Omaha daily bee., 1910-03-30

decent meal. but there is the reflection that
IDLE men don't have 20 rush Perhaps the
American quick lunch room will be i'm
proved In many ways. as Il already has
been Improved. but Il will never take its
needed lessons from Europe.
Tho EnGishman rcgoles himself In the
morning with a good breakfast OF bacon
and eggs and coffee. At the luncheon hour,
supposlng him to be possessed OF fairly
decent Job, ho repairs 20 a chop house for
his midday meal II he Is in q hurry and
has only a half hour he viii find a buffet
bar where he may have a cut from the
Joint and his pint Of bitter ale pacard
tells him that the Joint from p to 1 Is
beef, from to is mutton ana he may
regulate his luncheon hour according 70
bis taste. With the meat is served boiled
potatoes and boiled cabbage, always boiled
and always potatoes and cabbage Any in
torference with this arrangement Of vege-
tables probably would be regarded as an
attack on the constitution.
II the Engllshman can possibly afford
il, he will take an hour Then he will 20
to grill room and have a chop. Thanked
with boiled potatoes and cabbage. washed
down with pint OF ''bitters" But In any
long at his lunch as does the American.
he will cat three or four times as much.
and he will drink alcohol in the middle
Of the day. when the American will drink
coffee. At o'clock, when the American is
thinking Of home and dinner, the English
man repairs to q tea-room. The London
tea-room Is not unlike a certain tvpe os
American quick lunch room I'm arrange
ment. But there the likeness ends. A delib-
crate waitress condescending TO take an
order. the customer composes himself 70
read or smoke. Tea and cakes being
served eventually. and consumed in a half
hour or an hour, the afternoon sacraucnt
is over. But there is no hurry.
The continental Europeans talre o,,o,
more time than the English at their meals
ana are even moro greatly shocked by the
American system OF swallowing a ''sinlrer,.
ana cup Of coffee on the run. The
Ere1chman and the Italian, breakfast less
make an orderly institution OF midday and
evening meals. which precludes the r6s-
sioility OF hurry. The German is dirrerent
Upon arising he takes coffee and rolls. In
the middle Of the forenoon he has bis
second breakfast Of sandwiches and hear
At noon. or shortly after. he has his din
ner, and after dinner he has A nan Thor
he has afternoon coffee and cakes. TTa ro-
turns to work and comes home to q late
supper at or O'Clock.
The stern requirements Of business in .
prosperous nation are such that +hI.
leisurely nRtive-German system is heinz
overturned Many people cannot afford 70
80 home in the daytime. So # is that
the German cafes and restaurants are al
ways full Many have found It imnovs,-
bic to walt on the slow service OF the
cafes and these have had recourse 70 a
certain form Of the American quick lunch
room.
The stranger IN a German Industrial ott,,
IN search OF quick meal may walk down
the street until he secs the American ooat
OF arms emblazoned on window. Let
him turn In there. II IL sure to be an
A1tomat There one puts coin In the
slot ana Is automatically served with cold
sandwiches. with hot dishes, with sweets
with tea or coffee, with beer or wine. with
almost anything. The automat was horn
In New York, but It never made a great
success In America II Was EXPORTED 10
Germany. and there It has fIourished like
green bay tree. 1t appears that the Ger.
mans have an idea that Americans never
eat except the food and drink be serve5
by a slot machine
But the crowning glory of the quick
lunch room as an American institution is
its democracy. The Wall street banker
and the Wall street newsboy regularly eat
beef and" at the same place. A cabinet
minister in Washington does not dlsdain
the Maryland biscuits and milk served
over the same counter where all his thou
sands Of underlings take their midday re-
freshment. With all its faults, the quick
lunch room is an American institution of
which we ought not to be ashamed.
~ FREDRICK ]. HAsxIn.
Observation-Disclosures Research.