Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1891-02-05

Cooperative cas king aud Table services
Ia Successful operation.

Caoperati Cas king and Table ssxwica
In Successful Operation
There / nothing SO perpiexinx in the
whole round OF houseke, p'ng. SAYS the
New York Herald as tile question OF
food. 1he lord Of the manor must have
food well prepared and well served. but
the scarcity Of good cooks at reasonable
wages prccludes such condition in most
lilies of m .derate circumstances. Il
would eem, therefore, that plan which
would close the kitchen entirely. reduce
lac force of servants, and lessen the cost
II living. While at the same time bring
ing better service at meals would
.e something Utopian--an ~iridescent
dream
But the dream after all is not dream.
The problem is solved, and its solution
is SO simple and satisfactory that the
wonder is il was not made clear before.
Some weeks since the heads of five
Utica. \. ", families entered into an
lgree aient after mature deliberation un.
Ter which provision was made for leas-
.ng and furnishing house. employing
cook and sci wants. and making arrange
ments for a trial Of cooperative house
keeping in so far as the dining room and
kitchen were concerned The gentle
nen interested are all business men i'm
moderate circumstances. who had come
to the conclusion that better service at
.ess cost could be obtained in this way
than by the usual individual housekeep-
ing method. Choosing a president,
of governors" the gentlemen set them
selves to work. The first thing to be
done Was TO draft compact by which
all were boun to give the plan a trial
OF three months. All are so well salts
fed that there will be no changes at the
end of that time three weeks hence. IL
the original number 22 persons were in
cluded. which number has been aug
menled to nearly so. as many as can he
accommodated in the present quarters.
In the beginning it was nee ssary to
purchase an entire new outfit of kitchen
and dining room furniture. as we'll as
the conveniences for the cook and five
walters. who, in addition to their regu-
lar duties. look after the house which
they occupy, rented by the club A
competent cook OF many years ex-
perience VAS employed. into whose
charge the full manag, ment of affairs
was given. with the exception Of the
purchase of food. which duty devolves
upon one of the club. designated 10y the
president at the beginning of each
month. Books are kept in which is
entered every cent of expenditure. and
they are balanced at the end of the
month, when an assessment is levied
upon each member, and all accounts
are squared. During the first few
weeks of the life of ne club the assess.
ments were necessarily somewhat
heavier than they are at present As
regards the table. the very best of
everything is provided, with all the
delicacies in season. willie no extrava-
gance is countenanced hy any member
Ii any member brings visitors they
must lie paid for at he rate of % cents
per meal. and notice must be given
beforehand OF their comii & The
system has been brought SO far on the
road TO perfection that it would be i'm
deed difficult to make it better in any
way.
AT present the amount levied uron
each person is a trifie les than 50 week
and those in charge confidently expecl
to reduce this to So so, when greater
knowledge is acquired I,y experience
This assessment is very small indeed
when the quality of the service is con
sidered. The bill of fare can not be dup
Heated in any first class boarding house
for twice or three times $3. Besides
this, wives aud daughters are release.
from the care Of kitchens and dining
rooms, and the worry incident to the
supervision of cooks and other servants,
too often incompetent. is thing of the
past The only Inconvenience. which i
slight by comparison. is the n.c ssity of
leaving homes to take meals in the CO.
operative club house. All those in
terested. however, live near by and
count this as nothing.