Omaha daily bee., 1901-01-27
DINING CAR HOUSEKEEPING
soms Mighty ClOse Calculations Required
to Do 1t Successfully,
KISsHIp OF COOKS AND TICKET OFFICE
knowledge of Chemistry ms Applied
TO Foods-Care Bestowed Upon
the Car-How Waste
il Prevented.

1T takes the incest sort OF calculation to
run the domestic gearing of dining and
sleeping cars that are gone for days out
through the country beyond the managers s
reach" said railroad 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 compartment, outside and in. Those
special trains leased for long trips cannot
be got at so frequently, but at the home
station each car, as 1t gets in, Is switched
on on a siding and treated to as thorough a
scrubbing, polishing and airing as any New
England household gets in the spring Pill
lows. mattresses, blankets, rugs and cur
tains are hung to the winds. Windows and
brasses cleaned. Kitchen apparatus and
tableware rubbed up. Furniture brushed
and polished. And the outgoing car, walt
ing. ready for orders, looks another thing
from the jaded, towsled roadster that ar
rived some hours before. whole brigade
OF brushes, brooms, cloths, tubs, fluids
soaps and disinfestants have been in requi-
sitlon and the head cleaner must give strict
account OF ell. Otherwise much waste
would ersue."
Every berry. every pound OF meat and
butter, every loaf OF bread, item of milk,
cream, sugar and other provisioning for the
dining car is carefully invontoried when the
train comes IN and the list compared with
the list Of supplies sent out and the num-
Der of meals served only by discipline
and rigid vigilance is any domestic econ
omy maintained on these moving houses.
Special and private cars and special trains
are coming more commonly into use, and
careful discriminating caterers and at
tendants are additionally valuable to road
owners. All commissary supplies furnished
for special cars or trains are charged for
according to the actual consumption and 20
per cent added to cover cost OF handling.
Those cars are usually paid for by the day.
on the regular train service 1t is not al
ways that a dining car and kitchen goes
through to the trains destination. The
dining cars are the heaviest of the lot. Say
dining car goes out from a certain point
this afternoon with a through train; it
serves dinner and is switched off at some
convenient place, to be hitched later to the
train which starts out at midnight without
such provisioning, but whose passengers will
want breakfast. This plan permits the pas
sengers to taste the creations of several
cooks on their journey across the continent.
other trains carry their dining cars right
through particularly II the route is a
short and direct one. When a road operates
rival dining cars under different conduc-
tors, 1t Is easy to ascertain which caterer
is generally the most economical and salts
factory. Although one car may serve a set
Of passengers who order profusely and
waste much--three kinds OF meat and two
kinds of soup for one person. things they
can not consume-and the other caterer
may fall in with considerate patrons
Car Pantries.
The increased knowledge OF chemistry and
preserving inventions has somewhat simpll-
fed dining car housekeeping. Admirable
canned soups and boullions can be kept
handily, and Gerved hot and appetizing in
a few minutes. Evaporated cream, proof
against all lostling. overheatng. or long
congeaing. Is a modern convenience. Fine
puddings, minces, preserves, pickles, sauces,
relishes are all two-fold better because put
up under better conditions for keeping than
formerly. First rate canned vegetables
now very nearly counterfeit the garden
growth. Berries, grapes, fruits, even the
most delicate, are now practicable because
OF the marvellous Improvement in refriger-
ators Tho best built refrigerators, per-
fectly insulated and guarded against all
corrosive conditions, prevent even the
daintiest shen fish from losing flavor.
Then, instead of alcohol as fuel for the
lamps and great boiling urns, a superior
It will actually put out a fire II thrown on
the flames II takes good force of heat
to start such oil to burning, but once
started boiling hot water Is perennally at
hand Space Is the great consideration
with dining car housekeeping. The snug
way in which the fruits, salads. dressings,
etc, are pocked in their respective lockers
would astonish the hotel cook or waiter,
used to plenty of room And the dishes,
plates. silver and glassware all must be
kept in individual racks to avoid damage
when the train makes sharp curves, Within
twenty inches OF the steaming kitchen range
are the refrigerators holding all needfuls
and which must be opened and shut every
few seconds to take out and replace things,
for nothing can be left out in that intense
heat Five walters, the cook and the con
ductor form the dining cars crew.
The Cook aud the Telegraph.
The main portions of a dinner are begun
when the cook comes on board, an hour or
80 before starting time. A forty iiye- pound