Improvements in and relating to a Method of and Means for Cash Registering and Account Checking.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 20th June, 1893-Accepted, 12th Aug., 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to a Method of and Means for Cash
Registering and Account Checking.
I, JOHN TYLER HICKS, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at
86 Sumner Street, in the City of Boston, County of Suffolk and State of
Massachusetts, one of the United States of America, Merchant, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
Heretofore it has been and it now is extremely important for restaurant and
hotel keepers to be able to ascertain accurately whether or not the different
articles delivered to the different waiters by the kitchen, bar, cigar stand, and
other departments are all properly accounted for and paid for to the cashier,
and whether or not the cashier makes proper return of the moneys paid to him
by the customers. Waiters favor customers by giving them smaller checks, or
charging them less amounts than they should, either in the hope of a gratuity from
the customer, or sharing the discount in direct collusion with him, and sometimes,
when it is feasible, either carelessly or intentionally permitting customers to leave
without paying anything whatever. The cashier also reports less cash than he has
received, and when there is no dishonesty, the negligence of waiters and of cashiers,
which cannot be discovered, and therefore cannot be controlled, has in like manner
caused heavy losses to their employers.
This evil is so great that many elaborate systems have been devised to overcome
it, but have thus far met with imperfect success. Intricate and costly machines
have been introduced, which though expensive and difficult to successfully operate,
have sold, largely because of the wide-spread appreciation of the absolute
necessity of some means which shall enable the hotel and restaurant proprietor
to detect the carelessness or dishonesty of particular individuals in his employ.
The object of my invention is to accurately check the account of each individual
waiter and of the cashier.
To carry my invention into effect, I provide each waiter with slips of paper
bearing some mark which shall distinguish the slips from those used by any other
waiter in the same establishment, and I provide the person in charge of each
department which fills an order given by waiters, with a sheet or sheets of paper,
also so marked that a particular sheet or column shall be appropriated to each of
said waiters, and to him only. These marks may be the name of the waiter, or a
number, or the color of the paper, or any arbitrary symbol, though in practice I
have given a number to each waiter, and require him to wear a badge showing it,
and provided one sheet for each department to be ruled lengthwise into parallel
columns, each headed with a corresponding number, and believe this to be the
easiest and simplest way of connecting the waiter, the slip used by the same waiter,
and the sheet or column appropriated to him by each department.
Figure 14 of the drawings represents such a sheet as is used by the different
departments, which is marked A, and Figure 1B such a slip as is used by the
waiters, which is marked a. In Figure 1B the slip a is marked "Waiter No. 1
indicating that it is used by the waiter designated by that number, and in Figure 1^
the sheet A is prepared for an establishment having six waiters.
When a customer gives an order, if, for instance, for food, the waiter who
receives it goes to the kitchen and repeats the order, passing one of his said slips,
either at that time or when the order is filled, to the chief of that department.
When the order is filled, the plate or tray containing it passes in sight of said
chief, who notes what is on the plate or tray and enters the selling price of the same

page_text: in duplicate, on said slip and on the sheet or column appropriated to the waiter and
returns the slip to the latter. The slip is then taken by the waiter to the customer
with the order.
3
Each item of the order may be entered separately on the slip and on the sheet,
if so desired, but in practice I have found it more convenient and usually
sufficient for the purposes of my invention to enter the whole of any one order as a
total.
If any subsequent order is given. by the same customer, the same process is
repeated, to whatever department the order goes, and the price of the order is
entered upon the same slip, and is also charged to the same waiter on the sheet or
column appropriated to him by the department which fills the order.
When the customer has bought all he wishes he pays the sum of all the charges
on the slip to the cashier, who takes the slip from him and retains it till the end of
the day.
Subsequent orders received by the same waiter from other customers are entered
for each customer on a separate slip belonging to said waiter, but are entered by
each department in the same column or on the same sheet appropriated to said
waiter, as already explained.
At the close of the business, or whenever desired, the sum of the slips of each
waiter in the hands of the cashier can easily be compared with the sum of the items
charged to him by the departments collectively, and the amount charged to all
the waiters with the sum of all the items of all these slips in the hands of
the cashier and with the cash reported by the latter. If there has been no
negligence or dishonesty, the accounts will agree, and if there has been any, so
that the accounts do not agree, it is perfectly easy to ascertain the person who
is at fault.
Figures 2 and 2B represent two slips marked b and c respectively and used by
the same waiter, No. 6.
Figures 2, 20, and 2 represent three sheets for three departments, namely,
D, used by the kitchen, E, used by the wine room or bar, and F, used by the
cigar stand.
In the example represented by these sheets and slips and the entries
upon them, a customer is to make two successive but separate calls for articles
furnished by the kitchen and sold for twenty, and seventy-five cents severally, and
next, to order from the wine room or bar, articles costing thirty cents, and to end
with an order for a cigar at fifteen cents. These respective sums are severally
marked by the heads of the several departments in the column No. 6, on the several
sheets, and are also simultaneously stamped in duplicate upon slip 6, Figure 2A,
when each order is delivered to the waiter. Another customer then enters and is
served from the bar, kitchen and cigar stand, in the order just named, and simul-
taneous entries of the value of the articles delivered to the waiter for him are also
in like manner marked in duplicate upon the slip e, Figure 2B and in column No. 6
of the proper sheet. The slips b and c and the sheets D; E, and F, show the
appearance of the ships when paid and in the hands of the cashier, and of the sheets
of the three departments at the end of the day so far as the sales to the two
supposed customers are concerned.
Figures 3A, 3B and 3° show three sale slips of waiter No. 3, marked respec-
tively d, e and f.. Figures 3", 3E 3F 3G, show four sale slips of waiter No. 5,
marked respectively g, h, i, . Figures 3, 31, and 3, show three sheets used by
the kitchen, wine room or bar, and cigar stand, respectively, G, H, I. These
several sheets are all marked respectively with the selling prices of articles!
supposed to be sold by waiters Nos. 3 and 5, to successive customers, as will be
seen by inspection.
Should the first customer of a waiter not have finished his order from any
particular department before a second customer of that waiter begins to order from
that department, as, for instance, if Mr. A. orders from the kitchen an article worth
fifteen cents, then Mr. B. orders from the same, department something costing
50 cents, and Mr. A. afterwards further orders from. the kitchen something worth

page_text: 75 cents, it is evident that while on the slip given to Mr. A. and 'paid by him to
the cashier the two orders of Mr. A. will follow each other directly, the column.
appropriated to this waiter on the sheet of the kitchen department will slow the
order of Mr. B. stamped between the two orders of Mr. A., because each order is
charged to the waiter in his column at the moment of its delivery to him.
Figure 4 represents an extra sheet, especially adapted for use in the wine room,
This wine room sheet may often be used when the other main sheet or sheets
alluded to as forming part of my system are not employed. It may constitute either
a valuable adjunct to the rest of the system as already explained, or it may be used
separately, in furtherance of a novel and peculiar method of its own, disassociated
from the balance of the system. This separate use of the wine room sheet will
often be found convenient and desirable, and the present application is intended to
cover the same either per se or in conjunction with the entire method of account
checking.
The wine room sheet shown in Figure 4 is provided with the names of the various
kinds of wines and liquors procurable from the wine department, arranged preferably'
in parallel vertical columns, A', A³, and A³. At the left of column A is a suitably
ruled blank space B₁, and between the columns A1 and A2 is another suitably-ruled
blank space B2, while between columns A² and A' is another suitably-ruled blank.
space B³, and at the right of column A³ is another suitably-ruled blank space B*.
Referring now to each of the ruled blank spaces B', B' and B, it will be seen that
the left hand portion of each space has a heading "Quarts," while the right hand
portion of each space has a heading "Pints." Thus it will be seen that in column B'
opposite each of the names in column A' is a space wherein to indicate the
number of pints or quarts or the amount of the article ordered. In printing the list
of names of wines and liquors in columns A', A2, and A³, it is found most convenient
to indicate the prices of each article by half pint, pint and quart, so that such prices
may be readily observed. Of course I do not intend to be restricted to this precise
arrangement of names, prices, blanks, etc., but I do intend that the wine sheet
shall be printed with the list of the names of the various brands, and alongside of
these names, shall be blanks wherein to indicate the amounts of each one which
may be ordered from the wine clerk and delivered by him to the waiter.
ruled blank space B is intended for keeping therein a statement of the wines,
liquors, etc., that are received by the wine clerk each day. Said column may be
headed "Statement of Wines etc., received to-day," or any other suitable heading
may be given thereto. The balance sheet may be headed "Statement of Bottles
delivered to-day," or any other suitable heading indicating the same idea. There
may be a new sheet each day, as it is preferred that one sheet shall embrace only
the sales and receipts for one day. These sheets will all be carefully filed away!
after they have been used. Each sheet will be dated, and at the conclusion of the '
day's work, will he signed by the wine clerk, thereby constituting an accurate
verified statement of the manner in which the stock in the wine room has been
treated by him during the work of the day.
The
In Figure 5 I have shown another example of waiter's slip which is in use with
my method, having thereon separate columns for food, wine, and cigars, and which,
when the wine room sheet is employed in connection with the method, will of conse
come into play as a feature of the wine room method. When the wine room sheet
is used by itself, disconnected from the balance of the method, this slip shown in
Figure 5 needs only to have indicated thereon simply the charges for wine, without
the charges for food. This slip is intended to go to the customer with the order
and to be taken by him to the cashier when he settles his bill.
In Figure 6 I have represented a waiter's slip which is deposited with the wine
clerk whenever an order from the wine room is filled. When the waiter has an
order for anything from the wine room, the value thereof is marked up ev a slip,
like that in Figure 6, and it is handed to the wine clerk who delivers the article
to the waiter, takes the check and places it in a lock box or other suitable.
receptacle, and then marks in the proper column upon the wine sheet shown in

page_text: Figure 4, the quantity of the article ordered. Although the slips in Figure 6
contain the prices of the wines, yet in actual practice I find it most convenient not
to enter these prices upon the wine room sheet, but only the quantity, or size of the
bottle, the same being indicated in the quart or pint column, as the case may be.
Of course the aggregate price of the articles delivered in any one day from the
wine room, can be readily determined by comparing the quantity and the cost of
the bottles.
Now, as regards the manner of applying my method in actual practice, so far as
its use in the wine room is concerned. Suppose, for instance, that the waiter_goes
to the wine department with a wine check and calls for a bottle of Mumms Extra
Dry, the cost of which is $3.50 and presents a check with this amount ($3.50)
stamped thereon. At the same time the waiter has with him a food check on which
likewise the wine charge has been made, the said food check to be delivered to the
customer. These charges have been placed upon the checks by the central checker,
who occupies the central station and has the main sheet before him on which the
waiter has been charged with the food amounts, wine amounts, etc. The entering
of the charges upon these checks is therefore done by the central checker in most
cases, but obviously if the wine room alone is being used, the wine clerk may enter
the amounts in the wine check, the food check and the wine sheet, and in this case,
he may if desired, have a general sheet with a waiter's space thereon. Now the
wine clerk having received the waiter's check with $3.50 stamped thereon, will
deliver the bottle of wine to the waiter and then drop the wine check in the lock
box, and he will then stamp on the wine sheet in the line opposite Mumms Extra
Dry, the figure 1, meaning that one bottle has been delivered, said figure 1, being
entered in the line of "quarts," so as to indicate that it is a quart bottle. Thus
the business will be continued in this way throughout the day, and at the close the
wine clerk will sign his name to the wine sheet, take it to the central office with his
box containing the wine checks which have been received from the waiters, and
there the whole may be examined and it will be found that if everything is correct,
the value of the bottles delivered, as shown by the wine sheet, will agree with the
amount of wine checks in the box. Also it must be seen that the wine checks in
the box must agree with the charges made to them on the food sheet. The food
charges for each waiter must obviously agree and prove with the food charges on
the sheet of the checker. In fact all these various entries must prove and agree
with each other, and under this system it is impossible that there should be any
peculation or defrauding, not even by collusion between all the parties.
The invention accomplishes in practice amongst others, the following results, some
of which are accomplished by some of the machines and systems now in use, but all
of which it is believed, have never been accomplished by any machine or system
prior to this invention.
First: It enables the proprietor to readily ascertain whether the cash received
by him corresponds with the aggregate prices of all the articles sold by him during
any given period.
Second It enables the proprietor to ascertain the accuracy, care, and honesty of
each waiter separately, and of the cashier.
Third: It enables the proprietor to ascertain just what each waiter has done,
what he has sold, and how many customers he has served, and thus to judge of his
efficiency, energy, and value to his employer.
Fourth: If a customer leaves without paying his bill it enables the proprietor to
ascertain which waiter is at fault.
Fifth It distinguishes the receipts of the different departments, as separate
sheets are kept in each, and enables the proprietor to ascertain what is sold by each
department, as, for example, by the cigar stand, the bar, or the kitchen.
This may
be further aided by the use of different colored inks in the different departments, if
desired.
:
Sixth It promotes a saving in salaries and expenses of business, as each waiter
being aware that his comparative efficiency will be known to his employer, even if

page_text: the latter is absent from the room, will naturally try to do as much work as possible,
so as to show a good average and retain his position.
Seventh It protects the customer, as each order is charged separately, and at
the close a meal the price of each order, though not its nature, is seen. to have
been separately entered upon the slip, instead of a single check for the whole meal
being given to the customer, the latter is enabled the more readily to detect any
possible error and have it rectified. He is also more quickly served by the waiter,
whose interest has now become to serve him speedily, and less likely to be annoyed
by his waiter's loitering for tips, instead of attending to other customers.
:
Eighth In some hotels and restaurants, the employees are allowed to eat from
the bill of fare at will, without payment. With this system in use, requiring that
everything shall be charged to the waiter, whether served to a customer, an
employee, or the proprietor himself, and the further requirement that each person
permitted to eat without paying shall sign his name on the slip on which the value
of the articles consumed by him is entered, in order that the same may be deducted
from the amount for which the waiter is to be held liable, the proprietor will be
enabled to see if the privilege is being abused and by whom and to what extent.
Ninth Saving in expense over other cash registering or account checking
systems in use, and the combination in one system of the accurate registration of
cash received with the accurate checking of accounts.
:
Tenth If the system is properly used, it enables the landlord or restaurant
keeper to ascertain if all the slips have been paid by the customers of any waiter,
by simply counting the number of charges made against each waiter in all the
departments, and the number of items on such waiter's slips in the hands of the
cashier If they agree in number, it shows that all the slips have been paid. If it
is then desired to ascertain the amount of the sales made by such waiter, this can be
done by simply adding up his accounts with the different departments, without adding
up the amount shown by the slips. These will prove trial balances of the business
of such waiter, and if extended to the business of all the waiters, will serve as trial
balances of the whole business of the establishment, and can be taken by any
person who understands figures, even if wholly ignorant of book-keeping. This, in
many cases will enable the proprietor to avoid the expense of a trained book-
keeper.
It is evident that this system can be applied, not only to restaurants, but also to
all places where goods are sold, and whether there is one department only, or more,
and that the dishonesty or carelessness of any employee cannot fail to be detected
unless the clerk or waiter, the head of the department, and the customer are all
in collusion, which will not often occur.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
restaurant
1. The herein-described improved means for securing hotel or
proprietors or others from losses by the peculations of waiters, cashiers, or other
employees, which consists of a sheet, provided with separate spaces, having suitable
headings substantially as described, said headings being designatory of the several
waiters to whom the several spaces on the sheet are individually appropriated, in
conjunction with separate slips each so marked as to indicate the waiter using it,
whereby the selling price of all the articles sold may be entered in duplicate, once
upon the slip of the waiter making the sale, and once upon his allotted space upon
the main sheet, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
2. The herein-described improvement in the art of securing hotel or restaurant
proprietors and others from losses by the peculations of waiters, cashiers or other
employees, which consists in providing separate slips for the waiters, each so
marked as to indicate the waiter using it, and in entering upon the slip belonging
to each waiter, the amount of each sale that he makes, and also in providing a
main sheet having separate spaces for the different waiters and suitably marked to

page_text: correspond with the numbers of the waiters and of their slips and in entering upon
said main sheet all the amounts marked upon the waiters' slips so that there may
thus be a duplication of the entries, substantially in the manner and for the purpose
specified.
3. The herein-described improved means for securing hotel or restaurant
proprietors or others from losses by the peculations of waiters, cashiers, or other
employees, which consists of a checker sheet provided with separate spaces having
suitable indications thereon designatory of the several waiters to whom the several
spaces on the sheet are individually appropriated, in conjunction with separate
waiter's slips, one for the customer and one for the wine or other department, both
so marked as to indicate the waiter using them, whereby the price of the wines or
other articles sold belonging to any particular department, may be entered in
triplicate, once upon the checker sheet, once upon the slip for the customer, and
once upon the slip for the wine or other department, substantially as described.
restaurant
4. The herein-described improvement in the art of securing hotel or restaurant
proprietors and others from losses by the peculations of waiters, cashiers, or other
employees, which consists in providing separate slips for the waiters, each so marked
as to indicate the waiter using it, one being for the customer and one for the wine
or other department, and in entering upon the slip belonging to each waiter the
amount of each sale that he makes, and also in providing a main sheet having
separate spaces for the different waiters and suitably marked to correspond with
the numbers of their waiters and of their slips and in entering upon said main
sheet, all the amounts marked upon the waiters' slips, substantially as described.
5. The herein-described improved means for securing hotel or
proprietors or others from losses by the peculations of waiters, cashiers, or other
employees, which consists of a checker sheet provided with separate spaces having
suitable indications thereon designatory of the several waiters to whom the several
spaces on the sheet are individually appropriated, a wine room sheet marked with
the several articles procurable in that department and separate waiters slips, one
for the customer and oue for the wine or other department, said slips being so
marked as to indicate the waiter using them, whereby the sales of the wine or
other department may be entered in quadruplicate, once on the checker sheet, once
on the wine room sheet and once on each of the two slips, substantially as described.
6. The herein-described improved means for securing hotel or restaurant
proprietors or others from losses by the peculations of waiters, cashiers, or other
employees, which consists of a sheet for the use of the wine or some other
particular department, marked with suitable designations indicating the articles
furnished by the department, with suitable blanks for the quantities of the articles,
in conjunction with separate slips for the waiters. each so marked as to indicate the
waite using it, whereby the sales may be entered in duplicate, once upon the main
sheet and once upon the ship of the waiter making the sale, substantially as
described.
7. The herein-described improved means for securing hotel or restaurant
proprietors or others from losses by the peculations of waiters, cashiers, or other
employees, which consists of a sheet for the use of the wine department, marked
with suitable designations indicating the articles furnished by the department, with
suitable blanks for the quantities of the articles, in conjunction with separate slips
for the waiters, and so marked as to indicate the waiter using it, one slip being
Interded for the customer and one for the wine department, whereby the selling
price of the various articles sold may be entered similarly upon the two slips,
while the quantity of the articles sold may be entered upon the wine 100m sheet,
substantially as described.
1900
JENSEN & SON,
77, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Patent Agents.