Milford chronicle. [volume] (Milford, Del.) 1878-1974, 1896-06-19
A DINNER FOR A DIME.
Epfuarean San Francisco Brags About tt
Cheap, Clean Eating Houses.

+ Epfuarean San Francisco Brags About Ita
Cheap. Clean Eating Houses.
Q What is the limit of the cheap eating
t houses 1t has been dropping in price for
l yeat.s, and seems to be still going down.
: San Franciscans may not realize it. but
they are living in the cheapest fed city OF
the United States and one that cannot be
beaten very much even by the world famed
cheap cafes of the Partisan Latin quarter
OF course if one wants to live high in
, San Francisco he can do so. There is
nothing but his financial standing to pre-
vent his eating canvasbaclss was.ied down
with the best quality Of Sec, or blowing
himself for English phcaslnts at IS per
pair, or genuine diamOndbaciSs at 500 per
dozen But 60 come down by degrees and
not make tho contrast too sudden, he can
get as good meal with as good service rs
man could want for 81, or he can
dine smmptnously, with wine, for so cents.
He earn get full meal for quarter fair
meal for 10 cents ard a clean, savOry and
tolerably filling feed for a dime, or even an
apology for dinner in not very elegant
surroundings for nickel
The 10 cent restaurant made its appear
ance about four years ago. Prior to that
the cheapest sort OF meal cost 10 cents.
But the first dime joint did such a bust
ness that nearly all of the then IS cent
houses had to either come down to a dime
/ or make considerable additions TO their
I bill of fare. Bat when some OF the lowest
Of the beer and wine joints about year
ago began to advertise two schoOners for
nickel or two glasses Of native wine, with
some sort of free lunch on the side, it
forced another drop in meal prices, and
the 5 cent hashhouse blooned forth to "a
paying business.
Competition has been sharp, however.
and now nearly all the cent joints give
their customers tho option of "wine, beer
or coffee with the meal, " which latter is
Of slender proportions. Still the hard
pushed OF economically minded may get in
addition to their vino or other beverage
1.-TWO rolls and sinler, which last is
technical for Goldfish ball, or "bread
three = axes and coffee, as one of the
lunchroom signs reads TIE Snakes" is
no tribute to the power Of the chemical
wine sold, but is only yernaculnr for
frankfUTtcrs If one docs not care for ]
"snakes" or" sinkcrs, " he may Ill out his |
bread and coffee with u fair sized plate Of |
hash, mysteriOusly compounded, stew Of |
even moro doubtful origin or doughnuts, |
pie or cakes
The lower ends Of Pine, Clay and Sacra-
mento streets are where the cent joints |
most do congrcgate and about them all |
day hangs n crowd of the city's great I'M
washed, some regular FOUNDERS, but most |
of them merely the unfortunate out of
work and down at the heel variety who in
the intervals Of "rustlinga nick" on which
to feed stay close by the source of supply
for the company of the fellow sufferers they
are sure to End there.
One of the effects of the cent reduction
has hcen practically to close the kitchen at
the mems shelter Of the Salvation Army mt
800 Oregon street. Two years ago this was
the only Place in the city where a 8 cent
meal could be had. Scores Of men were fed
there every day in winter and almost as
many in summer, and there is yet n big
kitchen plant that has cooked Christmas
dinner for $500 people But the meals
served there were much better than those
of the cent joints outside, and in spite of
donations of material, cost the
Army more than nickel each. So, when
the outside restaurants came down to
cents, the Army which makes practice Of
never entering trade competition, gradual
ly closed down on its meal system, so that
now only few are served each day.
To revert to the 10 cent houses, which
are the minimum of even comparative
comfort cleanliness and satisfaction, some
Of them go so far as to give half a bottle of
wine with 10 cent dinner. They say that,
such as it is, it is cheap as milk or coffee
and attracts a certain amount of trade The 7
menu Of the dime houses consists of bread I
and butter potatoes coffee and one sort Of ,
meat-either liver and onions, steak, chops :
Dr. hash. To this are added oatmeal and
milk for breakfast and soup for dinner, a
that being the chief and only distinctive 4
feature between the two meals \
There are perhaps a dozen 10 cent houses a
N the lower end Of town, two ON Second /
street, three on Kearny, and the cross
Itreets east Of Market are all well supplied 4
These little cafes cater to an immense num-
DER of shopgirls, small clerks, mechanics h
md laborers, who find it cheaper to live in n
hat way than to attempt light housekeep- a
ng. h
The number Of patrons is necessarily a
arge, for the margin of profit ON 10 cent n
neal is microscopic, and it takes quick n
ales and lots of them in day to keep the
BUSINESS going But it goes, and the fact n
emains that San Francisco lisa cheap place II
o live.-San Francisco Letter in Washing h
on Post. n