Waterbury evening Democrat., 1904-03-23
GIRLS LUNCH FREE.

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 / Whatever fault Is found with the business methods of the Standard Oil Co ,one thing is sure; the women em- ployes of the concern, the stenograph- CTS and typewriters, are doing no grumbling. It is not given to most wo- men employed in offices to eat their luncheon every day in the week except Sunday free of cost and amid an all most rural quiet, so far as street noises are concerned and the Standard Oil employees know it.
 Yes, think we are pretty. lucky" remarked one huffy-haired young wo- man, pausing with her foot on the pri- vate stair which leads to the lunch room-or rather to the dining room, situated in the tower of the Standard Oil building in lower Broadway. ITO crowd into a public lunch room in this quarter of the city at noon is anything but a restful experience. and one is apt to get food spilled all over ones clothes.
 And then a good luncheon always costs considerable money. Now here the luncheon served to us is really a dinner.
 .sYes, yery few believe me when I tell them this, Most people think we get dairy lunch or just sandwiches and tea and coffee and milk. Well, it's not bit like that. We have quite a long menu every day and no two days is it just the same.
 For instance, there are two or three kinds of soup, several kinds of hot meats, a variety of cold meats, half dozen different vegetables, three or four desserts,a besides dairy dishes and tea and coffee On certain days in addition to all this there are several kinds of fish.
 My luncheon to-day? We'll I se- lected tomato soup, fricassee of chick en, a baked potato, celery custard, stewed peas, and for my dessert, GUS tard pudding and coffee We have French bread and t',e best of butter everything in fact is of the best.N
 With such a substantial meal in the middle of the day most of us can get along with a very light breakfast and a simple tea, Yes, it's great" and she hurried off,
 '"This plan of giving sts women enl- ployes free lunch has been followed by the Standard Oil co ever since i 1SS2,si' said the manager of the lunch l room. 50 you see there is nothing about it. This company in fact was the very first in New York to provide free luncheon for employees on the premises.
 At that time, of course, there were very few women employees. Steno
 
 fashionable then. :. Now the company employs about fifty women here ane all of them get their luncheon free o1 cost
 S'.No, we don't provide luncheon fol I the men employees. Heads of depart ,ments and members of the company may have luncheon sent to their rooms but the dining room is exclusively fol the use of women
 ] No stranger who steps out of the ele vator at the fifteenth floor of the build ing imagines that tucked away in on, l corner quite by itself, behind a dooi which looks just like any of the othel doors leading to the different offices, il a tiled kitchen, and beyond that al oblong room which will seat comfort ;. ably at one time about thirty persons \ The meal is served from F to o'clocl and the girls come in relays to sui i themselves. Each has forty-fiye min utes for luncheon.
 One might hunt a good while to fint a more attractive or peaceful spot il which to eat the midday meal. Th, room is very high, and on one side il l a row of windows almost as high shad ed with green holland from which ma. be had q splendid view of New Yorl llarbor, the Hudson, good stretch O the city and a sweep of the sky. l The meal is served quietly and with out hurry or hustle by walters on twt long tables. around which the girls si quite like family party. The ap pointments of the tables are 1Inmacu late and dainty. Everything move along with precision.
 A white-capped chef presides in tn tiled kitchen, and his assistants ar mainly men. The manager keeps sharp eye over everything, but he doe not appear in the dining room unles sent for.
 .'The girls come from all over,'' h said in answer to 8 question: "Th
 Bronx, Jersey City, Staten Island
 Brooklyn and other parts of Long Is
 land and that's why most of then appreciate So much good meal in tn
 middle of the day.
 Tt is quite true that the lunch doe
 not cost them cent. The cost is no
 taken from their salaries, and as ia
 as I know the salaries paid by tn Standard Oil Go to women employe are quite as big as those paid to steno
 graphers by any other business cor
 cern, if not bigger"
 Heir to Millions.