New-York tribune., 1918-04-14

ooAs Oh payments are given upon PAYMENT In
aovance' greatly reducing bookkeeping and the
ooeher OF making change. They are redeem
aole Tor their full value when not used. On
'he next round the delivery car leaves you tho
meal according to the menu checked the day
before. Such is the attention and detail that
you Will find the courses stacked in the con-
talner IN the order served-soup at the top
dessert (if hot) at the bottom. The containers
are SO thoroughly insulated that they keen
1000 steamlng hot for hours. If you don't be-
lleve 1t try taking out an aluminium dish care
lessly and burn your fingers as did!
So much for bird's-eye view of what the
Service has set out to do and is already actu-
ally offering. Now for "close-up" of the ad-
ministrative end Of it, the actual workings in
detail, and, above all, the facts that make it's
operation at the figures quoted practical and
workable. The first station opened occupies an
American basement house on a residential
street. Save for large sign, "American
Cooked Food Service, Inc.," a small one, "Hot
Meals Delivered to Homes" and it's lavender
curtains, it looks like any othor house on the
block. Entering, you find yourself in white
paneled hallway, with the secretary at huge
desk opposite the fireplace. From the execu-
tive offices upstairs you hear the click of type
writer's, while in the hallway, if you call at the
delivery hour, the smartly lveried drivers, as
sisted by two men helpers, are taking out
long line of containers each with it's tag, from
the huge model equipped kitchen beyond
Later you see the president, Miss Jessie H.
Bancroft, who explains the question at once
uppermost in your mind, "At the prices how
can they afford to cook such meals and main
tain a motor delivery?" The answer lies partly
IN the fact that the project is backed by
group of public-sprited men and women who
are interested in it as social movement. They
became convinced that, particularly with pres
ent war conditions, there has come necessity
for drastic changes in our methods and modes
of living. At present the housewife, strug-
Cling under the handicap of war prices and
scarcity of domestic labor, is finding the
maintenance of an Individual kitchen a nany-
sided problem which involves heavy premium
on her time, and on service, food and fuel as
we'll.
In centralized kitchen may lie a possible
solution for many. Such efforts have often
failed because of lack of adequate funds or in
judicous management. Such cooperative plans
represent a highly specialized field which re-
quires much time to develop and a sufficiently
large clientele to make the work sef-sustain-
ing.
The organizers of this movement have made
of this first station laboratory in which to
test and standardze all the methods of
operation, intending to extend the service
throughout the city and to other cities through
out the country. That the project is timely
and urgently needed is shown by the fact that
this initial station, equipped to serve $50 daily,
with possible expansion to 500, was regis
tered to it's full capacity two weeks before it
opened and during the first few weeks of linn
tied trial service has registered over 1900 peo-
pie. To meet this demand the organization