Evening star., 1896-02-15
pickles and pastry 7 had seen 40 gan.

go without any luncheon at all. One such
girl, affected. no doubt. by the mysticism of
! the times, gave as her opinion that "the
| less one eats the less one needs"
Yes, spoke'up a practical pickle eater,
''but how do YOU know that going without
eating is not the cause of ali the dreadful
| headaches you ehave?"
The embryo mystic was cornered, and
had TO admit that she didn't know.
Many girls expressed the opinion that the
dull minds and listless bodies which they
| commonly experience during the afternoon
session Is duo to their not having had
| enough. or else not the right sort to eat,
and they said both they and their mothers
| wished they might be able to get a hot.
ncurishing luncheon at noon.
At the Coiorcd High School.
I arrived at the Colored High School from
one direction. and simultaneously from the
other direction came fried-cake man. and
q puSh-cart man, with variety of cat
ables.
six for five cents! Won't you try some?"
the frled-cake man said to me, while lie
worked making up bags of six fried cakes
sprinklng them literally with sugar
The push-cart man had raisin cases of a
S,amese-twins form, the tWo-in- -one comhi-
ration selling Tor penny each. There
were also great, sweet rolls to be had for
penny, and hot bologna sausage. sand
Wiches sold two for five cents Both these
venders were sold out in trice when the
school children were on the street. A large
NUMBER dashed across the street to a very
small, dingy place, the front of which was
almost entirely covered by an Immense
white sign board: High School Lunches"
IN dms ,.h place w was speedily jammed by young
sters. VINO got load of greasy fish balls
and fred potatoes, a glass of cocoa and
| a sandwich for five cents.
saw botn Mr Cardoza and Miss Barney
principal and assistant principal Of the
school. who explained the absence of the
girls from the street, telling me they are
kept in the building or in the yard in the
rear during recess.
l went with Miss Barney down into tho
basement, where the girls were lunchinp
with very lew exceptions the colored girls
bring lunches from home-a sandwich or
a sandwich and cake, like the other High
School girls. Miss Barney said she has
been fighting fried cakes ever since she has
been in the school. and has the girls pretty
well emancipated, but the quantity Of aw-
iol, greasy, doushy stuff consumed by the
boys is a source of perpetual worry to her
and both she and Mr.. Cardoza said they
know the work of the school would be i'm
proved if an Improvement in lunchsons
could be brought about
At the Eastern and Western.
Mr. Sites, the principal of the Eastern
| High School, assured me touched a SYM
| pathetic chord when spoke to him of the
| children's luncheons. About four-fiftns of
| the pupils of the Eastern school bring their
| luncheons from home. Here, as at the Cen
| tral, however, this does not prevent a very
| large percentage of the children patroniz-
| ing two dismal places across the street
one of which in addition to deadly pastry
and candy sells tobacco cigars and cigar
| cites and soft drinks" To discourage his
| practice, Mr.. Sites, q year ago, wrote to the
school board petitioning that the school
trustees do something in establishing some
| means by which attractive, nutritious and
| inexpensive luncheons might be served the
| children in the school building. Frequent
ly, MI: Sites says, he is able to trace fall
| ure in studies or inability 10 drill TO the
| lack of proper food. Some CT the girls pride
| themselves on being able to go without
| luncheon, and here, in the other schools,
is the constantly recurring case of children
| who come off in the morning without
| breakfast, and go till dinner time with
| nothing to eat but few cents worth of
adulterated candy or indigestihle pastry.
The dietary practices of the Western
| High School have been crystaliZed and I'M
| mortalzed in a twisted. frosted, sweet sos-
| sy bun. wnich an enterprising and popular
| confeCtioner on SD street has christeacI
| the Western High School bun. 1 went In
| and asked fer buns by this name, and
| got SIX for ) cents. 1 also got enough mis-
cry to kill me eating half of one.
Miss Westcott, the principal, called up 4
number of girls and boys and we had a
sort of general luncheon experience meet
ing at the Western High Scnool. The girls
confessed 70 eating great quantities of
candy, but baYe recently, almost to a girl,
made prs ctice of bringing luncheon from
home, in crdcr4 to enjoy the noon dance
which a new piano in the girls play roam
has set in order. The boys admitted a
general liking fer the Western High School
bun that was fighting my digestion to a
finish even while they spcke. They also
fancy "fv huns" which Miss VNestcott ex-
plained to me IS a High School technical;ty
for buns containing cucrants. Some OF the
boys patronizc a dairy lunch. where they
get l.ot coffee. a sandwichsand n pie.
Miss Westcott makes ii a misdemeanor
for any plpil to go without luncheon at
the noon recess. Il wish" said she, there
might be sofne arrangement made by which
the children could have bowl of hot soup
in the scaool building. This is done else
where, l know. and it is such a sensible
means of supplying the hot LIQUID one nat
uraIly Graves, and at the same time sup
plying nourishment that does not tax the
system in digesting.'
The Business High School Plan.
In the matter of investigating and seek
ing to improve the dietary habits of the
children. found Mr.. Davis, principal of
the Business High School, was very much
before me-
A year ago Mr. Davis required every pupil
in his school to furnish him with answers to
the following list of questions, bearing on
dietary evils that had come under his OBJ
servation:
What do you usually eat before coming to
school? At what hour do you eat?
What did you eat this morning?
Ii nothing, why?
Do you usually bring lunch to school?
OF what does it consist?
Did you eat lunch yesterday?
Where did you get it?
Enumerate the articles you ate.
What hour do you have dinner?
Does your mother know what you eat for
lunch?
Are You troubled with nervousness, head
ache or Indigestion?
Mr.. Davis said he had meant to put his
pupils through this examination this year,
and suggested that by way of beginning
ne would go with me and inspect what the
girls in the building were eating.
The first room We entered a large jar of
jam was the first shock our dietary princ-
pies received. The girl who owned the jam
was making her luncheon of this, spread
thick on bread The majority of the girls
Were lunchins on bread and cake. They all
confessed to pickles, and it was here a girl
stunned me with the declaration that when
they bought luncheons they usually buy
cream puffs and pickles. One girl who had
bought her luncheon was calmly disposing
OF TWO sweet buns, a chunk of the apple
aoofned dough 1 have before described, and
Two cakes covered with chocolate frosting
sprinkled with cocoanut
In class room where We're girls In their
second year, we caught a girl in the inuuitv
OF pickle eating, but she was such an un-
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