The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-04-20
SHARE N u
CAFETERIA PROFITS
4 ~

Denver, Colo. April 1s.-Divfdends
paid in food.
That's the novel profit-sharing n1an
on which one Denver cafeteria oper-S
ates. Every patron of this hand tH4
down dining room not only helps To
pay the dividend, but also shareS Ia
the profit. ID. ss@ /
An effort has been made to keep
dividends from accommodating Bot tn
spite of this the management has
found 1t necessary to declare a profit
bonus blowout at least once every
two months. Every time the Treasury
shows surplus OF any proportions, q
committee on management buys food
with the funds. invites several of,,fhe
steady patrons of the place to ban
quet. and blows the whole wntks"
for food.
That n slighY 10 any Of the steady
customers" may be avoided, an alpha 4
oetcai list of the proft~sharers nj
eacn banquet is kept, and no one iy I'm.
Vlted twice until all the others have
mao their "rurn" at the table. Another
way Of keeping down profits Is the
giving away each day Of one nneak
The fellow who finds Corn pltn1entary
written on the back IF his check
gets by the cashier without q fasf
of coin.
Only the best food on the market
is purchased for this novel. eating
place, and it is prepared in the old
fashioned home cooking style tile
gray haired old fellow who does the
preparing doesn't call himself a
chef. He's Just plain, eyery day
cook" He learned the trade in the
old school of lumber camps. where
they served real food TO really hungry
men His biscuits, for instance arr
the white. fluffy. crisp crusted, melt
| in-your -mouth-kind and. his other
productions are equally attractive to
a robust appetite.
And there's nothing scrtmpy or
sfingy about the portions. A slice OF
roast beef is a slice off prime ribs
| cut medium thick and served WITH a
! rich natural sauce that bears the
| flavor of fat, corn-fed beef THE
| cost is fourteen cents. Other prices
are proportfonately reasonahl Pies
! with n thick center md thin crust
! are s cents a wedge. Individual
! chicken pie is / 3 cents. fee cream
| cents: candied sweet potatoes 5 cents.
| lima beans 4 cents, other vegetables
cents. That's merely sample. The
| variety is good II might be possible
| to eat more than 40 cents worth Of
| food at these prices. But the girls
| at the cash register say 1t isn't often
| done.
| The place maintains r. severn piece
| orchestra, and is the only restaurant
| in the city that clings to the cabaret
| style of an open dance floor in the
| big dinfng-room From noon until
| lis p. NJ this floor is as we'll patrons
lied as n shirtwaist bargain SAKE.
| Another attraction is a. roof garden
| overlooking n panorama in green that
| stretches twenty miles to the foothills
| of the Rockies.
| The Big Boss OF those who nafrnnize
| this economy lunch room is not afraid
| OF Tire cheap food. He totes tray
| and eats at the mixed table, right
| along with the hired help" At one
| side Of the same board there may be
| half dozen fannel-or blue-ahirted
| men sandwfched between as many
| girls--some in silks, some in ging
| hams On the opposite side of the
table is the 12.o00-a-year sales man
ager. fianked on one side by hard
| handed master mechanic, on the other
| by f1abby- listed accountant -,
Some 500 persons daily patronize
this cafeteria on the roof of one of
the units of the Gates Rubber com
pany In South Denver Charles c.
Gates, founder and head of the cor
poration, six days a week eats.
32-cent MONDAY meal with the rest
| OF the boys" So does John c.
Gates, another officer OF the com parry.
and so the heads OF virtually every
| department of the business.
The room Is operated under the
direction of committee of en- p1oyes,
and the heads OF the firm have moth
ing to do with its upkeep and manage
| ment
II thu company fs entertaining 3
| millionaire machinery rnagnate from
whom 1t has purchased equipment, or
| if a British capitalist and owner OF
| Malay peninsula rubber plantations
from whom the Gates company buys
its rubber is the guest, these fellows
lug their own trays and eat two-bit
I lunches with 'the gang sst