The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-24
DINNER FOR 13 CENTS
py IMAGERY WELLS

How would you like to buy dln- ner for 13 cents?--a good dinner too' Ii can be done in some parts of the world and while, IS not possible to transport the idea in all ot its giory and fulfillment to America, one can see the story, if only to give 10 New York housewives Vlsion coH.piele where their rosiest dreams might De realized
 Of course, the Recent mark IS the lowest one and it is supplied by a unique organization in the nature ol A community kitchen, but 13 cents the price remains and the bill or iare' for example, is this: Noodle soup' ta large and generous helping). Green peppers filled with chopped meat and rice. baked and served with rich, brown gravy. Fried potatoes and piece of cake. There is no bread and butter-but wait a minute, does that meal need bread and butter to make it complete. Of course no. It has all the food values necessary and IS as good as many body mas served in the hone for a perfectly good din- ner. Now consider the place where it complete. Of courseN not, it has with panellel wooden walls in dark brown, and an 'arched ceiling With beams of the same dark-toned wood. The tables are long and narrow, or the reflector type. They are or the dark wood and the chairs match them. There are no table cloths, but the tables are warshed off frequently and kept quite spotlessly clean. Maids with plain calico print frocks, white aprons and white wrappcd caps, tied about their heads, serve the various courses and, fH all re- spects, one finds comfortable and wholesome meal. The people who come there are, as one might ex- pect not of the millionaire class, nor are they frumps or down-and-outs. They are those who, for one reason or another. cannot afford to make Of their meals any exhibition Of lavish- ness. There are students, both men and women. There are people who, most evidently, have seen better days but who have no intention of losing their caste or position by reason Of their misfortunes. There are clerks, stenographers, dressmakers, shop girls. And they come there not only to eat, but to rest and to take their time about the business of consum- ing this large and elegant meal. or course, the incomes of these people are not so great as those of the sane variety of folks at home, but their way of spending their own small sums seems pleasanter, somehow.
 
 But now we will go on up tho scale to those who are better fixed. to those whose incomes are greater in proportion. A dinner at 50 cents is normal and that includes all tha, is necessary, the cooking and the taste being excellent to the last de- gree. For an after-the-theatre sup per, served with all luxuriousness, in a place decorated after the modern ,,.t n a on the side, a meal for two comes to o1,50, and one then emerges from that experience with the feeling that ones place has been among the best and most elite of society.
 At this rate, you know, the having of a good time is much less of an eff fort than it is on Broadway, and the relief of finding prices within the compass of an ordinary purse IS something that carries along with 1t that which approaches thrill. And this all happens in Austria, where the exchange Is more or less stable; that is where the worth of an Amer ican dollar is a thing of some firm standing and does not fluctuate from day to day.
 On a menu which you are con- fronted with an order of spinach for less than five cents, there is oc- casion to faint away, if you are a mere American. And when healthy order of roast beef, ample provision for two and no complaint at serving it in this fashion. faces one at 30 cents, you can only wonder at the natives who scowl and complain loudly because the prices are too high. They are not loath to give their opinions about what they con slider overcharging. It is their habit 10 be thrifty and they carry out the idea in full measure,