Durango semi-weekly herald., 1901-08-12
BOON TO ciTYs POOR.
William E. Curtis Writes of the Fa-
nous Steam Kitchen Of Chris
tiania.

tld1id.
CHRISTlANlA, July c. William
T. Curtis in Chicago Record Herald) =
unique institution in Norway is the
Steam Kitchen" which was estab.
lished in S5S by benevolent people TO
at low prices. There similar res.
taurants in some of the manuiactur.
ing cities of France. but none have
been successful. The charter grant
ed the company limits its profits to e
per cent on the investment, with a
provision that the balance, ii any,
should be paid into the poor funds of
the city. There was. a hard strug-
gle at first to make both ends meet.
and an annual deficit for many years.
which was made up by the stocAhold-
ers, but at last the Kitchen became
so popular that it began to pay diVi-
dends. and the stock has since been
watered four times, until now IL pays
what is equivalent to "a per cent an
nually upon the original investment
with a surplus larger than the capital
oli "liltl II was Sidl ltu. II Is bllt
OF the most profitable enterprises in
Europe for the amount of money in
volved, but that fact does not dimin-
ish the benefits conferred upon the
public. and the generosity of the com
pany to the poor particularly in the
times of labor troubles and financial
depression. cannot be questioned.
Hundreds of bachelors and single
women take their meals there regu-
larly, and hundreds of families OBJ
tain their entire supply of food, whole.
some and we'll cooked. at nominal
cost.
1t is called the Steam Kitchen"
because it was the first institution in
Norway in which steam was ever
used for cooking purposes. There is
long official title to the company
but no one ever mentions it. 1t oc-
cupies two-story building covering
nearly half block The location is
convenient to the business portion
of the city. the docks aind the market
place. There are two large halls,
one above the other. containing five
long tables, seating thirty persons
each, thus accommodating 800 Gus
room it costs eleven cents in our mon
ey for a good dinner: in the lower
room it costs nine cents. There are
no tablecloths and no napkins, brit
the tops of the tables have been scrub
bed until they shine and everything
is spotless The whole iustitu ion Is
model of neatness. 1t seems re-
markable how it can be kept 80 clean
with 50 many mwashed custom rs
and so much business. The windows
are large and let in plenty OF light
The walls are covered with bright
tints. and the Mattresses wear white
caps. aprons and oversleeves. At
each chair is "A knife. fork, spoon
drinking glass. cup and saucer, and 4
hunk of bread about three inches
square. Dinner is served from 10
o'clock in the morning until in the
afternoon to an average of $500 peo-
pie daily. Some of them come twice
They take a cup of coffee and eat a
piece of cheese and bread at their
homes early in the morning. Then
at 10 or II and again at or O'Clock
they come to the Kitchen" for a
square meal. which costs them not
their food The superintendent told
me that for the last ten years. they
had never served less than 1900 peo'
pie day On the market days AM
holidays they usually feed about 5000.
The bill of fare varies from day To
day. When | was there the dinner
consisted of "A large plate of barley
soup, wholesome and nourishing. a
ball OF hashed meat about as large
as your fist. with potatoes and rice,
or boiled salmon, potatoes and tur-
Rips. Beer milk or coffee is Sawed
for cents extra.
The cent dinner was pretty much
the same, with the exception of the
soup; boiled beef, potatoes and rice,
or boiled salmon, potatoes am tur-
nips. A plate of soup alone, which
in itself would be more than a meal
for most people, being file, with
chunks OF meat and vegetal les, was
served for three cents.
The same meals are furnished to
the public to be eaten at their homes
for and Z cents respectively, and
usually contain enough food .or two
or three women, although the Nor
weigans have stalwart appet'tes. The
outdoor service is conducted in an
other part of the building, upon an
other street. The patrons procure
tickts at an Office and then form in
line-meu. women and children, each
with a bucket or basket. or b'th. in
hand. Many tickets are given gra-
tuitously. but it is impossible - dis
tinguish the paying from the charity
customers. Benevolent people in
the city purchase lunches Of tickets,
which they give to the poor, and at
times in lieu of wages. If yJu hire
man to clean up the yard, yuu can
give him so much cash and so many
meal tickets, or If n person appeals
to you for relief 1t is always better to
give ticket to the Steam Kitchen