Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-08-03

POW many thirsty mortals ever slop
Fl TO consider the habits and occu-
/ 1 nation of the human machine In
..,L,.o coo+ and apron who handles Win
,,oh oonsummate skill and d1sdain1ui
o,,oh.1,nce the delectable mixtures ana
ooncoctions that fizz so seductively IN the
1900. an the white marble counter OF
the soda fountain? How many reails
know anything of the soda clerk Jop'
more than that he is variety OF .he
genus waiter and that he can ten inc
difference between a chocolate nut sun
dae and an egg phosphate?
Thousands of people every day during
the summer season crowd the stores ol
Washington in quest of cooling uecoc-
lions to ouench their gilt-edged thlrsts
and at the same time tickle their palates'
vet few of them could tell of half the
duties and vicissitudes incumbent upon
the daily routine life of the boy behind
the soda fountain counter. nor have they
anv accurate idea of the size and scope
of the business OF dispensing soft drinks.
The dizziness and speed with which
some of the dispensers OF soda at the
larger downtown fountains go ABOUT
their work is nothing snort OF awe
inspiring if one forgets ones drink for
a moment and stops to watch. There Is
one tall, broad-shouldered youth VINO
holds forth at downtown fountain
who is particularly speedy. Durlng
rush hours he has been known 10
nine to ten a minute. which means one
customer served every six seconds. He
Is an old hand at the business, and has
the statistics Of his fountain at ms
fingers ends. The figures which he
mentions are startling.
X +
"Of all the syrups and favorings used
at this fountain" he says, chocolate
is by far the most popular. Very often
as many as fifteen gallons of this
fiavoring pass across the counter in
one day. and it is necessary to keep
four soda pumps continually filled with
it to supply the huge demand Next
to the chocolate in public favor is
lemon. Some idea Of the relative popu
larity Of chocolate over all other
flavors may be gained by observing
that almost three times as much Of
chocolate as Of lemon flavoring Is sold,
the daily demand for lemon amounting
to six gallons at this fountain.
Zone drink that Is becoming increas-
ingly popular is the limeade. 1t is sold
at every fountain Of any size in the
city and, unlike some other drinks, is
uaVOreO Win the ITeSH juice. Our
fountain dispenses regularly each day
800 glasses of this drink. Cherry phos-
pilates. cherry sundaes and cherry
cocktails are also much in demand
The cherry cocktail is put UP in fancy
style with bits OF lemon and cracked
ice, and looks as though it might be
the real thing.
1.-The soda fountain nowadays, you
know, Is coming to rival the quick-lunch
establishment. Every day. from IL O clock
in the morning until 2 and 3 in the
afternoon. We handle large lunch trade
with business menu who seem to prefer
milk and egg drinks to pie and ham sand
wiches. In order to make up enough of
these food drinks to meet the daily
call for them we consume on an aver
age ten dozen eggs and $50 quarts of
milk and cream every twenty -four hours.
/ have found in my work here that it
Is principally the men who order the
heavy drinks. such as milk shakes and
egg phosphates; the women come in to
crafty their tastes rather than their
appetites, and with them we do an i'm
mense trade in ice cream sodas and
sundaes.