The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-03-01

olning car at l:20 d. m. How often | have
oeen on that train when IL was DELAYED
unavoidably and when the dining car and
the possibilities OF satisfying appetite were
not reached until or o'clock. How glad
iy would the travellers on that train have
welcomed even the homely tea basket"
Inc only alternative of hunger in such a
case Is TO pick up some poor food at a
luncheon counter, take IL on board in a pa
per bag and feed yourself with your fing-
ers-sans fork, sans napkin, sans drink,
sans everything
on the French railroad there is no such
system of prepared luncheons, but at every
station Is an excellent buffet where YOU
can buy tender sandwiches light and
toothsome sponge cakes and bottles of wine.
Every town in France has it's special
brand or biscuits These are oblong
cakes. crisp and rather dry. but delicious
when dipped in wine. These and the sue
cuient gauffres you may buy at the way
station The French bread and butter are
the best on earth and the French ham
ana sausage are toothsomely tender
In Italy Is still another system. There
81 every station waiter in a well-worn
dress coat walks up and down the platform
bearing aloft tray. From him you may
buy individual sandwiches or bottles OF
wine or little baskets, very daintily made.
from one side Of which protrudes a bottle of
water and from the other the slender neck
or bottle of chianti straw-bound and
straw-stoppered- Within the basket is
bread-without butter-and chicken. There
are no table utensils and when one has
Travelled in Italy little one supplies him.
self with folding knife and fork which
he can buy from one or the many peddlers
who haunt the station and the places fire.
quented by travellers
In France and Italy no one thinks of
drinking anything but wine. In Germany
beer is the national drink. but one may OBJ
tain hot coffee from the food wagon. AT
almost every station one of these wagons
is wheeled up and down the. platform.
Beer there is in plenty and wine and cor
dials In bright-colored bottles. Then there
are many kinds Of sausage and cheese and
bread and butter and the large doughnut,
with jelly center known to Bohemian
luncheon rooms in the United States as "a
sinker." One steps off the train and joins
the crowd of travellers lowering about the
luncheon wagon. drinks a glass of beer or
cup Of coffee and perhaps buys a pack
age of honey cakes to nibble on the cars.
These 'kunchen," by the way. are. deadly
foe to digestion.
LUNCH BUCKETS COMMON.
The traveller on continental railroads has
no false pride about taking a lunch with
him from his home or his hotel In fact,
the elaborate luncheon basket. with it's
metal tanks for coffee. tea or milk and its
compartments for butter, bread and meat,
is familiar part of travellers equipment,
but not familiar as when the dining car
was unknown. Nowadays there are facili-
ties for obtaining not only dinner, but
luncheon while travelling. Between Ores
den and Leipzig, for example, one may call
the waiter by touching an electric button
and order even cup Of coffee. To the
German the cup of coffee in the afternoon
is as essential as is the cup of tea to an
Englishwoman. The waiter will return
presently with little three-legged individ-
ual table which he will place before you
and it put your cup and saucer. your
pot of coffee, hot milk and sugar.
The Germans are great people for eat
ing between meals. The German dining
car, therefore, is divided into two sections.
In one you may order a la carte, drink your
glass of beer at leisure and smoke. In the
other is served table d'hote meal. 1t is
Enthusiastically German dinner. in which
the compete or dish of preserved fruit is
served with their roast meat and the salad.
This dinner costs IS cents. but the charge is
% cents more II you do not order wine
beer.
The service in all the continental dining
cars is the same The meal is served at a
certain hour. If there are enough travellers
there is a first and a second table. You
must put your name down for one of them
and you must eat at the hour fixed. The
service is like that of hotel dinner on the
continent. Every dish is passed around and
each diner helps himself to portion. The
conductor of the dining car and his assist
ant perform the entire service. Practically
there are two walters on a German speise-
wagon where an American dining car has a
conductor and four walters.
On the international trains the dining
service is usually under the control Of the
Compagine Internationale des Wagons Lifts.
On their cars is an attendant who is sup
posed to speak several languages and an
assistant. In Italy the meat consists of the
usual Italian dshes-almost always veal in
some form and chicken and invariably the
national spaghetti. The wines are very
good and reasonable in price. On crowded
trains there is second assistant, whose
chief duty is to fill orders for wines and
open the bottles.
Dinner on an italian train is a slow cere-
mony. Each course Is brought in on
large tray and passed from one table to an
other. Sometimes the allowance OF par
ticular course does not go quite around and
the attendant has to go to the kitchen for
more. As the traveller first served has the
choice of what is on the tray. the attendant
begins serving the first coarse at one table,
the second at another, and so on.
NO CREDIT TO ITALY.
1t should be stated, perhaps that the
Italian railway management is in no way
responsible for the comforts one finds on
through trains in Italy. These trains are
planned and made up In Germany and
France The Italian local trains have no
comforts and the Italian railways are prob
ably the worst managed In the world.
First and second passengers have equal
rights on continental dining cars except
i'm France On the fast French trains one
must travel first class to command the
privilege of the dining car. In England
either class may dine, but different meals