The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-11-10
IN A CAR KITCHEN.
Snug Style in Which the Eatables
Are Slowed Away.
Ainslee S Magazine

Ainslee S Magazine.
The actual standing room in the car
kitchen consists of an aisle only wide
enough for two men to pass each other
and about fifteen feet long. On one side
is an unbroken row of ranges, the very
best sort invented, for when men do
women's work they are not content with
makeshift tools. On the other side is a
steam table for keeping things hot. other
tables and some of the refrigerators-for
there are many. Hot water and cold
is held in cylinders which lie along the
ceiling and look like the projectiles used
on torpedo boats.
One refrigerator is devoted exclusively
to fish, which lie shining on blocks of
clear ice as tempting as in any hsh mar
ket. Until had actually seen this re-
frigerator it had been my practice to re-
fuse fish in travelling, feeling there was
some mystery about its preservation, but
now-indeed, no such thing. L had fancied
the whole menu cooked at once in enor-
nous quantities. like a soldiers mess at
camp, and my fastidious car appetite had
revolted and faded away during the first
course. But now L eat with relish, know
ing the condition of the source of supply.
Another refrigerator is entirely for meats
and game, another for fruit, and even
bread and case are kept in a refrigerator
That they retain their moisture. Outside the
kitchen there is q sacred ice box under lock
and key, and no man may put his hand
therein except the steward or ho9seKeepsr
of the dining car. There twenty-five KINDS
Of wine are kept, and there will be shown
TO you, with a manner awed but proud,
the royal family of champagne, with COOL
gold-crowned heads sitting on an icy
throne.
But go back to the kitchen. that apart
ment is occupied with three men all IN
white, with perhaps a blue Gordon for ira
dition's sake, who serve deftly and capably
the hiveful Of walters that swarm at the
open square at the inner end of the kitch-
en-. 1t is a wise provision that prevents
close contacts, for cooks are apt TO be red
hot at the crucial hour Of dinner serving,
and, besides, the car kitchen can contain
no more men than the three cooks who
broil, roast. stew and fry the numberless
fancies of the patrons palate. These men
work hard. The head cook, whose salary
is about $50 per month, stands farthest
from the window where the walters
clamor, and is a bit more serious. The
middle cook, on a $5 salary, is lively or
submissive, according to the man he adj
dresses, and the end cook tnds time 10
Chah the owners OF the dark faces who cali
orders and sometimes he sings as happlly
as a conceited boy who fancies his future
on the operate stage.
These three men make the white-capped
trio we see peering out of the windows OF
the dining car as IL SIPS into the SldllOli-
All the other employees of the train come
into contact with passengers and nave IN
teresting experiences, but these are con-
fined in the galley and are eager for the
scant glimpses at the station. Sometimes
the car has a little balcony at the end,
where they can escape the heat OF their
quarters. a needed relief in summer time.
The walters have a pantry adjoining the
kitchen and opening into it only by the
little square window with a counter on
either side. When your order is given and
IL "a Nhs. e whore ha hos
gone. Here are kept supplies of dishes
and silver. and here ii is the waiter makes
up the dishes of cakes, fruit and cheese
you call for with which to tie up the ends
of your appetite.
Before the dining car is drawn way from
the car yards the special housekeeper who
has it in charge must see that every SORT
of supply is on hand, and in sufficient, but
not too lavish. quantity. Sometimes there
are ninety persons to feed, sometimes one
third that number, but the probable num-
Der on the various runs is known. In long
Journeys there are commissary stations
along the way, where the car may be re-
stocked. but this is seldom necessary, eX-
cept with such perishables as cream and
milk. Have you ever heard a porter agl-
tating that subject wit station employees
at Buffalo or elsewhere? That means the
emergency has arisen in the dining car.
Such things might easily happen in a
larder where demands are irregular and
markets scores of miles away. 1t is a won
der they do not happen o%ftener, when we
reflect that econom in perishable thing
is exacted from the steward h~ousekeeper.
Just before he sends his black commits
sary to announce dinner 10 the hungerine
passengers every man slips on jacket anC
apron Of whitest linen, and by this little
act of costuming is converted at once from
the nondescript man of the streets into the
most spruce of servitors. Then, will
everything ready in the kitchen, and witt
his flock of assistants about him, the house
keeper of the dining car awaits the coming
of his guests. And in they come. thought
less blessing takers, with never a reflection
on the hours of preparation by the army o.
men that it has taken to give them the de
gree Of comfort which is ~purchastble for {