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By H. D. Dwight

In order to make our soda fountain attractive, we have put in one of the most elaborate and sanitary fountains we could procure. Our store being located near the theatres, we have made it a point to give quick service to after-theatre trade. The light lunch business has been developed at our fountain probably more than many would favor, but it has given the results. Our latest innovation is the serving of pancakes, which are baked while you wait. I cannot tell how this experiment will turn out, as we have just started in. It was meant more as an advertisement than anything else, and to get the people talking. For several years we have served all kinds of sandwiches, oyster patties and hot chicken pies at our fountain, and we thought we would go one step further. We always serve a paper napkin with every glass of soda and every hot drink. This gives an impression of neatness which is not lost on the customer. As a means of increasing business, we encourage people to drop in and wait for the car, or to meet their friends. Quick Lunch at a Chicago Fountain.

Though many a popular women's restaurant began life as a confectionery shop, where small wafers were served at the soda fountain, few drug stores have had the courage to overturn precedents and serve a real meal at the soda fountain. Such, however, is the innovation introduced at the new Chicago store of the Central Drug Company by G. F. Simons, who has charge of the soda fountain. He thought it would pay to serve quick lunches, and he had the courage of his convictions in spite of ridicule. When the winter season began, the Central Drug Company began serving a small variety of sandwiches and cakes. The innovation took but little advertising. The store of the company is in one of the big Chicago office buildings, where many physicians and dentists are located. Throughout this building cards were sent announcing that a light and tasty lunch would thereafter be served, and that busy men and women, who had acquired a distaste for the so-called "quick lunch," would find quick and clean service. The scheme caught on at once, and today, between the hours of 12 and 2, the long counter before the fountain is crowded by customers, getting what is truly a quick lunch, palatable and immediate.

Mr. Simons limits the bill of fare to five sorts of sandwiches-among which is one known as the Central sandwich, a sort of cold club sandwich in which ham takes the place of bacon and cakes, the most popular among which is the Central home-made doughnut. On Fridays he serves an egg sandwich. There is a small but well arranged kitchen directly beneath the fountain, with dumb-waiter connection; thus quick service and freshness of food are assured.

How to Run a Hot Soda Apparatus Profitably.

BY MR. CHARLES L. BERRY, JOHNSTOWN, PA.

Prize article contributed to James W. Tufts' contest. The almighty dollar, which is the goal of every business man, is not merely a fair-seeming mirage, but becomes a cash reality to the possessor of a hot soda fountain from which good drinks are served. The dispenser of such beverages, who faithfully supervises or personally attends to the proper care and management of his fountain, finds that tempting hot drinks laugh failure in the face and coax the hoarded coins out of the tightest purse.

Many dealers have attempted to sell hot soda, and failed to make it pay. Others have reversed this order of things, and found the hot soda fountain very profitable. Why is this? Simply because the one class of dealers give the hot soda business that thought and constant attention which it requires and deserves, and the other overlooks some important detail or details.

The first important step in the hot soda business is to procure a fountain that makes a good show and is of modern construction. A fine apparatus attracts trade, and you want all the new customers you can by this means get into your store. A stylish hot soda apparatus attracts trade like a magnet. Persons of refinement and those accustomed to the luxuries of modern life patronize that which appeals to their love of the beautiful as well as to their sense of taste. You must tickle the fancy as well as the palate. All, even those from the poorer walks of life, enjoy luxury and elegance. For this reason, it pays to have accessories about the fountain corresponding with it in attractiveness. Let your china cups be dainty and shining. Keep your spoons, spoon holders, cream pitchers, trays, etc., which should all be of silver, scrupulously clean and highly polished. See that your marble slab is dry and clean. Use clean, dry towels and plenty of them. Don't use a wet sponge, unless you use a dry towel afterwards. A sponge leaves the marble damp, and the resulting spots on your customers' clothes dampen their enthusiasm for your store.

Do not make a failure of your hot soda business by allowing soiled cups and spoons to stand on your soda counter. It is of the greatest importance that such articles should be instantly removed and placed out of sight of customers. Do not fill the cup to overflowing, and if a saucer is used be sure not to allow the beverage to slop over into it. With the modern automatic heat regulator you can adjust the temperature of the beverage served to a nicety, and feel perfectly sure that whether many or few drinks are dispensed, all are served at the exact degree of heat required. Tastes differ, and you must learn to cater to them. Serve all the popular drinks,-beef tea, clam bouillon, tomato soup bouillon, etc. Besides these, serve the old "stand-bys,"-chocolate, coffee and lemonade. Unless you dispense a finished beverage, serve chocolate both from the syrup, as used in cold soda, and to order from powdered chocolate or cocoa sweetened with loaf sugar. Ask customers which they prefer.

Another important thing is to let people know you have hot soda to sell. If you run a newspaper "ad" occasionally, call attention to your hot drinks. Make use of your window, displaying therein signs printed from stencils, or, if you are handy with a brush, paint them on cardboard. Make your sign short and to the point. The following suggestions may help you, "Hot Soda: - Hot as it ought to be; sweet as you like it." "Hot Soda: -Clam Bouillon, strengthens weak stomachs." "Hot Soda: - Makes you forget this cold weather." "Hot Soda:- Hot Lemonade will cure your cold." "Hot Soda: - Beef Tea will make you strong." "Hot Soda: - Hot Ginger for the stomach's sake," "Hot Soda: - Served as it ought to be." "Hot Soda: -Clam Bouillon makes good red blood." "Hot Soda: - Beef Tea makes real muscle." When an idea suggests itself to you, write it down, and you will find that in a short time you will have a collection of good trade-catching phrases that can be used to good advantage in arresting the attention of passers-by.

Hot soda, like cold, is mostly "catch trade." People, as a rule, do not start out with the intention of getting a soda"; and you must have something to "put them in the notion." When you get them to your fountain once, take advantage of the opportunity. Serve a rich, palatable beverage. Be courteous and genial; give them that "at home" feeling; serve your drinks so as to please the most fastidious, and, as a reward for your efforts, they will become regular customers. Don't be stingy with your syrups and cream. This mistake is made by a good many dispensers of hot soda. It is false economy-" Penny wise and pound foolish." By saving a half cent on your beverage, you will lose dollars by driving people away from your fountain. Comfortable chairs are useful adjuncts to the hot soda business. Even though in a hurry, many people like to sit while partaking of your daintily served hot drinks, and will appreciate your efforts for their comfort. Serve crackers or dainty little biscuits on a neat dish or tray-not one, but several. Clam bouillon, beef tea, or chocolate, served with crackers, makes quite a tempting little lunch, and people thus tempted soon find that their day is not complete without a "hot soda" on their way home from business or from an evening's pleasure. Finally, if you would have your hot soda fountain pay- "Act well your part; there the almighty dollar lies."