicken legs, toast and sweet-potato
sandwiches are actors" said the officer.
These lunches save them time and
they take bite and satisfy the inner
man with choice daintics at small
cost"
Leaving the darker portions Of the
levee, and upon reaching State street,
the itinerant night-cook is supplanted
by the all-night restaurant. These
itinerant merchants do not like the
lightest streets, because their CUSTOM
ers are found only in the darker streets.
speaking about variety actors as
'ham-fat song-and dance artists" said
theatrical manager, 81 think the man
who first called them by thatname must
have seen them about midnight ON the
levee, getting away with plate of eggs
and ham just prepared by one Of these
night-cooks.
These cooks know every tough and
bad character in the locality, and very
often supply such men with the only
meals the latter get when in hiding
from the police, SO they are very often
used to advantage by the police as stool
pigeons. They are necessity in this
locality, and if they were prohibited
from doing business every rounder
would strike.
The Extremity Of Politeness.
1t does beat all, as the good country
y,