 | MORE STATISTICS. Saratoga in 1901 |  |
MORE STATISTICS.
To-day I have been in silent communion with my old statician.
Together we have revelled in statistics. We got hold of the
steward of Congress Hall. He has a good memory and seventeen
books full of figures to refer to. His name is J. D. Crawford.
He stays down in the rear of Congress Hall, where all the provisions
for the Hall are received. He has two boys, who do
nothing but count, multiply, and divide. (They count on living
an easy time, multiply Crawford's cares, and divide the profits.)
I want you to understand that my statistics are exact. I take
them from the books. I “went for” Crawford thus (“went for”
is quoted from Bret Harte):
“How many chickens do you use per day, where are they gotten,
who gets them, and what do they cost apiece?”
Crawford—“We use 900 chickens daily. We have 10 chicken
men in Washington and Saratoga counties. They travel all the
time. The chickens cost 31 cents apiece.”
“Where do you get your meats, why do you get them there,
and who gets them?”
Crawford—“Our beef comes from New York. We use 1,000
pounds daily. C. L. Williams is our beef man. We only use
the rib and loin of a beef. It costs 25 cents per pound. Our
mutton costs 18 cents, barring it's lamb, then it costs 15 cents.
It comes from our butchers here. The reason we get our beef
in New York is because if butchers here were to furnish it they
would be overstocked with an excess of coarse meat. We only
use the best cuts. We pay $2 per hundred freight on beef from
New York.”
“Eggs?”
Crawford—“We use 800 eggs per day. They cost 25 cents
per dozen. B. Brigs furnishes them from Washington and
Saratoga counties.”
“Butter?”
Crawford—“We use 300 pounds daily. It costs 25 cents per
pound. It comes from our farmers. If I run short I raise the
price a cent or two, and a tun of butter will come in in a day.
The farmers hear of these little advances very quick.”
“Peaches, apples, melons, nuts, fish, and soft-shell crabs?”
Crawford—“Mr. Williams, who furnishes the beef, sends these
from New York.”
“Berries?”
Crawford—“Mrs. Morris furnishes the berries from North
Greenfield Centre. She keeps 20 women picking all the time.
She furnishes 200 quarts of blackberries and red raspberries per
day—price 18 cents per quart.”
“Woodcock and game?”
Crawford—“Our woodcock and game comes from the fields
own hunters. Woodcock cost $1.20 per pair, trout 60 cents, and
black bass 50 cents per pound. We get our Spanish mackerel
and salmon from the sea and from Pennoyer and Van Antwarp's,
in Saratoga. We have had as many as 800 woodcock and 1,500
chickens on ice at one time.
“Our game makes a good deal of trouble. It is from this the
waiters make their perquisites. If we put woodcock on the bills,
125 waiters are sure to want them whether the guests ordered
them or not. Just imagine 125 crazy waiters shouting, fighting,
and scuffling for woodcock.
“The cook-room becomes a pandemonium, and it frequently
resolves itself into a question of physical strength as to who shall
have the best dishes. The waiters only stay two months, so they
don't care much about discipline. Each one fights for his `own
table.”'
“Then, if you were a guest, you would pick a table with the
strongest waiter?”
“Just so. A big fellow is sure to knock all the little fellows
out of joint, and secure two plates of woodcock. But don't tell
the hotel people this—they'd all want the big waiters.”
Congress Hall cost $750,000.
Length of exterior frontage, 1,200 feet.
Number of rooms, 600.
Number of doors, 900.
Number of windows, 1,200.
Accommodations for 1,200 guests.
Carpeting, 7 acres.
Length of halls, 1½ miles.
Ball room cost $6,500.
Proprietors, H. H. Hathorn, R. H. Southgate, and C. F.
Southgate.
Room clerk, Frank H. Hathorn; Cashier, E. H. Rodgers;
Counter clerks, F. H. Hathorn, Union Springs, N. Y., and D. B.
Young, Saratoga.
| MORE STATISTICS. Saratoga in 1901 | |