Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-11-30
A HOTEL UNIVERSITY.
By FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

= dAOkkN HI
that while the gross revenues of the res
| taurantS and dining rooms of the hotel
| IN question amount to 100000 year,
there is. an annual loss In this department
| agsregahng more than 100000. But. as
! the total income of the hosttlry rs $1,000
OOO year, the loss in this part of the
business Is amply made up by the profit
! in other departments. 1t is said that this
/ loss Is largely incident to the great NUM-
| ber OF employees who are kept on full
, pay during the dull months of the year.
| Only the very best hotel help obtainable
| IS employed ana to hold them it is yneces-
I sary to give them full pay winter and
! summer.
The problem of provisioning a hotel is
not an easy one at best, but where meals
| are served at prices
Provision Problem ranging from 20 to
= n;H.,,14 A. 10 cents, with an
S"' OAe' abundance of SUBJ
stantial food. this problem becomes an
exceedingly difficult one. The chain of
Mills hotels in New York city, maintained
for tie benefit of poor men, by the very
closest buying is able to serve excellent
meals for these prices, and still prevent
| the business from degenerating into
charity. These hotels were founded for
the sole purpose Of affording the poor
men OF New York decent place to stay
and eat at as low q price as possible.
There is no desire to make q profit out
of the business.
The variety Of things which the steward
of a modern hotel must buy is practically
ineXhaustible. One large New York res
tat1ranf lie
from Brittany, while another requires
several thousand pounds of frogs legs Il
month At Fulton market, in New York,
10000 pounds Of frogs legs are sold an
and restaurants of that city Missouri
leads the United States in the production
Of frogs legs.
For intelligent buying the man who for
years sold the largest sandwich in New
York for a nickel, takes first rank among
all hotel and restaurant men. He died
not long ago and his estate was valued
at $4,000 He always claimed that his
largest sandwich was the basis of his
entire fortune. 1t is said that the most
valuable eggs ever eaten by any man
were those used by the late T.. H. Harri-
man during the early part OF his final
illness. The whole financial world waited
each morning to hear whether he was
| able to take his poached eggs on toast,
and the f1uctuation of the stock market
incident to his ability to cat the eggs
wrought many changes in values.
=
One would hardly expect a restarauteur
to travel 5000 miles to cook a single din
ner and buy the
Went G, GOO Miles materials there
h r.ob n;- for, but such was
the experience Of
the late George NJ. Harvey, the famous
restaurant keeper of Washington. An
Englishman had visited his place and had
eaten Of his terrapin Ia Maryland
When he later wanted to give dinner he
asked Harvey what he would take to
come to England and prepare it. Harvey
replied that he would take $1,000, with
all expenses paid. The Englishman
WINGED a little at the price, but asreed to
meet the conditions, SO Harvey took his
terrapin with him and cooked the dinner.
He returned to America the day after the
banquet.
Perhaps the largest banquet ever given
took place in Paris in 1905. when covers
25OOO quarts Of wine, $1,000 quarts of aie
and 1O0UO quarts Of champagne were
Consumed, to say nothing Of the seventy
tons Of solid food. 1t required $500
walters to serve the banquet. One OF
Americas largest banquets was held in
St. Louis In honor Of the victory Of Her.
bert s. Hadley in the race for the gov
ernorship OF that state a few years ago.
This banquet cost $1,000. with an extra
| allowance for help and equipment An
other American banquet he'd at Spring
field. ILL.,, in honor Of the Tooth ami
versary of the birth Of Abraham Lincoln
cost $4,000, or So a plate.
New York is the greatest hotel city in
the world 1t Is estimated that 174,O0O,O0O
is invested in hotel property there. The
task Of provisioning the 215 principal
hotels on Manhattan Island is a large one
! under ordinary circumstances, but when
the stewards have to provide for 10000
| moro people than they expected, as was
the case during the HudsOn-Fulton cele-
bration. it becomes task indeed. Dur
ing that celebration the hotels and res
taurants Of the city bought 100000 broil-
ers. 100000 soup chickens. 25.OCO.OOO eggs,
100000 pounds Of lamb. $1,000, 600 pounds
of beef, 100000 pounds of pork, 1900, coo
pounds Of scale fish, 100000 Holsters and
15.OOU,OOO oysters. New York probably
will furnish more pupils to the new Hotel
University than any other two cities in
the country.
TomOrr0w-MEETING OF CONGRESS.
1.-THE PLANT.