The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1906-09-16

.noston 4 young woman who has under
taken the reform OF the Ame1can
lunches, and with such success that-she
has In operation three scientific" res
taurants which feed about four thou
sand people in four hours and haif
every noon. She Is Miss Bertha stew
enson, a South Carilina girl by birth,
and within Eve years a student at Rad
cliffe College.
This particular reform Boston owes
to New Yorkfin some part for It was
the influence of New York physician
who makes a speciality of dietetics that
first turned Miss Stevenson's energies
in their present direction. She began
by baking bread for invalids--bread
prepared from the Doctors prescriptions.
with less of this, or more OF that, or
none OF the other usual ingredient This
was done in scientific bakery" in
Cambridge soon after she left Rad
elite.
But there was o peculiar difficulty to
be met In the persistence with which
people misunderstood the purpose OF
the establishment. and instead of rec
ognizing its loaves of exceptional ex-
celience for fnvalids who must eat
carefully. seemed to think they were
intended to be ordinary bread but
hadn't turned out quite right" How
ever. the young college girl simply
worked out a more elaborate scheme
this time for heinine the quick luncher
In spite of himself or herself. and went
at putting 1t into practice so vigorously
that there are now three restaurants
conducted in accordance with her ideas.
It is no small undertaking to pre-
pare and serve food which viii pass
credftabfy a laboratory examination.
Think of having set before you bread
that has been tested by qualitative and
quantitive analysis for its wholesome
ness and the nutrition it affords: butter
that has been examined scientifically to
see that II contains no trace of substi-
tuition for the genuine article; milk
that has not been SKINNED OF it's cream {:
coffee that is made from the real tropi-
cal bean and nothing else: tea that has
been out of the canister only long
enough for its infusion with boiling
water. And then think of actually paw.
ing less for such refreshment than the
output OF the ordinary 'beanery'
would cost you
Yet this Is exactly what Is being done
under the mana cement of the college
girl who devised the scheme. She has
no sentiment about II: she IL level
headed, ciear-seeing, ambitious young
woman who thinks she has found a
way Of being lastingly useful in the
world, and has already proved that she
IS right. to the entire satisfaction Of
those who have watched her work and
have made possible its surprising de-
velopment by their support.
The food served in these restaurants
Is not intended to advance any particu-
lar theory OF diet which means that
these are not vegetarian institutions or
anything of that kind. There are al
ways meat and fish, soups, salads and
vegetables, fruit. pastry and ices--all
the things which the American palate
demands. But 1t is the Intention to
have everything served genuine ar
ticle of pure food.
Take, for instance, tomatoes in their
various forms. 1t is not enough that
the tomatoes are fresh in the summer,
or that IL they are canned their free
dom from deleterious matter" is guar
anteed. However pure the tomato is to
start with, It's fruit acid will affect
other Ingredients with which 1t is
mixed, say milk. Something must be-
done to counteract this effect. and 1t
must be done with scientific accuracy.
The new recipe is tried in an expert
mental kitchen until it is just right and
then translated into a formula for use
in preparing large quantities. Being
natural cook does not count for mucn
with Miss Stevenson; she and her
chief assistants look after that part OF
the business. and all the individual
cook has to do is to follow directions.
which is more than ordinary cooks
ran do.
Together with her studies in the
scientific preparation of food. this col
iege woman In business finds abundant
opportunity to study human nature and
some of the aspects of life in a great
city. There, for instance. was the case
of the girl who complained that sh"
had very little money to spend for her.
lunches and that cents was too
much to pay for a glass of milk. To
Miss Stevenson this suggestion was
worth considering. She sat down and
figured that she could afford to pay for
the service, the waste. the washing and
breakage of glasses and the various
other items properly chargeable against
each glass OF milk. and at the same
time make a proportionate share OF the
modest profits to which she considers
the capital invested in the business en-
titled, and sell pure. unskimmed milk
at 4 cents a glass Accordingly she
reduced the price and since. them day
after day the same girl has bought for
cents a simple but sufiicient luncheon.
THAT shows the need there Is Tor
work of this kind" says Miss Steven
son, in mentioning the case. Who
the girl Is. where she works or what
pay she gets doesn't matter. If one
cent a day makes that difference to
her, it must be an important thing to
have what she does get of the best