The San Francisco call., 1898-01-02

IT VNCLE SAM owns the cOStlleSt
 kitchen in the world. probably.
 It is not the largest. There is
 N-% at least one hotel kitchen in the
 United States which surpasses it Tu size. But 1t is fitted out with every improvement that money can buy, and no show place at the Capitol is more Interesting or less known. The public never gets chance to see the Senate Kitchen, the marble bathrooms of the house. or any of the other luXuries : provided for the members of Con- gress.
 The Senate restaurant-keeper occu-
 pies a peculiar position. It looks at first glance like a very enviable posi-
 ton; but if I am to believe the state
 nent of the man who has held the : privilege for a dozen years. that idea lis incorrect T l.. Page of Maine has . been the purveyor to the Senate under . both Republican and Democratic rule, ~ and he tells me the job is not profita- ;: b!e-this, too, in the face of the fact => that he pays no rent for his kitchens &.or his dining-rooms, and gets his light and fuel free. 1 don't know how Mr. Page figures it out, but he says his hooks will prove it.
 The Senate kitchens are in the base ment of the Capitol. The only way in
 which a visitor could reach them
 would be by the elevators-and the ele-
 VatOr men are not encouraged to take ,. people down stairs. This is because :. the engine rooms are in the basement, . and the chief engineer does not want visitors foolipg around the machinery. It takes a great deal of machinery to " run the Senate-mOre than you would : think. Much of it is used in running >.~the electric light plant and the eleva- tors, and much more in the ventilation ;. of the building. Huge fans pump fresh air into the Senate chamber and the : ..Dommittee rooms, and other fans pump the foul air out. One of these is in the = Senate kitchen, and the room is so r perfectly ventilated that no suggestion
 Of the odor of the cooking reaches any
 of the floors above.
 The main room of the kitchen is 100
 feet long and b feet wide. It was re-
 modeled three years ago at cost of
 more than $50 900. It is white tiled.
 above and below. and on all four sides,
 so that its cIeanness forces itself on your attention. Opening out from it are storerooms and refrigerating rooms and bakeries. One of these is = the oyster room, where a man does .%. nothing but open oysters all day long. This storeroom is about 15 feet square. = It is filled with the -perishables- :::.efacIers and spices and potatoes, and '|8lI.the other grocery goods which will rand an ordinary temperature for a . ::rpesOnable length of time There is -fpuit in this room, toO-a lot of it; and the wine is kept there because the Sen :itUrs would not establish a wineroOm
 in the face of the regulation which :: :t!t:ohibits the sale of intoxicating bev- ,.>...eTages in the Capitol. There is no diff : :, ;ttielrfty, however, about getting SUD- : ply Of wine or of bottled beer.
 >@#:.T Tn the kitchen proper there are two = :lai 2. ranges. You could roast an OK ir / :efther of them; the larger is F feet < long. There is big soup kettle in one :>:corner-one of the biggest kettles ir
 the world-used for keeping the beef
 stock. with which every restaurant . kitchen is provided. Metal steam pipes
 run. through this kettle and keep the
 stock warm. In another kettle are