The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-05-22
KITCHEN SOCIETY SERVES
MEALS FOR FOUR CENTS
From the New York Tribune.

From the New York Tribune.
IN JEWISH immigrant Dol landed in
V1 New York three months ago,
4 with thousands of others, depos-
tied his belongings in room on the
East Side and started out to seek his
fortune. Morning after morning he
tramped down the four flights of stairs
to the street, with the high hope that
that day he would find work, and night
after night he toiled up to his tiny hole
under the roof, tired out from his fruit
less search With no money coming in
and with the constant demands of rent
and food the little hoard that the young
fellow had brought from the home coun-
try rapidly diminished until the pangs of
hunger were added to the ache of lone
liness and the disappointment in not find
ing work. Then came morning on
which he was too weak to start out on
his daily search; and when, couple of
days later. the janitor climbed up to
his little room, the boy was starving to
death. Help on every hand was offered
then. but it had come t D late and the
lad died.
number of East Side Jewish physicians
and. while talking of 1t one evening, they
fell to discussing what they might do to
help just such unfortunate brothers. Re-
inforced by a dozen interested friends
they met last week at Terrace Lyceum,
No. 2O6 East Broadway, organized them
selves into the Peoples Kitchen associa-
ton. and subscribed $l13 os a nest egg
for the $500 fund with which they are
going to establish a peoples kitchen in
the neighborhood of East Broadway and
Clinton streets.
When seen at his home, No. 30 East
Broadway, DIR. Abram Caspe, one OF the
promoters of the plan, said: I'VE are
not going to humilate tAe poor in our
neighborhood by Offering them charity.
Rather. we are going to start this kitch-
en- on such basis that it will support
itself after we have once got 1t in run
ming order. With the assistance OF two
restaurant keepers, who belong to the
association, we have figured it out that
by charging four cents each for thous-
and meals a day-and we expect to serve
that many-we will make enough money
and the rent.
This four-cent meal will include big
bowl of soup, cup of tea or coffee, meat
to the quantity of half pound, and as
much bread as che can cat. On Satur-
day and Sunday we will have a little
more elaborate meal for the same price.
In Just about a month from now our
kitchen will be open and ready for trade.
The people who go there will be treated
like men and women, not like cattle.
They will sit at tables and be waited
upon as they would be at a more expen-
sive restaurant, and we want them to I'M
derstand that they are paying fer what
they receive. If after while We find
some friend who wants to help us ana
prefer TO do it by giving free meal tickets
for us to distribute, you may be sure
that they will go only - those who we
know cannot afford to pay even the four
cent charge, and the names of those who
receive such tickets will never be known
to any one except the distributor.
when you say that you expect to
serve 1000. meals day at this one ktch-
en-" Dr. Caspe was C. -estioned. "does
that mean that you are counting on
having 1000 different people there every
day."
NO" was the answer. I'VE expect to
serve about five hundred different men
and women daily. We will give two
meals every day. and probably the per-
son who gets his elmer there will find
that he cannot get as cheap and as good
a place at which t, have his supper, so
he will come back to us.
.sThere are at least 500 immigrants liv-
ing in furnished rooms around here to-
day who either can get on work or are
laborng at starvation .-ices. We be-
lieve that besides furnishing good. nour-
ishing food to those who otherwise would
make their dinner off of crust and
banana. who would spend their nickel
in the saloon, this kitchen may do