The Portland daily press., 1891-08-10
COLD MILK IN THE CITY.
How "MHk Shakes" and Nice But.
termiIk are Swallowed.
New York World.1

Every day at exactly the same hour
he drives up with his contented looking
horse and low bodied, red painted wagon
to spot within ten feet of the statue on
Park row and opens for business. If it's
a cool day he may wait long for GUS
toner, but il it's sultry the wheels have
hardly ceased turning when he is sur
rounded by thirsty crowd and is fur
ried with orders Of:
zone buttermilk"
Gimme shake"
phosphate in mine"
"Sweet milk-quickl"
There are seven milk shake wagons
located at different points within a quar-
ter of mile Of the city hall, and the
business is a large and growing one,
Each has permit to occupy q special
location, and an intruder would find
warm reception if he attempted to
crowd in.
A stranger looks upon it as a queer
business. A resident might wonder how
they do business at all, with SO many
soda fountains buzzing all, around them.
The Ice cream trade comes from the
boys. There isn't a man in all New
York, well dressed or ragged, who dares
stand on the curb and scoop a cents
worth Of yellow ice cream out of tiny
tumbler with his tongue, as the boys do,
to say nothing about clicking the glass;
after the solid has disappeared. It is
different with the milk shake business :
WHEN MEN DRINK.
Let your collar begin to '1op," the
perspiration to trickle down behind your
ears, and your cuffs to grow hmpsy, and
nine men out Of ten will think Of glass
OF cold milk before anything else. There
is never ending tide of humanity pass
ing between that wagon and the figure
in bronze on its stone pedestal. Half of
them are thirsty. Half of them smack
their lips as they think of the treat Of
fered at their elbows.
Now see how curious human nature
is. 1t takes bit of nerve to detach
yourself from the crowd and stand up
to the wagon and quaff your drink. You
half turn, hesitate, go on, and are vexed
with yourself for lack of moral courage.
A dozen Others go through the same per-
Torrance after you. Then comes man
who doesn't care copper for public
opinion, and he turns in and says:
milk shake. eh? Gimme one, and
have it coldi"
And from milkcan as clean as tin
can be kept the man dips out big half
pint of milk as fresh and pure as you
would find it in the farmhouse cellar,
pours it into tumbler, adds strawberry
or other favoring, and claps on cover
and places it under the agitator. A
dozen turns of the crank and it is
"bobbed" until thoroughly mixed, and
he rakes in your nickel and hands you
something which goes right to the spot
and causes you to whisper to yourself:
"Ah, me! But that does me good!"
And sheeplike the crowd has followed
you, and score of men and boys and Of
fee girls are ranged along the wagon
and holding their nickels aloft. Butter
milk has the first call, perhaps because
1t Is only three cents a glass, but the
milk shake is the old standby and win.
ming new customers every day. 1t is
solid from top to bottom. There is no
froth to blow off. The powdered CHINA
mon or nutmeg gives it an agreeable
flavor, and you hang ON to the last swal-
low in grudging sort of way never
known even to sweet cider.
HOW MEN DRINK.
The milk shake man knows the public
demands cleanliness and purity, and he
complies. He knows that men are hur-
ried, and he's lightning in his move
ments. And he's a bit of philosopher
too. When was talking with him the
other day he said:
eff i wanted to study the different
phases of human nature I'd watch the
people right here. Out of fifty no two
act alike while they drink. You can
very often guess at mans profession by
the way he empties his glass, and it is
also pretty easy to tell where he halls
from.
I've seen Kentuckian empty that
glass at three swallows, and I've known
canadian to be ten minutes getting
away with 1t. A broker makes about
nVe gulps to get to tho bottom of the
glass. A lawyer or doctor takes a swal-
low and then stops to think. A reporter
will drink half and then stopto lot down
something, and so it goes.
mo one can be mistaken in farmer
You can hear the liquid go clurgi clurgi
clurgl as it strikes his Adams apple and
when he reaches the end of the string he
planks the glass down with one hand,
wipes off his mouth with the back Of the
other and declares:
"'Sayl I'll be gaul-darned if that amt
gosh-fired goodr"