The age-herald., 1900-06-03
BERLIN'S PUBLIC KITCHEN
Where Meals Are Prepared at Low
 Price for Working Men
From the New York Herald.

From the NeW 1Ork Herald.
 An institution which is attracting much attention in Europe has just been estab- lished in Berlin It is a public or central kitchen, at which cooked meals are sup piled at the lowest possible price to all.
 Persons who have carefully studied the subject of food assert that meals prepared and served in this way are infinitely pref erable to those which are prepared in the Kitchens of working people. The food fur nished by the public kitchen is bought at wholesale prices, and hence be sold to consumers at an unusually low figure.
 In the second place the food is more
 tritious, since it is cooked in large quan- titles and thus remains juicy and savory,
 which is not the case with the few pounds
 of meat which are usually cooked for the dinner of ordinary family. In the third
 place the cost of fuel is saved by those
 who obtain their meals at the central
 kitchen. Many thousands of dollars are
 spent annually on the fires which are nee"
 essary for cooking family dinners, and the
 smoke from them pollutes the air so much
 as to be in many instances positive nuis-
 anCe.
 Now the central kitchen is a great relief
 to the workingman's wife-and it is the
 families of workingmen which will derive
 most benefit from this new institution
 she need not any longer take dinner to her
 husband, who frequently works great dis
 tance from home, since the meal will if
 desired, be sent to him from the centarl
 kitchen in a wagon, or he may if he
 pleases, call at the kitchen and eat 1t there.
 In either case his wife need not stop her
 own work at Il o'clock in the forenoon and
 ride a long way a street car, carrying
 in her hand a basket or tin pail with her
 husbands dinner, which, under such con-
 dtions, is sure to ecold before it reaches
 him.
 Herr Hoehnke, a merchant who has had
 alaaz ciFAr,-
 for the German army, is at the head of
 this enterprise, which is at present located
 in Griefswalder street in the German capi- tai. The food Is cooked here in several one story buildings, and the work begins at
 midnight. The various meats and veget- ables are put into huge pots, which are heated partly by steam and partly by coal, and when they are cooked they are divided into 5000 portions or meals.
 All the food is prepared in the form of soup, the meat being cut into small pieces,
 and three plates of soup constitute meal.
 The bill of fare contains each day half dozen dishes, and thus those who do not
 like beef can have mutton and with it po-
 tatoes and green peas. and those who do
 not like mutton have beef or pork or
 smoked beef and with it a goodly supply of potatoes and other vegetables.
 The meals are sent out to customers in wagons, the first of which leaves the kitch- en at 10 o'clock in the morning. Each wagon has a driver and two boys, who take the food and deliver it at the doors of the customers. While in the wagon the food is kept in large heated pot and 1t is placed direct from this into the vessels of the consumers. The driver lets custom CTS know of his arrival by means of large horn, on which he blows a signal. The working men in several Berlin fac tories now obtain their meals in this way, and in their case the wagon drives into the courtyard and the men come out and get their meals In some factories a reg ular dinning room has been placed at the disposal of the employees, and in such cases the large heated pot containing the meals is removed from the wagon and Is taken into the dining room where the men distribute the food themselves. Several wagons are now daily on the road and as rule the huge pots in them are emp tied by o'clock in the afternoon. Their work for the day Is then over, but during the remaining hours of the afternoon and evening many employees are kept busy in the central kitchen preparing food for the peeling potatoes, others in cutting up meat and vegetables others in cleaning vessels and so forth.
 Persons who call for meal at the kitchen at any hour of the day can obtain 1t, and those who prefer few slices of meat to soup are also assured of an appetizing dish at a very low price. Special dishes are also now prepared for small families which can afford to pay a little more than working men. ;