Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1897-06-14
ORDERING BY SIGNS.
UNIQUE SYSTEM EMPLOYED IN ONE
CHICAGO RESTAURANT.
Every Dish Has It's SignaI-MHnager
Explains to Interested Patrons
the Queer PantOmime OF
the Walters.
From the Chicago Post.

From the Chicago Post.
Two friends, a board Of trade man and a
banker, who were in search of a quick
MONDAY lunch. hurried into the nearest
restaurant and took seats upon stools at
the long counter. Instantly their attention
was attracted by the grOtesque gesticula-
tions of the waiter in front of them. After
gazing for a few moments at the odd spec
tacle. the banker exclaimed:
We'll. l must say that this beats all the
performances l ever saw. What kind of a
circus is it. anyway? That waiter acts as
81 he had gone made or was delivering a
lecture upon the sign language OF the
Gborigines."
ITS certainly a new one on me-" re-
Eponded the board of trade man. My Gu
riosity is thoroughly aroused. This is bet
ter entertainment than the regulation man
He followed this comment with an order
for roast beef, smothered in onions. Then
he watched every. movement Of the big
Solored walter, who turned about ana
looked down the long room to the kitchen
counter in the rear. A sharp snap OF ms
fingers caused the girl at.the distant count
er TO look up. Having caught the eye OF
this professional sign reader, the waiter be-
gan a series Of remarkable and startling
gestures. He extended his left hand, drew
the edge Of his right across the open ana
upturned palm with a quick cutting mo-
ton, then hirted his fingers as II they were
Wet and dripping. Finally he shaded his
eyes with his left hand.
LOOK mere. Wditer.' exclaimed the man
from the wheat pit. Tell me If my anal
ysis Of that signal which you have just
given is not correct. The first motion was
ia imitation Of beef slictng and gave the
order for a cut OF beef-nothing more. But
the shaking of your fingers, as If they were
rare Then the holding of the hand over
the eyes suggested something strong and
pungent-the onions! Am rtght?"
sure you are" replied the waiter. You
read II plain, as II It was printed out In a
book Most all of our signs tell the story
IN Themselves. They picture 1t out. All
OF EN- did that at FIRST. but as the bill Of
fare began to get larger we had TO hav
more signs, and consequently some OF
them are simply arbitrary and don't Illus
trate anything. Take milk toast, for in
stance. l can't figure out why holding
the hand at the back Of the head should
suggest milk toast, but that's cur signal
Now just let me put in my order" In
corrupted tie banker, and see II l can
trerslate as well as my friend. I'm take
ahead with your Delsarte business"
Instantly the little fingers of the wait
er's hands were linked together.
Links OF sausage-see?" commented the
Next the waiter formed an oval with his
thumb and forelnger, then brought HIS
palms together with a soft and easy mo-
"The oval stands for the egg" inter-
rupted the delighted translator, and the
other sign means done soft"
You gentlemen would catch hold of this
system Of orders. mighty easy said the
waiter. mo trouble at all for you. but we
get some fellows in here who couldn't mas.
te. 1t in a month"
That's right" commented the manager
of the restaurant. as he Joined the group.
IL gives US considerable trouble in the Sc
lection of walters. but. on the other hand,
II results in sitting out a sharper, keener
class Of men. The system was originated
Tor us by a colored waiter. and II was ne
oessitated by the fact that the distance
from our counters TO the kitchen is 50
great that the orders had to be fairly
yelled before the present plan was adopt
ed OF course. the original code was "A
very simple one. but il has grown with
the constantly increasing variety of ar
ticles served. II is probable that we now
have nearly or quite fifty different sig
nails. The method is very satisfactory, as
T. avoids a large amount Of noise and con- |
fusion and at the same time affords our |
patrons no end of Entertainment They ap-
pear 10 enjoy the effort to gain an under |
standing of the code-pOssibly in order that /
they may display their knowledge to un-
Initiated friends wno come in with them.
II no doubt attracts many new patrons TO /
whom IL is an absolute novelty.
The signs may be divided into two
classes. those which are fixed and invari-
able in their application and those which /
apply TO different articles under differing
conditions. Short ribs of beef with Drowned
menu, day after day. and the signal for
that order Is always a touch of the fingers
In the vicinity of the short ribs and the
joining of the tips Of the thumbs.
Blu there is n portion Of the bill Of fare
which is changed each day. To-day the
bciled dish in this part of the menu is
fresh beef with horseradish sauce. To-
morrow the boil may he corned beef, but
the sign will remain the same-the hands
clasped in a devotional attitude.
The code is also subject to division
along another ine-the signs which are
really significant and those which are pure
ly arbitrary. Holding the hand extended
like the motion Of the tail fin Of a fish
IS a picture which plainly says fish, But
- l. - -
with the thumb doubled in front of the
palm. which suggests. of itself, a small
steak"
the walter has touched upon that pecul-
iarity of the system. 1t is a very novel
and Interesting thing, and I'd like to study
81 a little more. Suppose you run your eve
this bill of fare and explain some
of the most picturesque and unique sig
nails"
VERY WELL" returned the manager.
'Here are some OF the signs which gener-
ally attract particular notice: German
extended fingers showed in front
OF the lips; liver and bacon-the foreigners
rubbed together. and the right hand
touched against the side; dry toast-all the
ham and ggs-the right palm slapped
against the face and then extended in an
open position; broiled ham-the fingers OF
one hand spread wide apart and laid over
those Ofthe other hand in the form of a grid
iron; baked beans-open, palm with the fin
ger points slightly curled upward; Ham
burg ~steak-closed fist thrust forward; cod
balls-fsts doubled and held one upon
tho other; corned beef hash-thumb and
forehnger OF each hand together as II hold
q pinch OF salt and shaking; a half-fry-
arm out at full length and the fingers
spread; corn cakes-a quick twirl of the
forefnger, followed by a downward mo-
ton. Is that sufficient
'tOf course there are numerous qualihca-
tions to these signals. II a customer wishes
his eggs turned over the hand is inverted;
II he wishes buckwheats the finger is
10 one side. The food is brought
from the kitchen TO the counter by run
ners. who are told by the girl who reads
the signs to which waiter each order be-
We'll" was the final comment OF the
banker as he paid his check: this is GER
the queerest affair that has come TO
my attention in many a long day."
How He Made n Saving.
From the San Francisco Post.
That mine up in Tuolumne county is
costing me a mint Of money" said a local
"a nj a1iet 20 oDo - ht- or,IIa,as sT ,i-b