The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-02-14
LUNCHING BY MACHINERY.
The German Automatic Dispenser of
Quick Repasts.
From the New York Tribune.


From the New York Tribune.
Germany is showing the rest of the
world how quick lunches" may be serv-
ed without employing walters and how a
hungry person may have Just what he
wants to eat and drink at a fixed price
Wltihout paying an extra tip and without
how particular he may be, to find fault
with the service unless he is satisfied to
make ms complaint to a mechanical con-
!rlNahce, which differs from some walters
IN so far that it makes no pretense of
caring a rap or the turn of a handle how
uncomfortable or how badly served the
hungry one may be. The contrivance
winch mas been perfected by the Qu.si-
cana Company of Berlin, is so perfectly
arranged that even those people who OBJ
Ject 10 the manner of washing the cups
ana plates in the ordinary quick lunch
places are deprived of their cause for
eoLnplalht because every customer may
supervise the cleaning of the cup which
ne VIII use. and if he is so inclined NAV
attend to the duty himself
Inc euiekIunch stands are provided
Win automatic spraying nozzles for
SIeanihg glass and china and insure per-
rect cleanliness. No rubber tubing is used
~ CONQUER nqulds, silver tubes being en-
Ployeo Tor the purpose. The service is run
by clockwork va
In place Of the ordinary counter there
are sets OF ornamental cabinets ranged
along one side of the room, which have
a shelf projecting at a convenient hight
upon which glasses and cups are placed
AboNe NNeSe there are faucets and a
NUMBER OF siets to receive the coin. When
the customer has decided what sort of
q drlnk he wants-coffee, tea chocolate or
beef tea-he drops the coin in the Slot and
receives the regulation quantity. The
cold drinks-lemonade, soda-wateT and ali
sorts of soft dr.nks'-are kept in glass
IesSes, and the, hot drinks i'm nickel
tanks surrounded by hot water bath
which is heated by gas 49,
but the establishment Is not limited ia
aernhs' ana me hungry man may also be
Sandwiches arn
IN glass stand, circular in shape which
Is covered with a glass bell Each hell
eontains about dozen sandwiches, and
me purchaser indicates his choice by
dropping his coin into the slot opposite
me KIND he wants and the stand reVolves
suInCently to bring his sandwich to an
opsnlhg where he may take it out Stands
similarly arranged provide hot beef, chick
en- and other meats.
The quick lunch is nothing new in Ger
many, though, as any person will know
Wno mas made railroad trip between Ber-
IN ana Copenhagen by way of Warne-
a mlunG Sie man who made the trip sew
We were coming back from Denmark.
auu stop9ed at a little pace on the Ger
mldn lIonuer at about noon Everybody
was hungry, and the American contingent
was disappointed when the conductor
shouted; Fuuf minuten aufenthalt' We
knew that 1--WE minutes would not give us
tllne Tor a meal, ana we lost no time in
leaving the coach as soon as ii was I'M
locked. Everybody rushed pell-meU into
me restaurant, where q lot Of wire things
that looked like old-fashioned rattraps
were piled up. Every body grabbed a
trap, paid about IS cents for Il and rushed
back to the train. What looked like a
trap was really an ingenousy contrived
lunch basket having three compartments
In one was an ample portion Of chicken:
the next contained sandwiches, and the
third dainty piece OF pastry and a small
bottle OF wine, over which a little drinking
glass was fastened. Little salt and peD-
per shakers and knife and folk were
~ 10 HI.
covered with a Japanese paper napkin
The fact that we were all hungry and that
the whole arrangement was unexpected
may have had something to do with our
enjoyment of the luncheon, but Il was
agreed that it was the most perfect Of
the quick kind We had ever seen. The
bottom of the wire lunch basket was COW
cred with a piece of glass; and a paper
beneath IL bore the request In German
French and English to leave ~ empty
basket with the train hand"
Managers OF quick-lunch places say that
the automatic restaurant would not be
patronized sufficiently to make It pay IN
"rhe main object Of the automatic ar
rangement," said one. sis TO do away with
walters and save the outlay on that ac-
count. We have accomplished that end
by making every man his own waiter and
! believe that breakage in machines fall
ing of in trade and counterfeit coins
system 10 the automatic an expensive ex-
pertinent As to the quick lunches for
travellers on railway trains, much can be
done, ana no one knows that better than
the traveller who Is compelled TO make a
meal of what he can buy from the dealer
In pies, apples and sandwiches who
hawks his wares through the cars The
buffet and the dining car have reduced
his field Of operation, but he Is still In busl-
ness, selling the same old sandwiches to
the people who cannot afford 60 ride In
drawng-room cars. and TO them the quick
lunch on the plan OF those which they
have in some parts Of Europe would be
blessing"