New-York tribune., 1921-04-17


those who come by It naturally and
IA those who have it thrust upon them.
In the latter class fall the inevitable
Of noontime pcknickers who pat
ronize the name-yo own-check lunch count
ers.
Unbelievable as the hypothesis may be, there
are restaurants, scattered generously about
the metropolitan district, that do business in
spired by sublime faith in the daily honesty
of the fetcherzing proletariat In brief, they
permit the patron to make out his own bill
and settle on his own terms with the cashier
Worked out to the nth power, the astonish-
ing system goes something like this: The pro-
spective diner enters the swarming place
through double doors, along with some two
hundred-cdd other hungry citizens Once
safely by the sharp-eyed sleuth who guards
the entrance, he is free man. He can wan
der around the counters indefinitely, selecting
a side order of brased veal, with turnips,
here ana rice pudding there. He can eat
for four hours four minutes, depending on
his appetite and the length of time he can,
with discretion, stay away from his Office.
When he is all through-fled to the neck
he passes out on the right, paying whatever
he thinks is an adequate amount for the nour-
ishment received. 1t is absolutely up to him.
All of this happens not in Utopia, nor in
Soviet Russia, but right in Manhattan N Y,
the one town on the map that invariably takes
it for granted that all men are created buns
and buncoes.
Take a drug store in neighborhood that
passes for being infinitely respectable. A
customer bearing all the outward appearances
of being of means and morals, holds a
17-cent check between his fingers and timidly 5
tries to urge the presiding genius behind the /
fountain to mix him up frosted vanilla milk
shake l.
"Nickel more,' growls the genius, glaring
coldly al the 17-cent check.
Does he make any motions toward stirring
up the frosted vanilla until the extra nickel
is securely banked and recorded? He does.
not. You can't trust nobody N this bu
ness is his frank way Of expressing it.
Imagine d garage man greeting his Gus
toner with, Just help yourself to gasoline,
Mr.. Aubrey, and let know how much you
take
Take the amusement houses, the transpor-
tation lines the butcher, the barber, the baker
and the out-of date candlestick maker They
all have elaborate systems, based on the pri-
mary principle that any man will cheat if he
gets opening. They trust mankind nc
nearer than the threshold of the outside vesti-
bule door, They have to exert every precau-
tion to make decent living, they say.
And yet in this same town of the barred
door and the burglar-proof silverware lunch
counters can operate on a straight honor sys-
TEN and make money
Owe have been doing business for the
last thirty-six years with a proposition based
the idea of the average man being honest"
. said the vice president of corporation oper-
ating a large chain Of business mems lunch
counters.
'In that time we have expanded from
little two-by-four place down in the financial
district to concern controlling thirty-odd
restaurants, which is rather vivid testimony
that the average man is honest. We keep
no statistics the matter, but | should say
offhand that at least 95 per cent are in
stinctively honest
"The average man coming into place that
serves good food at reasonable prices is not
going to try to beat the concern out of 10
or 20 cents Of course, there is an occasional
person, particularly bcy,. who sees an op-
portunity to come in and eat rs cents worth
and pay a quarter for it, That's why we
have spoilers the door. But the average
man is not molested, nor is there any one
prying into what he eats and how much h)
pays for it. His honesty needs no chaperoneA
This optimistic view of the human raceS
was confirmed by veteran sleuth who stands
at the main entrance of hourshing estab-
lishment in the heart Of the business district
"No, we don't have no trouble" he said.
"Just the two of us handle the crowd; me on
the door and the other man watching the
counters. It's easy"
1t didn't look easy, though, with the mobs
pouring in door and out the other Even
the best of sleuths would have to depend
mainly on snap judgment in spotting the per-
sons who came in under the impression that
they were entering free lunch Joint
"But they're mostly honest, anyway in
sisted the veteran. "You gotter watch whs
comes in the door, of course I can pick 'enr,
every time, the guys who forget half they've
eaten when it comes time to pay the check
We watch those guys and invite 'em not to
call too often. The others we don't bother.
They're too honest.
You know, folks in this town have got the
wrong idea about human nature. People
half bol ~