The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-07-22
The Fort Smelling Hotel,
At THE LUNCH COUNTER.
About the Inquisitive Man and What
the Girl Told Him.

Sunday Republic
Ice cream and coffee2 All right
Yours? What? Oh, ice cream and tea?
Ice or hot? Ice? All right. Yes, your red
raspberrtes are coming as soon as I can
get to EN-. Great goodnessi I haven't
but two hands, and those people are as
slow as molasses back there! Pie-what
kind-apple, strawberry, raspberry, black,
no red-raspberry2 All right Yes, in
mlnnit! Gee"
And the little waitress at the lunch
counter Whisked by on a fast run for the
back Of the long room.
Two ice creams, and what's the mat
ter with that red raspberry I ordered
half an hour agoi" he called in a thin
treble as she reached the high counter
where the servers stand, cooped up, and
bobbing about like a sparrow on her
toes poked the tip Of her chin to a point
level with the top Of the counter.
They're coming! 1 can't do everything
at once!' was the reply she got.
Gee! 1 can't wait all day! Hurry upl
What's the matter with you folks back
here tonight? Been tryin' for half an
hour to get a red raspberry and can't
get it! Want me to lose my job?"
ana she dropped back to her heels and
trotted to the other side of the counter
There she seized a plate of some kind
and put 1t down Immediately Then she
tween the other walters, for the coffee
urn. She poured out cup of coffee, and
then went to the pie counter, where she
f1shed out a quarter of black raspber-
ry pie. Then she made three grabs.
got saucer, a glass and a lot of ice to-
gether, trotted to the tea urn, and
evolved a glass of ice tea She dropped
a slice of lemon on the side of the saucer,
and then, with the coffee, the pie and the
tea in her two hands, trotted to her wait
Ing customers.
Get your ice cream in a mint" she
said as she darted back toward the rear
of the. house, and began calling for her
ice cream and again for that red rasp-
berry she had ordered half an hour be-
FORE This time she got it. Piling all
three saucers along her forearm, she trot-
ted back to her customers, and set them
down. OF course she got the red rasp-
berry in the wrong place; and of course
the man who got it called her attention
to the mistake.
Can remember everything? she said.
It5wasnt "a snap of, course, for she was
a pretty girl, and she was young and
cute. 49, ~
She switched the ice cream and the
red raspberry to their proper positions,
and
Seem to be busy tonight?" said an
other customer.
Am. whatH you have2" was the re-
ply The got.
And she. Tipped napkin across In
front of him, and Tipped bill of fare
at him, and got a glass of water with
much rafting of ice in the process
FGiinrne aEa waffle and Coffee said
the man.
And the girl started on a run for the
back Of the house.
>''Waft'es!" she called, as she got to the
hicrb nd .st,f
level with the top. Hurry up, too. I've
lost three customers tonight cause 1
couldn't get what 1 called for and they
got tired of waiting"
She came back to her section Of the
counter, and while he waited for the
waffies the man tried to start a CONVEX
sation.
"Hot tonightF' he said.
You want coffee?" said the girl.
mo; tea said the man, unblushingly.
"Hot?"
Gee! Mol"
'Ice?"
What other kind you got except. hot
and coId?"
''Just cold"
Gimme ice.''
The girl trotted off for the tea. When
she returned the man gave the CONVEX
sation another start
people like ice cream this kind Of
weather, don't they?"
You want ice crean?'
And she started for the back Of the
/ house.
mo, no. cried the man. 81 said peo-
pie eat lot of ice cream this weather,
don't they?"
Good deal. WhewI"
'Hot?"
mot much say 'whew' sometimes
when I'm real cool"
Keeps you pretty busy, doesn't it?'
Eyes. Amt many girls here this time
of night you know. Supper hours over"
How many people have you served to-
night do you reckonT
Gee! Don't ask me! didn't count
'em"
Didn't have timer"
| MOP
whats your busiest time?
| when the most people come in
| what time Is that?'
| "Oh, different times,
Like now for insta B e?'
/ He was a patient man; and. BESIDES ne
! really wondered If he could make that girl
! talk. She looked at him curiously for a
minute. Then she smiled a bit 1t was
the first tine she had smiled.
''Well, I'll tell you. It's all pretty busy
around here. When there amt much do
ing there amt many girls to do it. That
makes all of US take large number Of
! chairs, and so we keep busy just the
/ same
/ "'But when there are not so many peo-
| pie here they are not in such a hurry,
are they? And you have more timer"
| always in a hurry In here. Man
| comes in and orders coffee, he wants 1t
right away. Orders pie same thing. Or
| ders ice cream, same way"
Then she smiled a bit.
"Only thing slow people order is waff1es.
| They always have plenty Of time, 1t looks
| like. We never hurry a waffle order"
about how many ice cream orders do
you get this kind of weather."
ooh, I don't know!'bout one for every
third customer. Some times they take 1t
just so; but most of the time they take
it a Ia mode'-on top of pie, berries, cake,
| or something like that
How many orders do you serve In a
| day2"
'You asked me that just now, didn't
you?"
did I?'
Are you a census taker"'
NO; am just a man with a lot Of
curiosity-and waiting for waffies."
well, I don't know, really, how many
orders serve day. You see, they
come so fast we don't have time to count
EN-. But guess serve about thirty at
breakfast time, fifty or sixty at dinner
time and about forty at supper time.
How many does that maker"
The man counted up.
Hundred and twenty or hundred ana
forty"
fscaof rrs,ot,