Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1911-03-23
MONDAY LUNCH
HABIT IS FIXED.
HAVEN'T TIME TO
SIT DOWN AND EAT A
BIG MEAL.
Y To RIC A. HIIRRY
TO BIG A HURRY
Boiling EatabIes and Getting Out are
Characteristics; Restauranteur
Changes Custom Partly to
Bachelors.

Every day. to the accompaniment OF
the noon hour whistle, horde OF
| hungry men and women come pour
ing out of the portals of office build
ings, shops and department stores. 1t
Is daily occurrence, except that. like
the railroad time tables, the except
Sunday asterisk might be included In
this chronicle.
Ottumwa has noticed this horde.
Quick, nervous steps lead all one way.
That is foodward. But an interesting
adventure or series of adventures
might be obtained each day at noon for
a week by going to the places where
the Ottnmwa business men eat at
noon. BY business men, not that class
which goes to the clubs, but the army
of clerks and department heads. or
stenographers. and lawyers assistants,
who count upon an expenditure OF
from 10 to 20 cents for the MONDAY
meal.
Sandwich and Pie Crowd.
This is the ham sandwich and pie
crowd Line UP at the counter. wait
your turn, and then gasp your order"
into the ear of the man behind the
counter Jerk it out Of your throat
sharply, or the man at your elbow
will beat in the race for food. A pass,
jerk, a twist of the wrist, and the
luncheon comes sliding across the
counter to you. Everything is hurry
and hustle, shuffling feet. staccato
barks as the nervousness of the rush
gets into the blood of the patrons. 1t
all gets into your system. Mastfcate
your food in three minutes. rush for
the door and the street. Then stop
and wonder why you were exceeding
the speed limit. There is half hour
of lunch time left. There was no par
|ticular need for rush.
Ottumwa is getting farther and
farther away from substantial meal
at noon, according to the observation
of one restaurateur, who has watched ,,
the succeeding types Of luncheon hun
tiers for years.
cot, course" he said, "the restau-
rants are not losing any noon business.
But it is not growing. There Is an
ever increasing habit for snack at
that time of day. Bakeries, drug
stores and other places where bite
to eat and sup Of coffee are served
are being resorted to more and more.
This elimination of the noon meal is
due to several causes. Some business
places have cut the time for the noon
meal by employers down to half an
hour. With the extension Of the city
to wider precincts the man who has
moved far out to get the benefit of
lower rents finds he has not time to
get home at noon.
Bachelors Partly to Blame.
'Then of course economs has en-.
tered into the question. The young
bachelor finds he can run to some place
get lunch In hurry at a small cost
and have an additional amount to put
on the big meal of the day, the even
ing meal.
Speaking of bachelors, did 1t ever
strike you that there are more Of
them in this city in proportion to the
population than any place In the coun-
try, that is any place where the condi-
lions are like they are here. No? Well
it Is fact have noted it and COM
pared it with other cities 1t is
young mans town. The tobbing and
Wholesale industries and the stores
are full of them. And the young man
doesn't think of his stomach, does he?
No, he does not, and the quick lunch
habit is the result"