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Dining Hall
Except for the hospital, the largest
building at the Central Branch is the dining hall. Two dining
rooms, each 90 by 130 feet, occupy the upper and lower floors.
The total dining space exceeds half an acre and 2,000 veterans
can be fed in one sitting. The
waiters
are so disciplined that only 20 minutes
are required to clear the tables, and prepare them for the second
2,000 veterans. Only physically qualified persons can be employed
in the dining room and kitchen. We currently have 46 waiters
and all are residents of the Home. After the first group of
veterans
has left the Dining Hall, a bell is rung and the army of waiters
dash in to remove the dishes, crumbs, and clean the
tables. The second group of veterans file
in with heaps of clean plates and bowls which they slap down
on the tables sounding like artillery. The meat is brought in
on huge trays, and the coffee is served from large tin pots at
the end of each table.
Kitchen
 A
large archway from the dining hall leads into the
kitchen. Here you can see the range, 20 feet
long, and vast
copper caldrons for cooking soup and vegetables. Seven
coffee boilers, each holding nearly 100 gallons of coffee, are filled
and emptied twice a day throughout the year. We currently employ
43 cooks, 17 bakers, and 36
dishwashers, and all are veterans of the
Home. Three thousand pounds of bread are baked every day, beginning
at midnight. It is kneaded in a steam-operated machine using
6 barrels of flour at a mixing. The machine is filled 3 times
using a total of 18 barrels of flour for a one-day supply of
bread.
Food
Here are some verified figures of quantities of food used. The
breakfast on Friday requires 7 barrels of mackerel, 54 bushels
of potatoes, and 560 gallons of coffee. Our Easter breakfast
required 1,200 dozen eggs. Forty sheep go in a
 potpie. One mess
of hash requires 900 pounds of corned-beef and 30 bushels of
potatoes. Twelve hundred pies are prepared for one day's dessert,
requiring 3 tubs of butter for the upper crust and 3 tubs of
lard for the lower. We use 12 barrels of apples for the filling.
We bake 400 square feet of gingerbread twice a week. On Christmas
Day, the veterans were treated to 400 turkeys, 7 barrels of cranberry
sauce, 1,200 mince-pies, and oysters, celery, and other delicacies.
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