The Washington times., 1894-11-18
Anne Hathaway Watches the Purchase
of Hotel Supplies.
ALONG WITH A CONNOISSRUR
She Learns How to scrutinize the Gills and
Eyes of Fish-Mr. Roesslle Understood
the Popularity of the Banana Man
Some of the Tricks Of the Buyers Trade

NOuK HOlACSb SOld-p1llSm uAuVi gOdA boNnf "AASA
give your undivided attention to your TIMES
this morning, for have seen the supplies for
Dig hotel bought. and propose to tell you
just how the thing is managed.
Now, of course, every Washington house
keeper goes marketing, and is more or less a
person of experience in the matter. The
mechanics wife, who comes down Saturday
morning early, with small purse and a
large basket, the colored woman whose Sat
urday nights marketing is the event of the
week. the bride VINO trips from stall to stall
with the most absurd of questions, and the
tiniest and neatest maid in town walking
usI behind her with the basket, the bored
craven image of man in livery on the
box waits outside-in short, women of every
class and condition go 10 market in Wash
ington, and the Center Market is quite as
much a social as a business institution
Friends meet for a hurried chat, scraps of
news are exchanged, and the liveliest bits OF
gossip blend with the hubbub of buyer and
seller and the roar of the busy market place.
All these things are familiar to every woman
in town, and more than one housekeeper
counts it task of importance and a serious
responsibility to market for her own family
But you can imagine how il would be to have
the weight of whole hotels marketing on
your shoulders.
1t was after dinner at the Arlington the
other night that somebody spoke on the sub
ject
ssTYho 5oas tto l,,,-inr e. .h;n hn,oI ~ 4
who makes out the menu?" somebody asked.
Everybody had an answer TO give, but no.
body was quite sure. The result of 1t all was
that Isppealed to the proprietor, Mr.. Roesslle,
TO tell me- all about it. found that marketing
IN a hotel as in private family is the task of
the domestic head of the house. In your fam
lily and mine il is materfamilIas who buys
what we eat. In the hotel 1t is no other per-
son than the proprietor himself. So went
marketing with Mr.. Roesslle.
Thursday morning was the time we Sc
lected for the excursion. We went early too.
1t was just minutes 10 when l stepped into
the ladies' entrance of the Arlington, and
sent my card TO Mr.. Roesselle in the office.
Six o'cloek, let me tell you, is early these
November mornings. 1t is unnaturally
grewsomely early, in fact. Thesun is not up
Yet. and along the east is only a cloud of
frosty gray. with widening band OF flushing
1 rose-color above it. The trees look as if they
were sketched in gray chalk The whole
city, in fact, is gray. Houses. streets. trees
everything las a worn-out. cold, haggard
look. the inevitable result OF being out all
night
Nobody was visible at the hotel but the at
| tendants. and a blonde actress out of temper
in general from having to get up at such an
unearthly hour. and out of temper in particu-
lar about an accident to her hideous dog
She was scolding about the early trains and
7 the and fhn pf fha
and everything else she could think of at that
time in the morning.
/ have little time, however, to notice any,
thing about me. for Mr.. Roesselle appears
with his oyercoat and gloves on. and after a
CHEEKY "Good morning." he leads the way
! to his coupe. which is waiting at the door.
/ There is no need TO give directions to the
coachman. for he is quite too well trained to
commit the blunder of not knowing what is
required Of him. We roll down town through
the almost deserted streets. A few people
are on their way to work, and the first cable
car. is jus; coming down.
venture 10 remark, just by way of begin
ming the conversation, that ii must be
stupendous task, this deciding what the
guests of a great hotel shall eat.
Not at all. not at all. . says Mr.. Roessele
There are no intricate details about it. 1t is
perfectly simple. In fact, marketing for n
hotel is precisely like marketing for a private
family. The scale is simply larger, that's all
Now, when the housekeeper has only her own
family TO buy for, or perhaps guest or two,
the buyer for hotel has to consider an indie
terminate number OF guests, the families of
people connected with the hotel who live in
it, and the crowd of help"
It occurs to me ar this point that the hotel
business is a field full OF opportunities for
women. / ask Mr.. Roesselle his opinion of it.
$50 far as mastering the details of it." he
says. "a woman could undoubtedly do 1t.
But when it comes 10 the actual Guying a
woman could hardly attend to It. You see
We have to deal entirely with men. There is
of course, certain amount of haggling to be
done, and woman could hardly do that
think to myself that my companions re-
mark is more chivalrous than true. but far
be it from me to disparage my sex, so keep
silent
Mr.. Roesseile goes on 20 lay down a Drop
osition have always firmly believed In, that
il does not pay to buy any thing but the best.
il is not so much two or three cents differ
ence in the price that must be considered, as
difference in quality. Cheap things do not
pay.
How do you know what you want to buy
this morning. / ask as we near the market.
II do not know exactly" is the answer
''until see what the market affords. OF
course, l know just how much of every staple
1 is needed. The storekeeper of the hotel sends
his book TO my desk every night, and by it
know lust what is on hand and lust what
staples-four, sugars, rice, baking powder.
nuts, raisins, ect- and those sort of things, you
know, are needed. Meats we always buy in
New York, and, of course, always have on
hand supply sufficient to meet any emer-
gency.
BY this time we are on Louisiana avenue.
and the coupe stops in front of wholesale
fruit store. We enter, and the very first per-
son l see is the green-grocer from our neigh
borhood. haggling over barrel of apples,
They look bit dusty down here in the whole
sale store, but 1 know that after the grocer
has wiped them off, polished them bit and
cunningly arranged them with the largest on
top, they will look so well that will cheer
fully pay the price he asks, which Is very
much more than l would think the apples
worth down here on Louisiana avenue
Mr.. Roesselle, however, has not come after
apples. He walks straight ahead to the back
Of the store. and then turning TO the left,
steps into what looks TO me like the Black
Hole at Calcutta / follow and after mo-
ment as my eyes grow accustomed to the
semi-darkness, / see punches of bananas.
green, half ripe, and ripe. hanging all around.
There are dozen swarthy fruit vendors in
the room, all speaking in liquid Italian. dick
ering about prices and looking as if they were
plotting high treason. The owner of the
store emerges from the gloom. and bows OBJ
StluiOuslA. MT. hOeSSelle mas SlDgleQ out
two punches of bananas, and asks the price.
zone dollar and twenty-five CENTS" gays
the dealer
Il will pay dollar says the hotel man.
The bananas are sold to him at his own price
and as we leave the room, he tells me that
that particular dealer invariably begins by
asking more than he expects to get 1t is
simply peculiar mannerism he has and no.
BODY who knows him ever pays the slightest
attention 10 it,
We walk on through the fruit store, and
come out in provision dealers on B street,