Evening star., 1894-01-27

Ia y ~ X ID n u L -
I1N thoughtless popular
u ( (KD belief, anybody can
<Z/zA NkH keep a hotel; persons
ZNJLl of experience assert
that very few people
%/IZA = SN are fitted for success
IN)GCN 81: as hotel managers,
I@An S1N while it is the opin-
M3sS4 ESSiA ion of those who are
= ~ \ M,Ny versed in the details
#lU EV, w of managing cafes,
UT lh that it is much cas-
Ter to conduct ho-
tel than it is to sup
erIntend such an institution. This is ques-
ton. perhaps which may never be settled
except by railway companies, and yet 1t Is
settled by law that railway companies are
not keepers of hotels. The supreme court
of Kentucky by a recent decision, holds that,
no matter how many sleeping cars ana
dining cars railway company may oper-
q te, that company is not legally, an inn
keeper. If this decision has value, such as
usually attaches to the Judgment of courts
that are supreme, a railway company may
decline to lodge and feed any person; no
person can collect damages for property
lost while that person is the guest of any
railway company, and no such organization
can detain the person or baggage of that
individual who having had board and
lodging from the corporation declines to pay
for the same. At least that would seem
to be the situation in Kentucky. and it is
an amusing phase of railway history, be-
cause railways by the exigencies of the
case, are forced to operate both sleeping
cars and dining cars.
So confirmed are the people Of the United
States in their peripatetic habits ana their
love of luxury that they demand the best
of accommodations while travelling. In
spite of this demand, il is claimed by all.
railway managers, no railway company
makes, directly, a dollar on the business
done by dining cars.
Must Follow Suit.
1t is rule in business that any invest
ment which does not pay must be dropped
or ii Will drop you. " by, then, is it that
railway companies operate dining cars?
1t is because it is a case of compulslon.
AS one does the other must do. The
people have had a taste of dining car sery-
ice and now they demand the luxury. L,
is of but little Importance that a road
traverses the famous battefelds Of Vir-
Ginia, that it climbs the peaks of the Blue
Ridge and the Aleghanies or that 1t fol-
lows the windings of beautiful valley, if
1t fails to match its competitors in the other
great desideratum-the dining car service
The opulence of historic and picturesque
wealth cannot compete without the appeal
to the stomachs ard comfort of Travellers
SO great and inevitable is the demand for
the latest and best. and all there is of it, in
modern railway provision. In view of this
fact, 1t seems almost impossible that the
claims of the railroad managers should
be correct By an estimate based upon the
a. of al rail dc in fha frx,
it is found that upon each meal served on
dining car there is an average loss Of
seven cents. This new phase of the law of
supply and demand, is explained, not by
the claim that there is not a
profit on each meal served at the
price of 81, but that the average total
number of meals served is insufficient to
meet the total COST Of that service. There
are, doubtless, some trains in the country,
between New York and Washington, and
between New York and Buffalo, where
there is a profit in the dining car service,
but as an entirety the average shows a
figure on the wrong side of the ledger. In
view of this fact, 1t is interesting to know
as to the origin of the service.
4 Sure Thing.
The Pullman brothers made their for
tunes by banking on sure thing. They
laid their wagers on the love of human be-
ings for things that make life easy and
comfortable. About thirty-ive years ago
George and Alfred Pullman were practical
and industrious cabinet makers in a little
one-story shop in Canal street, Grand
Rapids, Mich. Between the demands made
on them for handmade tables, chairs, bu-
reaus, bedsteads and the like they found
time to act, respectively, as the manipu-
lators of the alto and the tehor horns in
what was then known as the VALLEY City
Brass Band. OF which the late DIR. d. w.
Bliss of Washington was also a member.
1t was in the little shop referred to that
the Pullman sleeping car was first evolved,
and from that beginning has developed the
mammoth interests Of the Pullmans. To-
day an important part Of those interests Is
the dining car. The shrewd revolutionists
of railway car construction saw a way to
tickle the palateS of travellers and utilized
it, knowing that it would prove a reliable
investment. AT the start the Pullmans
built and operated the wheeled caravansa-
ries as an accommodation to the railway
companies, and the terms upon which they
operated were based upon the loss liable to
enSue. instead OF upon probable profits.
The Pullmans had the courage of their con-
victions, so that their dining cars were
veritable palaces in finish and furniture;
attractive to the eye, and complete in re-
sources for the accomplishment OF the end
in view. The investors did not risk the
taking Of loss, and yet they did not ap-
parently, seek a profit, and 50 for a num-
ber of years the dining cars were operated
by the manufacturers as a favor-an ad-
ditional attraction, for the benefit of rail-
ways. Even now very large proportion
of the dining cars in service is operated by
the Pullmans.
Long experience, however, has convinced
the managers of railways that this service
may be provided by their companies with
equal satisfaction to travellers, less incon-
venience to themselves and at a cost less
than is indicated by the figures of the Pull
mans. The result Is that majority of the
leading trunk lines have purchased dining
cars outright and are operating them on
their own account.
Somehow when a person pays a dollar for
meal he feels that he is paying a profit
to the caterer. even though the meal be
somewhat elaborate. If each dining car
could be assured that certain number of
meals would be required daily there would
be a profit.
1t is Expensive.
A new modern dining car costs from
$4,000 to $4,000, according to the elegance
of it's fittings. The kitchen utensils and
table furniture for a single car cost $500
the wares necessary being of the finest
quality, usually Of Haviland brand. Then
for silver ware-knives. forks, spoons tea