The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-12-09
GENIUS UNREWARDED.

 Pie of Our Mothers" If you can spare me about a minute of your time I think I can show you that it will be to your advantage"
 The speaker was sWarthy brisk looking pilgrim who wore his hat on the back part of his head and carried in his hand flat, round parcel. "Go ahead" replied the man whom | he had addressed.
 You are the manager of this dairy lunch-counter?"
 "I am."
 Tn the course of year you use thousands of pies, doubtless?"
 We certainly do,"
 "Would it be any violation of cOnf- dence to state in round numbers your daily consumption of pies?"
 What do you want to know for?'
 For no unfair purpose, I shall not make any use whatever of the knowl- edge outside of here"
 Well I don't know that you could do any harm if you did. We use about two hundred pies a day here-some- times more, sometimes less"
 And you cut them into four pieces?"
 Certainly. What has that got to do with"--
 Pardon me. Four pieces. It's easier to cut the pie that way. All the waiter has to do is to draw his knife twice across the pie and there they are Now if the pie were cut into five pieces the difference in size would be so small as to be hardly perceptible to the naked eye, but see what it would amount to in the course Of
 Tt strikes me this is rather a small matter to-
 "A small matter Bless my soul! | Two hundred pies day, without counting Sundays, amount to-let me | see"-
 He figured rapidly on a sheet of blot ting paper that lay on the table.
 Would amount to 62,6OO pies in a year. Cut in two twice these pies would make 25O, 400 pieces. At five cents a cut the cash proceeds of the years business in pies is SIP, 520. Now mark these figures as I put them down. If each pie were cut into five pieces they would number 19,000 in the aggre gate. At five cents apiece the finan- cial results would be $15,650, making a difference of $3,130 in the annual re- ceipts from pies alone. In leap year the sum total would be ten dollars more. Doesn't it look like a shameful waste of money? Now, I know a young woman in a downtown eating house who gets three dollars a week more than any other person in the es- tablishment simply because she can cut a pie into five pieces so nearly alike in size that 1t would require mathemat- ical instrument to determine the diff ference. With this comparatively tri- fling outlay the proprietors of that eat ng-house eect a saving of probably ten times what 1t costs I am coming tc the point now"
 He unwrapped the parcel and took out a sheet-iron disk.
 Here now" he resumed, lis flat , round piece of metal, with five slits ra- diating from the center to an imagina- , " circle an inch from the outer cir conference These slits will admit the point or edge of a case knife and arc absolutely accurate as to their distance . from each other. This is my own in. . vention, and I have applied for pa. tent, which I am hourly expecting. Its } use will save you, as l have shown bS . figures that cannot be gainsaid or dis. puted, over 5000 a year. It will cos you. including the right to use it, only , $1.50 For an establishment of this siZC there would be required, I should r judge perhaps ten of these disks, mak. ing fifteen dollars in all" But I don't''---
 } Pardon me. have only to add that no waiter, however ctreless, can make 2 a mistake in using this pie gauge. Tn, = customer wholly ignorant of the fac
 that the slices are a trihe smaller thar
 the average; only knows that after eat
 ing pie at this restaurant he feels les!
 oppressed than formerly, while'---- 5 But, see here, my friend, have nc wish to cut my pies into five pieces. ) I wanted to effect a saving in the mat . ter of pies could do it without havina f to spend a cent of money and withou going to the trouble of using any pa
 tented arrangement"
 "Oh, you could, How?'' , By simply having my pies made a triae smaller Every customer would , then get quarter of pie. as before
 and would never suspect that the sig
 of the pie itself had been altered"--- , "So! You would meddle with tn
 standard would you?" snorted tn call, pushing his hat further back or E his head. You would demonetize tn pie of our mothers, would you?" He wrapped up the disk again witt fingers that trembled from excess O indignation.
 | You call yourself a sound-mone!
 man, and I'm willing to bet a thousand = dollars on it." he snapped. q shal t take this pie gauge, sir, to some broad 9 minded and generous free-silver mal {; who has an eye to business and I'll sel = it to him for twice what I have asked 7 you! l am sorry to have wasted m. y time on a confounded monopolist I Good day, sir!"
 = With look of profound contempt h 1 turned up his coat collar. pullel the rin
 of his hat down all around, and fade ? out of the managers private off1ce.- V Chicago Tribune.