The times., 1890-12-05

located on the best thOroughfare; 1t should
be attractively finished and furnished on the
interior, have good sized reception room,
lunch counter, dining table, smoking room,
place for proper games, appropriate reading
and upstairs there might be series of
lodging rooms. There must of course be
complete arrangements for storing food and
fuel, and for cooking and serving food;
there may be bath rooms profitably connect
ed with the house. There should be man.
ager, better If married, who should reside
OH the premises and have regular fixed
salary. The house should be opened early
in the morning, say o'clock and close at 10
at night. The drinks are tea, coffee and CO.
Goa, all of good quality. There are cold
meats, good bread and butter, hot sausage
cooked on the counter, porridge, soup, po-
tatoes, boiled eggs, etc. Everything is good
and furnished at aprice lower than the same
articles are furnished elsewhere. The good
quality and low price of the food are an i'm
pOrtant element of success. Then, at these
houses in Great Britain, where they are very
numerous, coffee, tea and cocoa, halfpint cups,
are furnished at &c, soup &c basin, bread
and butter 1c, rasher of bacon &c, beef, sau-
sage and potatoes or bread DC, cold boiled
beef, small plate. sc, cold ham the same,
hot roast beef or mutton, 12c plate. At
majority of the houses a public breakfast
can be obtained for 10c and dinner for 10.
Iced milk and aerated drinks are also sold
very cheap in their season. At st. Georges
q coffee house opened i'm the annex i'm con-
nection with the church temperance work
in New York SC will pay for cup of cof-
fee, roll and q piece of bacon, and 25c will
purchase complete dinner. This establish
m3nt sells freshly made coffee and tea to
fomiIiaC and nutSida no rtioS at cnynn oantS a
pint, the price of beer sold in this way. In
some London houses customers are allowed
to bring their own chop or piece of meat to
be cooked and provided with plate, knife,
salt and pepper for l cent. Certain games,
as chess, checkers, dominoes, billiards, bag
atelle and bowling are allowed. Sometimes
complete gymnasium is furnished. Great
care is taken to prevent gambling. A good
plan to this end is to charge slight admis-
sion to the game room, the the charge
covering the use of any of the games. The
customers register and play in turns, their
tickets are eXchangable i'm value for refresh
ments. Music is generally employed, and
sometimes lectures and other entertainment.
The ticket admitting to these is good for a
cup of coffee or other refreshments of equal
value. While these establishments are of
great reformatory value and accommodate
and interest hundreds who would otherwise
be found in drinking shops, they are le-
gitimate business and a profitable invest
ment. In this country, principally in New
York and Boston they are comparatively
plain and the capital employed is not large,
but in Great Britain they have secured large
capital and own large and splendid build
ings. The Liverpool company, formed in
1875 has capital of Sl50,000. 1t now has
81 houses open. two Of which cost $50. 900
each. The Birmingham Co. have q capital
of $1,000 and have "a houses. one of
which the Golden cost $4,000 The Hull
company has $50, 600 capital and 16 houses.
None of these companies pay less than 10
per cent annually. There are companies
in Gloucester and Chester that pay 20 per
cent In 1884 there were 233 companies in
Great Britain. Recent information in re-
spect to 10 of these show that 81 were pay
ing dividends Of 5 per cent and upwards:
10 companies of this number pay 10 per
cent. One began by paying 10 per cent,
ard in recent years has added bonus of 3
per cent besides giving all annual present to
its employees. Besides their dividend some
of these companies carry over considerable
balance for possible dull times and unfore-
seen expenses. The elements of financial
success i'm this business exist in this country
as they do in Great Britain, ii is blessed
thing to do good to your fellow men, If you
make no money out of it, but to do good and
make money should be an irresistible at
traction.
If the saloons are largely diminished, as
we all expect and hope, or if they be
done away with altogether as some are look
| ing for and believe possible, there will be
all the more need of such houses as have
1 lsl.
ued as profitable investment.
In Boston, where the agency has been put
into fullest operation in this country, there
are 4 public coffee rooms, entailng last
year an expense Of So, 500 to carry them on.
| IL is hoped to open two more the present
winter The rooms were no sooner opened
than they were filled by young men who
otherwise would have been victims of the
saloons. These rooms have not only proved
a pleasant resort of evenings, but each room
has afforded marked opportunity for lee.
lures, readings, musical entertainments ant
Sunday afternoon religious and temperance
meetings. Rev. s., II. Hillard, Supt., says
that he never goes to coflee-room that ht
does not see or hear something that present,
in fresh light the Importance and value
of the work. He finds the visitors mucl
more ready to come and stay than he hat
supposed, and obtained much knOwledg,
about men he would never otherwise meet
and has various andincreasing Opportunitie
of influencing them for the better.
The city of Owosso with its 1000 popula
ton is favorable point for the establish
ment of such coffee house as / have de
scribed. 1t Is manufacturing center will
rapid growth. Over Loco men are EN-
plOyed by Its various industries Its /,
saloons have capital of not far from $50,
900 and have sales amounting to about S70.
900 year. There is, it will be seen larg
body of exposed men likely to increase il
number every year, a number of saloen
doing athriving business, comparatively few
eating houses, and no resort i'm any wa
similar to those l am commenting. Th
! centering of four railroads here which ar
the means of many transient persons comm
here, and the large number of farmers wh
do their trading in this city, promise an en-
| larged patronage for the proposed coffe
public house; we have all'the elements for
r successful venture. We also have eleve
: churches and number of persons active !
{ temperance work, naturally furnishing
large body of sympathizers with such an ei
terprise. The building for the coffee hou.
ought to obecenraly located say on or neartl