The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-07-09
DINNER IN THE DINING CAR.
THE ELABORATE SYSTEM OF AC-
 COUNTS NECESSARY.
Directors Who Travel to Observe the

''First call for dinner Dining car in
 the rear!"
 The porter in white jacket and dark
 trousers who goes through the train
 usually makes the proclamation three
 times in each car, and unless passen-
 ger is very deaf he cannot be in doubt as to the dinner hour on board rail road train On some trains the tour Of the cars is made several times, and the cry is changed from first" to second" and finally to last call for dinner. But there are trains on which the din- ing car is occupied to it's full capacity before the train leaves the station, al- though nothing is served until the train is in motion, and while those who came first are being served other passengers, equally anxious to take dinner but less thoughtful about securing places, stand in the vestibule of the car and wait ther turn.
 When the tables are all occupied and the chances for prompt service are poor the vestibule of a dining car is a good place to avoid The old experienced traveller, who is never in a hurry, who can always wait, may be there; but the infrequent traveller, who is usually the man dissatisf with the railroad, or some member of his family, may always be found in the group, and the walls be- cause all the tables are occupied are not pleasant to hear.
 we don't mind the complaints of the waiting man." said the officer in charge 0f one of the New York Central dining ears, "because we are accustomed to them and we know that the dissatisfied man usually forgets all about his trou- bles as soon as his soup has been served. There are complaints at the best managed hotels, and so there are in Iour hotels on wheels-for that is what dining cars are in many respects"
 The man who takes his place at dining car table does not realize what an amount of work must be done and how much money must be invested to make the service possible Table linen, glass silver, cutlery and kitchen uten- sils are kept in large quantities and the number of pieces needed are delivered
 
 charged as they would be to an individ- ual. As they show signs of wear or are broken they are replaced from the stock on hand, so that the quantity and the quality always remain the same. The silver is charged to the walters on duty at the tables, and is returned and &C., counted for after each trip.
 Our breakage is greater than it is at ordinary hotel tables" said J. T. Mckee, superintendent of the service but con- eidering the fact that some of our meals are served at the rate of siXty-five miles an hour that is no wonder. We lose very little by theft, but occasionally foreign passenger will take coffee spoon or a toothpick holder as a souve- mir of the trip"
 To keep the cars well supplied with these articles is a comparatively easy task, but the difficult part of the busi- ness is the food.
 "We strive to serve the same class of meals as one may find in any first class hotel, and in order to do so we purchase the best we can find,' said MT. Mckee, "We run the station restaurants at Poughkeepsie, Albany, Utica, Syracuse, Rochester Buffalo and Suspension Bridge, and at those places we do all our baking, so that with the exception of waffles and buns we bake nothing on the trains; but everything else on our bills of fare is prepared on board"
 The copmissary department has off cers at the principal stations, who buy everything that is required, and the meats, groceries, fruit, etc, are kept on hand subject to the call of the dining room car service Every article, down to the smallest, is charged to the car, and as soon as the article is used it is placed to the cars credit so that a the end of the run the steward in charge knows how many pounds of roast, how much soup, how many oranges, how much ice cream coffee, bread or any thing else has been consumed, and the difference in dollars and cents between what remains and what was on hand at the beginning of the trip gives the actu- al cost of the meals served. The meals are served at one dollar each, and the calculations of the dining car people show that the actual cost of the food is about fifty cents To this must be add ed the pay of the crew, salaries of off cers, coal, ice, laundry, the wear and tear on the linen, china, silver, etc, cleaning the car and overhauling the kitchen at frequent intervals and a number of other small but sure eX- penses
 The cars, the supply stocks and every thing pertaining to the service are in- spected regularly by officers who are appointed for that purpose, but there are other inspections of which the din- ing car crew has no knowledge. Pas sengers take their places at the tables whose only object seems to be to get their moneys worth in food, but they are really taking note of the condition of the walters coats and boots; they scrutinize the napkins and the silver, and pay close attention to the manner in which the orders are executed. Oth- CT patrons of the car look for defects in the food, and note the size of the DOT tions there are inspectors also who make the tip question a speciality
 If a man is well served and wishes | to tip the waiter we do not object to his | doing so,' said MT Mckee, but we | would not keep a man in our employ | who would finger over a table and pre- | tend that he was busy while he was really waiting for a tip. nor would we l