The weekly Iberian. (New Iberia, La.) 1894-1946, 1921-05-21
Felicia's "Quick
Lunch Room"
By CLARISSA MACKIE


| o. 1921, by Mcclure Newspaper Syndicate.
/ During their honeymoon the New
tons read poetry together There
would be so little time to do that
when they were settled down and
James had to hurry so much. And so
during this blissfu period, James
Newton frequently reminded his
charming wife that to him food was
a mere incident of life. Had not old
Omar said:
Here, with a Loaf of Bread beneath
the Bough
| A Flask of Wine. Book of Verse
and Thou
Beside me singing in the Wilderness
And Wilderness is Paradise enow."
fencla Newton listened and loved
her lord all the more for his indiffer-
ence to the material pleasures of eat
ing and drinking. But of course there
came an end to the honeymoon, and
ihere was the exquisite pleasure of
the return home to the new house in
the suburbs, the little round of social
ii
Dand off to catch the S:15 train to
town every morning. and wrestling
with the vagaries of an incompetent
cook.
Within one short week after their
return home James Newton had
ceased to quote Omar Khayyam, and
Felicia suspected tearfully that he
was yearning for the flesh pots of his
bachelor days. To tell the truth,
James was plainly dissatisfied Com
pared to the ruinous food that Biddy
served even the memory of downtown
whlte-tiled lunchrooms became endear-
ing. There followed days when he
quoted from the menus of his quick
lunch palace amid the skyscraperS,
and Felicia for the first time learned
that cOrned beef hash and griddle
cakes, well cooked, were esteemed by
her husband even above the peace and
refinement Of his own home, where
the table was spread with fine damask,
wedding silver and a centerpiece of
cut flowers.
looked ravishing In silk negligee with
a cobwebby lace cap on her sunny
head. isn't this heaps and heaps bet
ter than lunchroom which looks like
the inside Of refrigerator and all
kinds Of smelly things cooking
around?"
James peered into his cup Of weak
coffee, stared at the petrified hot IBIS
cults shifted at the greasy platter Of
blackened bacon and pushed back his
chair.
I'm hungry, Felicia" he said in |
strained tone. "Honest-to-goodness |
hungry for food! Can't you fire the
cook and get another one. darling"
Il will send her away today. JIM
N.Y." said Felicia meekly; "but 1 am
afraid l cannot get another one. l
tried the other day and Miss Minchin
said all she had was a girl who had
worked In a lunchroom-James New
TOM as his face frightened, would
you rather eat in that horrible white
than In our lovely din
ing room?"
1--WE got to eat somewhere, some
how, dear! l cannot eat Biddy's
burned stuff. cannot survive long
on the lovely table appointments or
browse on the bunch Of flowers, can
I? OF course not-good-by, honey I'll
have to race for that train after ALL"
So Jim raced for the train as he
did every morning, and Felicia stood
on the front porch and waved her
hand until he was out Of sight. Then
she turned back into the house and
sank down on the couch in the living
room. Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! all
the time," she groaned. James wants
his food prepared here so he can eat
and run in the morning and eat and
sit down and read at night-and-Fm
going to give it to him."
First, she cried, which cleared the
considerably. Then she
vent into the kitchen. paid Biddy in
leu of a months notice and let that
lamsel go. Then she telephoned to
Miss Minchin to send along the girl
Who had worked in lunchroom. The
est Of the day she spent shopping in
own and working feverishly in the
,retty, white-enameled kitchen with
he new girl, whose efficiency was
omewhat dazed by her young mis-
ress' astounding proposition.
Meanwhile, James has reached the
unchroom of his choice and enters .
o eat griddle cakes and coffee and ,
aeon and eggs. From the bottom of
is heart he loathes the whole tribe
f griddle cake bakers. During his
he had snatched hasty {
and luncheons from these +
,hite tables and he had hoped that
Q was done with them forever. Now I
e braced himself for the ordeal, en- c
cred and enjoyed a hearty meal
Beside Biddy's wreckage of food
his was nectar and ambrosia. At
Don he bolted down another meal n
18th less enthusiasm, and he began S
D look forward to the evening with t