The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-12-07
PEOPLES KITCHENS OF VIENNA.
Places Where People are Well Fed oS
First=Class Chefs for Few Cents.

Places Where People are Well req ny
First-Class Chefs for a Few Cents.
A quarter of a century ago it was lnl-
possible to get a dinner in Vienna, even
in restaurants of the lowest type, fof less
than IA or Is cents, and as the tenemehts
inhabited by the poor of that city nave
no cooking arrangements, the WORKERS
were obliged to subs:st on two or three
full meals a week and live the rest OF
the time on wurst. DR.. Kuhn, upon In :
vestigation, became satisfied that gooo
food could be furnished at much less
than restaurant prices and without loss'
and tried to induce the city to undertake
this work; but, failing in this, he Sc
cured the cooperation of few Others
and these undertook it themselves. They
formed, in 1879, the peoples kitchen as
ISOLATION, and as result of their WORK
there are now 10 restaurants in Vienna
which feed 1900 people day-on simple
food to be sure, but prepared by COOKS
that rank with the chefs of the foremost
clubs-at an average price of seven cents
meal. A very large percentage OF the
meals served everything being sold la
carte) consist of vegetables and bread.
and cost the patron but fraction over
two cents
The first guests to arrive are always
the school children; for, as they are re-
ceived on special terms, and have menu
OF their own, they are admitted only
| from II until a quarter to IL: They
| come trooplng in with their tickets IN
their hands in the most orderly fashion.
Some are thinly clad, poor little things,
who look as if their lines were cast in
very poverty-stricken places; while
others are evidently the children OF
well-to-do artisans and shop keepers.
But differences of rank are as nothing
| in peoples kitchen; all there are on
| terms of equality, for brass tickets tell no
| tales. Those the charitable give to
| teachers of the children of the poor are
| lust as bright as those wealthier parents
buy for their own sons and daughters.
| The little ones themselves do not know
| who paws for their dinners During the
| winter months some thousands of child
rem often dine in the kitchens. They are
| given every day large white roll ana
a plate of pea soup, mild pudding, cap-
| bage or sauerkraut. The portions are
| as large as an ordinary child can eat,
and the charge for dinner Is hve
| kruZers No sooner are the children
gone than the general public begin 20
| arrive; and from 10 o'clock until nearly
the kitchen is crowded.
| The menu for the day is written on a
huge slate which hangs near the doo a
| The menu is a curiosity; it is never
| twice the same in one week, and the
variety of dishes it includes in the course
| of the year is simply marvellous, consider
| ing the prices charged for the dinners.
The list the woman superintendent
| and the matron have to choose from,
| when deciding what shall be given on
any special day, com prises Is kinds OF
SOUPS. 10 vegetab les, meat of one sort
or another, dressed in 2different fash,
| ions. 20 sweets. six salads. to say moth
| ing of such trifes as entrees.
| II is a somewhat motley company, it
must be confessed, that meets together
| day by day. All SORTS and conditions IN
| truth are there; students whose science
| ia deeuer than their purses; eX-criminals
with tickets given them at the prison
\ door perhaps; and gentlemen who have
| backed the wrong horses. OF women of
course there is never lack; actresses
whose beauty is faded, unsuccessful ar
lists, and the widows OF professional
men. People who have wasted thousands
| in their day sit side by side with those
whose lives have been one fierce hope
less struggle to make both ends meet.
| 1t is the COMMON rendezvous, in fact,
| of failures of every sort and kind. Still
| these are only the exotics, as it We're;
| the great mass of those who frequent
| tine Kitchen belong to the wage-earning
classes, and are hard-working men and
| women. Carpenters, masons, postmen,
seamstresses, fower-sellers, shop girls,
| ali dine together: and scattered about
/ among them are shoeblacks, crossing
sweepers, and even beggars. The beg
gars, how ever, who go. must, for the
time at least, cast aside their role for
nothing that smacks Of alms-whether
the giving or receiving-is tolerated.
| The kitchen itself is not a charity, it
must be remem bered. but business
con cern4a fact it's managers are always
careful to impress on their guests; Every
dinner is paid for, and whether BY him
affair of theirs. Thus those who go there
are subject to no humiliation, no call is
made on them for gratitude or thanks;
they are there on precisely the same
4 ofh or7 rco a