It Is,
Perhaps, Well Known That The Price For A Meal Anywhere On A Railroad
In The United States Is Fifty Cents.
That is the uniform price.
Would
that the meals were as uniform! But alas! a man might as well get a
quid of tobacco with his money, for he seldom gets a quid pro quo.
Once in a couple of days' travel you may perhaps get a wholesome meal,
but as a general thing what you get (when you get out of New England)
isn't worth over a dime. You stop at a place, say for breakfast, after
having rode all night. The conductor calls out, "Twenty minutes for
breakfast." There is a great crowd and a great rush, of course. Well,
the proprietor expects there will be a crowd, and ought to be
prepared. But how is it? Perhaps you are lucky enough to get a seat at
the table. Then your chance to get something to eat is as one to
thirteen: for as there is nothing of any consequence on the table,
your luck depends on your securing the services of a waiter who at the
same time is being called on by about thirteen others as hungry as
yourself. Then suppose you succeed! First comes a cup of black coffee,
strong of water; then a piece of tough fried beef steak, some fried
potatoes, a heavy biscuit a little sour (and in fact everything is
sour but the pickles). You get up when you have finished eating it
would be a mockery to say when you have satisfied your appetite and
at the door stand two muscular men (significantly the proprietor is
aware of the need of such) with bank bills drawn through their
fingers, who are prepared to receive your 50c. It is not unusual to
hear a great deal of indignation expressed by travellers on such
occasions. No man has a right to grumble at the fare which hospitality
sets before him. But when he buys a dinner at a liberal price, in a
country where provisions are abundant, he has a right to expect
something which will sustain life and health. Those individuals who
have the privilege of furnishing meals to railroad travellers probably
find security in the reflection that their patronage does not depend
on the will of their patrons. But the evil can be remedied by the
proprietors and superintendents of the roads, and the public will look
for a reformation in dinners and suppers at their hands.
I might say that from Benwood, near Wheeling where I arrived at
about four in the afternoon, having been nearly twenty-four hours
coming 875 miles I passed on to Zanesville to spend the night;
thinking it more convenient, as it surely was, to go to bed at eleven
at night and start the next morning at eight, than to go to bed at
Wheeling at nine, or when I chose, and start again at two in the
morning. The ride that evening was pleasant.
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