The Kalispell bee. [volume] (Kalispell, Mont.) 1900-192?, 1901-01-31
housekeeping on a Dining Car.


lation to run the domestic gearing OF
dining and sleeping cars that are gone
for days out through the country be-
yond the managers REACH said a rail
road superintendent. What a good
housekeeper does every six months
we do every few days, that is, clean
our premises from kitchen end through
to parlor compartments, outside and
in. Those special trains leased for
long trips cannot be got at SO frequent
ly, but at the home station, each car
as it gets in, is switched off on a sid
ing and treated to as thorough Il
scrubDing, polishing and airing
as any New England home
gets in the spring. Pillows,
mattresses, blankets, rugs, and
curtains are hung to the winds. Win
doWs and brass cleaned. Kitchen ap
paratus and tableware rubbed up. Fur
niture brushed and polished. And
the outgoing car waiting, ready for
orders, looks another thing from the
jadcd, towsled roadster that arrived
some hours before. A whole brigade
Of brushes, brooms, cloths, tubs, fluids,
soaps, disinfectants have been in re-
QUESTION, and the head cleaner must
give strict account Of all. Otherwise
much waste would ensue"
Every berry, every pound of meat
and butter, every loaf Of bread, item
of milk, cream, sugar and other pro
ly inventoried when the train comes
in and the list prepared with the
list of supplies sent out and the num-
Der of meals served. Only by discip-
line and rigid vigilance is any do
nestle economy maintained on these
moving houses. Special and private
cars and special trains are coming
more commonly into use, and careful,
discriminating caterers and attendants
are additionally valuable to road
owners. All commissary supplies
furnished for special cars or trains
are charged for according to the act
ual consumption and 20 per cent add
ed to cover cost of handling. These
cars are usually paid for by the day.
On the regular .raiE service it is
kitchen goes through to the train
destination. The dining cars are the
heaviest of the lot. Say dining car
goes out from a certain point this af-
ternoon with a through train; it serves
dinner and is switched off at some con-
venient place, to be hitched on later
to the train which starts out at mid
night without such provisioning, but
whose passengers will want breakfast.
taste the creations of several cooks on
their journey across the continent.
Other trains carry their dining cars
right through, particularly if the route
is a short and direct one. When a
road operates rival dining cars under
different conductors it is easy to ascer-
tain which caterer is generally the
most economical and satisfactory. Al
though one car may, serve a set If
passengers who order profusely and
waste much-three kinds of meat and
two kinds of soup for the one person,
things they cannot cOnsume-and the
other caterer may fall in with consid-
crate patrons.
The increased knowledge of chem
istry and preserving inventions has
somewhat simplitied dining car house
keeping. Admirable canned soups and
bouillons can be kept handily, and
served hot and appetizing in few
minutes. Evaporated cream, proof
against all jostlng, overheating, OF
long congealing, is modern convent.
ence Fine buildings, minces, pre-.
serves, pickles, sauces, relishes are all
two-fold better because put up under
better conditions for keeping than for
now very nearly counterfeit the gar.
den growth. Berries, grapes, fruits
even the most delicate, are now prac
tlcable because of the marvellous i'm
provement in refrigerators. The best
built refrigerators, perfectly insulated
and guarded against all corrosive con.
ditions, prevent even the daintiest
shell fish from losing flavor.
Then, instead of alcohol as fuel for
the lamps and great boiling urns, 4
superior mineral sperm oil is used
oil so safe that it will actually nut ont
a fire if thrown on the flames. It
takes a good force of heat to start
such oil to burning but once started
boiling hot water is perenially at hand
Space is the great consideration with
dining car housekeepers. The snug WAY
in which the fruits, salads, dressings
etc, are packed in their respective