The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1911-03-20
YOUR COOK WOULD
PROBABLY RESIGN
If, as on Dining Car, Had to
Prepare Meal for 100
in a Toy Kitchen.
ti'aliadium Specially

New York, March 20.-What would
your cook say II you told her to pre-
pare q meal for one hundred guests.
and provided kitchen with a floor
space fourteen feet long and two and
onc-half feet wide and a pantry about
six BY four? II Is safe TO say that
she would give notice" before you
had time to explain that you wanted a
menu offering as wide choice as
that of the best hotels And II you add
ded that the kitchen and dining room
would be travelling at a speed Of from
fifty to seventy.five miles an, hour
while the meal was being cooked and
served. imagine the Indignation Of your
outraged servant.
Yet this IL what Is being done on the
railroads of the country every day and
these limitations imposed by the lack
of space and the necessity for speed
are not the greatest that must be over.
conc. Did you ever stop TO inquire
how the little restaurants darting
about the continent are stocked and
controlled? Hotel managers know
the difficulty of keeping track Of sup
plies and equipment when they are
standing In one place. but suppose
they were in fifty or sixty different 10
calities and moving as fast as power
full engines could haul them towards
fifty or sixty other localities! The
problem would then assume proper
lions that would make the hotel man
gasp.
Glimpse Into Workings.
The solving of the problem OF feed.
Ing the hundreds OF thousands WHO
travel on the American railroads each
day has been one OF the latest develop.
ments In railroading. A glimpse into
tho inside workings of the service is
Of interest to everyone who travels and
cats.
First. who Is IL that directs the ope-
ration of the errent dining rooms?
How is the control OF the cars and
their valuable perishable supplies cen.
tralized?
Different roads have different meth
DDS. OF course. but the system on those
which give the best service does not
vary greatly. On the Pennsylvania,
which was one of the pioneers in this
field, there Is a Superintendent of
Dining Cars and Restaurants with an
office In the new station In New York
City. who has charge Of the service on
the lines east of Pittsburg.
Under his supervision there are for
ty.cight steel dining cars, ten wooden
cars and six station restaurants. The
normal force OF employees working un-
der his direction Is about 1920. Last
year there were 100000 meals Served
In the dining cars on this road alone.
and 1,993.0O0 In the restaurants; a to-
tai of 3.1?3.0OO meals, everyone of
which had to be duly recorded and
checked against the amount OF sup
plies given out. and the cast receipts,
in the office OF the Superintendent.
Starting the Service.
Every year the dining car service Is
increasing In extent and In efficiency.
IL was not until the fall of 1882 that
the Pennsylvania began to serve meals
on It's trains. In that year four din
ing cars were put on the New York
Chicago Limited. In 1906 the com.
pany was operating AZ dining cars on
81 trains. while today there are IS
cars doins service on 92 trains.
The opening OF the new Pennsylvan-
In station In New York. marks a stage
In the development Of the railroad res.
turant that was not dreamed OF few
years ago. II is a long step from the
first modest lunch counters where
quick lunch" was grabbed and hastily
bolted. to this sumptous modern res
taurant which gives employment to
200 In the dining rooms and kitchens.
Everything about the place testifies
to the progress made In methods for
insuring cleanliness and In devices for
tightening labor. Every shelf In kit
chens and pantries Is OF metal. On
every hand there are large cold stor-
age refrigerators cleaning inside with
white enamel and tiles. 1t has been
said that the two dining rooms at the
head Of the stairway leading from the
arcade to the concourse. are from an
architectural standpoint the most
beautiful In the city.
Marvellous lnsenuiety. ...|
In the little dining car kitchen ev-
erything Is arranged with marvellous
ingenuity In the economy of space.
Rules issued to the chef provide for
the very best of everything entrusted
to him. Here are some of them:
Fresh Meats--Loins. roasts. lamb
and mutton racks. veal. etc., drawn
for outgoing trip. must be placed with
bone or rib downward. on wooden rack
at bottom of refrigerator; rack to be
raised about two inches to allow air
to circulate around meat.
"Hsh-This Is the most delicate of
supplies. easily affected by change of
temperature: requires constant care.
ard should be kept in compartment of
chill box next to sing. we'll packed in
ice.
Fresh Observation-Disclosures new
beans. chives. green corn. green peas
and Kindred supplies. which are east.
~ affected by change Of temperature.
should be kept In locker next to milk
compartment of chill box.
''COndemnation--Su on hand
ut the end Of trip must be carefully
Inspected by steward, chef, and pan.