Evening star., 1896-02-15

hAII oozen nao DreakfaSted on bread and
coffee or bread and tea-one on bread alone,
because, he said, his mother wouldn't get
! up to get him any breakfast. The extent
to which these small children drink tea
and coffee is awful. Fully three-fourths of
| all those queried have one OF the other of
these stimulants for breakfast.
Some Careless Mothers.
A number Of children bring luncheon and
stay during the noon hour in the graded
schools. because their mothers are too busy
to get luncheon at home, or else are away
| from home at the noon hour. Teachers
told me, moreover, that they learn that a
great many children, who go home at noon,
| return without having had q meal Their
mother didn't have it ready, or else their
| parents board and the mother not being on
| hand to look after them, servants would not
bother with them. Similar conditions pre-
vail at breakfast time, and 1 learned from
teachers that it is not an uncommon oc-
| currence for mother to appear at a school
! room door between 10 and II o'clock in the
| morning with a tiny package, containing
some bread and butter, and a slab of cold
| meat, and ask to have Johnnie or Tommy
| excused long enough to eat this, his break
fast; she. the mother, had slept late, and
SO the little boy had come off without any
thing to eat. Then Johnnie or Tommy
would be let go into the dressing room to
| chew down his dry fodder moistened per-
| maps by a cup Of cold water, and dear
| mamma toddled off she would announce
| he'd better eat the rest of the bread at
| noon and stay around the school.
don't wonder such youngsters take to
smoking cigarettes to keep their courage
| up, do you?
| 1t has beea scientifically demonstrated
| that the actual weight of food which a
| child two to four years old needs is already
| about oEe-fourth that of the active working
| age. AT the age of nine or ten, just wnen
| the child is in the grammar school, begins
a rapidly increasing demand for all the
Eutritive elements of food, until child
from twelve 10 fifteen years old requires as
| much food in actual weight as person in
| the prime of life, and only a little less
| than hardworking man. Insufficient food
| at these ages causes mere serious conse-
quences than at a later period"
Parents interested in informing them
| selves on this matter Will find two valuable
! papers on the growth Of school children by
| Dr. Henry l.. Bowditch, one in the eighth
| annual report uSI7, page 275). the other in
the twenty-second annual report 0S31,
| page 419) of the state board of health of
| Massachusetts.
| LunchcOns Provided Mt School.
The large schools in England have for
many years provided a noon meal for school
| children. In Paris the city furnishes
school children with luncheons for the
| Same reason that it supplies them with
| school houses and teachers. The play room
IS utilized as dining room and luncheon
| Oh boWl of soup and a plate of meat and
| D
cents, the children supplemen.ing this with
| Dfea1 and milk or fruit brought from
| home. Children who cannot afford TO buy
a luncheon have tickets given TO them.
| Inc Janitors wife or regular appointed
| caterer serves the meal.
In Vienna is a general organization, sus-
tanned in part by the city and in part by cit
| izens, which provides a neon meal for school
| cbll1ren for two cents a meal. The society
| collects funds. distributes tickets and serves
The food, ladies taking the duty by turn.
| The meal is served by the peoples kitchens,
| er, If there is no kitchen the school,
| the society hires and eluirs a kitchen. The
| teacher gives out the tickets, and pupil
| knows whether another's ticket is purchased
| or donated. Three days in the week they
| have a large plate of vegetables, peas. len
| ills. or cabbage with gravy; twice they have
| milk pudding, and once sauerkraut. Every
day they receive a large white roll or a
| piece of black bread.
| In this country the standard Of living is
| SO different to make experience abroad
serve only in the most general way in insti-
| trting school luncheons here. The mcSt
| notable successes have been accomplished
| in Boston and Philadelphia. though Chca-
go and Denver are making the experiment,
| and New York and BROOKLYN are en6aav-
| crinr to 10 so. In Boston scent luncheon
| Is supplied the Latin and high schools of the
| city. One Of the prominent workers in this
| movement is Mrs Ellen H Richards, with
| whom 1 have talked on the subject
| What is Done in R0ston.
'In Boston," said Mrs. Richards, eve had
| the advantage CT the New England kitchen
as a firmly established center from which
| to begin operations. Then for the necessary
| fur ds we had rhilanthropic woman, Mrs.
| W. V. KelIen, whose generosity enabled us
to make beginning. Such n philanthrcD:c
| person is doubtless necessary to start school
| luncheons anywhere. If the experiment is
| made with 4 business eye on the fn2ncial
| profits. the interests of the school cnilaTen
! will suffer. 1t is also necessary to have a
| central kitchen, under competent acd sci
| entitic supervision. Otherwise the quality
| and food talUe of the material turned out
! cannot be counted or. In Ecston such an
| establishment is a paying Institution. and
! should think that in Washington one might
be amply sustained by the patronage Of gov
| ernment employs. in correction with the
| custom it would attract from business men
and private houses: This central KITCHEN,
which is known in Boston as the New Eng
| land kitchen. and the plan of which visitors
| to the worlds fair became familiar with as
| the Rumford kitchen, is, | think, prac-
| teal realization of the dream of co-opera-
| tive housekeeping. l know it has rendered
| me perfectly independent of the erratic
| Mary Ann. Does she give me notice in the
morning. take my market basket down to
| the central kitchen, fill it up and go home,
| and, with some slight assistance from the
| chatting dish and q tea kettle, live like 4
| prince, in calm Indifference to the coming of
| another Mary Ann.
| "It is not practicable to cook SOUPS and
bake in each school house. With the best
| of appliances, the cdors of cooking Will
penetrate the building, and after time a
stale smell will permeate the whole build
| ing, so the preparation of the large guam
| tity of food should he done outside.
I'm our school buildings We have had a
| very simple apparatus put into certain
| basement spaces, providing merely for the
proper washing of dishes and the service
of hot food. l expect perfectly appointed
| kitchens will soon he included in every
school house, which will not he half SO
| startling an innovation as building kitch-
| ems III the Easements of churches.
How the Plan Was Carried Out.
"Our expense for dishes was about SD
| per hundred pupils. This bought a good
! quality of cups and saucers, while lot of
| the heaviest grade, and a good quality of
| plated spoons. We purchased dishes
| CROUCH to supply the average number Of
patrons; a few can be washed n second
| time. Our outfit of large dishpans, pals
| towels, brooms etc, cost about $3.50 per
| school. Utensils for conveying the food
were supplied by the kitchen, which also
provided fer the delivery of the food in the
lunch room
| "OrganiZing the service was difficult