The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1873-04-19 00:00:00

THE mminnupGr OBMIRVER.

about the most wasteful in the world, and with what
is admitted to be the very finest meat the very worst
resnlts ate produced. It often does one hear it said,
Oh, I don't care for your French dishes. Give me a
good rump steak." Well, those who know the Continent
know that no rump steaks or cutlets are to be got equal
to those one gets in France or Germany, and this with
the most vaatly inferior meat; and the superiority
simply consists in the careful and proper cooking. We
are insular in our eating as in our drinking, and equally
prejudiced on both subjects. For instance, when the
• armbe lauded at Varna the country literally
swarmed with land tortoises. The French caught
them by thousands and made soup of them, which was
quite equal to that greatest delicacy, the soup made
from the terrapin (a similar land tortoise)in the United
States. Yet the English would never touch them,
though the creatures abounded, and the few that tasted
in the French Quarters the delicious soup they made
bad not the moral courage to confess it, except in
confidence.

Again, as early as, the Alma, when rations weri
abuudmt, the French soldiers eat all the horses which
were killed in action, but of course the English would
not touch them, and lived on salt junk and biscuit,
while the French, with their rations of rice, had their
soups, their cutlets, aud even their improvised entries.
True it was all from harse-fleeh, bat they were horses
of the very finest kind, which had been killed in
the prime of life and vigour. Long before that
bitter winter was over the time had come when
the English would have eaten a horse, saddle and aI4
could they but have got one. But the horses died
before the soldiers, and as one horse could bring up
food for twenty men, it would have been the "golden
goose" policy to have eaten them. Yet, again, when
scurvy ett in among the allied armies, the French were
equal to the oceaeion. They improvised salads out of
the coarse grass, sorrel, and the pith of the huge thistles
that were abundant enough on the slopes of some of
the hills. If these did not make a first-class salad, they
at least made wholesome, fresh vegetable food, for the
want of which the English were losing scores of men
daily. Yet the English made no attempt whatever to
follow the simple example thus set them.

We might give other instances equally pertinent se
to the care with whivh food was utilieed froth in the
American and Franco-German war, but this would be
needless iteration. It is sufficient to nay, as we have
already intimated, that we are the most wasteful cook.
in the world—wa.teful in fuel and wakeful in food.
The liquor in which meat is boiled in Enkland—say a
leg of mutton or a couple of fowls—as a rule in most
middle•class houses gore down the sink, whereas with
a little seasoning, and a few vegetables boiled with the
meat, it would make a nutritious and palatable eoup
each as with bread would make a very material addi-
tion to the family meal.

With the present high prices of meat it behoves us
to think of three thitgi, and think of them very seri-
ously too. One often hears people my, "Oh, I would
rather starve than eat such and such things;" but this
is a mere locos de prefer which no one ever says who
has ever felt real hunger. When we say real hunger
we do not mean the hunger which is caused by what
is popularly known as very "slort commons," or
even the hunger produced by meagre diet. We
mean the hunger that arises from robust health,
open air, and exercise, and a total deprivation of
food for some 40 or 48 hours. It is astonishing what
people will eat then. The writer of this little notice
once had an owl for his dinner at Metz, and was glad
to get it, and thought it very good, though on the whole
other poultry is decidedly to be preferred. But no one is
likely to get an owl at the experimental cookery of
South Kensington. The school of lectures has simply
been established to teach economy in food and the
quickest and most palatable way of cooking. The
proof of the pudding, tc.. is an old adage, but the
proof was undertaken on Saturday evening last, when
Mr. Cole invited some visitors to hear a lecture from
Mr. Buckmaster, to witness the process of cooking,
and to dine on its results. The lecture was very short,
and simply pointed out such obvious truths as Ilngliala
housewives should be ashamed to require to be pointed
out to them. The old standing continental dish among
the artisan class, the pot au fru, had been made, and
on this, after the short lecture, the company dined.
The soup it furnished was excellent, and so also was
the meat which made it. Altogether it was ample
for 14 persons, and the cost was 6W. a head.

Of course, this was only one illustration of the many
which the lectures are to make clear, and the students,
if we may s r call them, who attend are not only to be
told what to do, but shown how to do it. Whatever
dish is prescribed is made before them, and thvy even
taste it when it is done. It is not only the artisan
class which may profit by these practical lectures and
illustrations; there are many careful, well to-do house-
wives who will be glad to see how cheaply and nicely
dishes may be made up, and above all, how quickly.
Bad dinners are as much a source of shscord in families
as drink. Thomas comes home, the fire is low, the
errant out, and so, having a short time only to stay,
he is either met with the remnants of cold meat, or has
a chop sent opts him smoked and raw. Thomas does
not like this ; there is pretty sure to be a row, and
Thomas makes up for his want of food by an extra
drink at the public-house.

Of course, accidents will happen in the best regulated
families, but a good practical course of lectures like
these will be sure to have their effect, and it is only to
be hoped that they may lead, at last, to the permanent
estab ishment of a school for plain, cheap, and expe-
ditious co3kery, which now in these educational days
ought to have a place among the institutions of the
land. There are not many more needed, or which
would be more useful.

The Boor has the following artlcis on the lecture. : - -
Nothing is so much to be regretted in English work- I
ing-class life, nothing is a more fruitful source of in-
temperance, and consequently of vice, and often of ,
crime, than the ignorance of cookery among the
women. A man who can he certain of obtaining during
the inter-cola of hie labour proper and well-cooked
meals, the materials of which shall be judiciously
selected, and which shall be carefully and cleanly pre-
pared, will have no need to resort to the public-house to
carry him through the day, nor will he be the victim of
that constant ci a ving for spirite which is produced by
ill-pregared and especially by over-routed food
There can be little question that, with all their
virtnee, the English working claeees are in many re.
epscts the most extravagant people upon the face of the
earth. Of the value of vegetables as articles of food
they have little orno knowledge whatever. Their wives
can spoil • potato or drown &cabbage as readily an pos-
sible; but as to cooking either vegetable properly, or
supplementing a short supply of meat with an agree-
able accompaniment of carrots, turnips, or onions, all of
which may, during the greater part of the year, be ob-
tained at moderate prices, they are almost entirely
ignorant. Any girl of twenty yearn of age who marries
a carpenter, a painter, or a printer, supposes herself to be
quite capable to provide and cook his meals; and it is
only after they have "kept house together" for a week
or two that she finds out that she cannot give him a
dinner lit to sit down to—that although they are epend-
ing far more than she anticipated, or than they ought
to do, upon their food, he is always dissatisfied, and, as
she can plainly see, alwaye ill-fed. The meat will not
go as far as ehe expected. The potatoes always come
up sodden and sloppy; and as for the greens, if they
are ever tried, they are really more fit for the sink than
for the table. Norare these difficulties confined to the
wives of the working classes.. Thetablee of many of our
City clerks and struggling professional men are equally
ill-nerved; and the members of each of theee claisses
suffer alike from the ill effects of bad cookery and of
unsatisfied appetite. Under such a system health and
strength alike give way, temper is destroyed, and
the household, instead of being the refuge welcome
of the tired business man, is converted into a scene
of acrimonious disputes, and sometimes of violent
quarrels. Few people understand how much family
comfort, and even family affection, depend upon proper
cookery, and how seldom we should hear of those vio-
lent assaults upon women which deface our history as
written in the annals of the police-courts, if Tom Smith
or Bill Sykes had only decent dinners and comfortable
breakfasts, and were not tempted by the cravings of an
ill-furnished stomach to rnsh at every opportunity to
the public-house. Bad food or ill-cooked food are,
from the irritation which they produce in the stomach,
among the greatest provocativee of intemperate habits,
and therefore the natural progenitors of much of the
misery and suffering which is to be seen around us. A
wholesome and well-cooked meal will fit a man for
his work, will supply Ills system with adequate
materials for the maintenance of the circulation of
the blood, and will keep his nerves in proper
order, so that he shall be neither idle nor ire-lia-
ble; food that is either in bad condition or
badly prepared will have the precimely contrary
effect, will make him irritable, nervous, and excited,
indispose him for his ordinary occupations, and drive
, him to unnecessary and in some eases injurious ex-
citements. At the same time, good cookery is far
, more economical than bad. A clever cook will feed
two or three people oil the materials that an ignorant
housekeeper will waste upon one. The cost of any
small household depends in great measure, and its
comfort almost entirely, upon the culinary skill of its
mistress.

Correspondence from co-operators in Gothenburg,
Frankfort, Breda, Southern Copenhagen,
Florence, Christina, Milan, and other places, were
read, and after Home preti ninary business of no great
public interest, the Congress adjourned.

The Co-operative Congress resumed its sittings on
Monday morning, after a breakfast given to the dele-
gates by the Chsirman and members of the Ouselnwn
Co.operative Engine Works.
Dr. Rutherford, who presided at the breakfast, made
a statement as to the history and position of that
undertaking, of which he spoke in cheerful terms, not.
withstanding that, owing to erroneous advice, they had
been led into taking contracts at prices which were
some twenty-five thousand pounds lower than ought
to have been obtained for the work. They had now,
however, got experience, and would in future be able
to avoid all such drawback,. Some of their skilled
artisans were earning two shillings an hour for their
work, which was constant through the year.
Mr. Hughes, M.P., was glad the Congress had dif-
ficulties to overcome, for baying met them no man-
fully as it appeared they had done, it proved that they
meant to show the world how productive co-operation
was, and that they meant to produce a tremendous im-
pression upon the engineering world.

A resolution was passed, promising to find capital
amoogst the various bodies, in order to place the
mortgage on the works in the ban& solely of co-
operators.
The Conference, which then assembled, was presided
over by Mr. Morrison, MP., and the subject of co-
operative banking was introduced by Mr. Hughes;
the discussion was adjourned.
Mr. T. Borrowmam of Giaegow, read • paper on the
hest means of promoting productive co operation. Mr.
Nuttall also treated on the same subject, while "The
Industrial Policy of Co-operation" was dealt with by
Mr. Holvoake and Mr. Ludlow, whose paper WM read
by Mr. Hughes.
After considerable discussion, which did not close till
the afternoon sitting, the following resolution VMS
passed by a large majority :

-
" That In the opinion of this Congress it Is essential to the
full and complete development of co-operative produatlon in
union, that the individual should invest hts savings as a
shureholdmg member therein, and that the constitution of
co-operative productive societies should provide for a just
and equitable division of the profits between capital and
lie; and, as far as practicable, trade.

The consideration- of the subject of co operative
banking was afterwards discusasd, and a resolution
was passed in favour of a system of ooncurrent ac-
tion.

The Congress resumed proceedings on Tuesday
morning under the presidency of Mr. Hughes, M.P.
The Jrst business was the consideration of the report
of the Congrem Board, which gave rise to some discus-
sion. Ultimately it was agreed to, after having been
slightly amended.

Mr. Morrison, M.P., then moved a series of rssolu-
time defining the conditions on which societies should
be entitled to send delegates to future congreeses. l'hey
provided that all distributive societies which, after
payin„ a fixed rate on capital, divided all the net profits
among purchasers, whether shareholding members or
not, and all productive societies or companies which
made a just and equitable division of all net profits
between capital and labour, and, as far as practic-
able, trade, should be entitled to send delegates to the
Congress.
An animated discussion ensued on the subject, when
some half dozm amendments were brought forward.
A proposition to refer the resolutions to the Central
Board, with instructions to report upon them at the
next Congress, having failed, Dr. Rutherford's amend-
ment, "That this Congress does not recognise any
society as co-operative that does not divide profits with
either labour or trade," was (tarried by large majority.
_

Mr. Greening then moved. "That this Congress
continues to urge on all distributive societies the duty
incumbent on them of adopting the principle of paying
all employes in part in proportion to the net profits
made in the department in which they may be em-
ployed ;" but the subject being deemed too compre-
hensive to be entered upon at that late period of the
Congress, it was not further proceeded with.
On the motion of Mr. Fishwick (Bolton) seconded
by Mr. Greening, the following was agreed to, "That
no delegates be admitted to vote at the Congress whose
societies have not subscribed the proper quota to the
Congress fund." This we olution gives p emission to
societies not subscribing to send delegates, and a subse-
q_uent resolution adds the right to speak at the
Congress.
Mr. Morrison announced the receipt of a letter from
Lady Florence Herbert and the Hon. Auberon Her-
bert. M. P., expressing their regret at not being able
to attend, and enclosing a five pound note to be given
to the Co-operative Library at Newcastle if there
should be one, but it was stated that there was not one
in existence, and that the money would consequently
be returned.
_ _

The Congress next year will be held at Halifax,
where there is one Co-operative Society possessing
7,000 members.
The business of the Congress was brought to a close
by the passing of various votes of thanks, when deep
gratification was expressed at the cordial reception the
delegates had met with at Newcastle.

dinary a miscarriage of justice. Indeed, it is only in-
telligible as occurring under a system where the Crown
Prosecutor is apt to make the obtaining a conviction a
personal matter, and where the Judges occasionally
betake themselves to their own metier of Govern-
ment Counsel under a permature persuasion of
the prisoner's guilt. Condemnations unjust as
that of Dussud have been made a comae a sub-
ject of sensational fiction, for the simple reason
that nothing, perhaps, suggests more obviously the
sense of severe and ;sustained mental agony. There is
a stock drama which may always be safely counted
upon to draw excited crowds to the Parisian theatres,
and it has for its hero an unlucky citizen who paid with
his life for his unfortunate resemblance to a highway-
man. But tragical as was his death, the bitterness
of humiliation soon ended. What were his suffer-
ings compared to those of this unhappy Dussud,
who now appeals to the journals of his De-
partment for the partial redress of an irrepa-
rable injury ? Lionnet Is dead, Michel and his
wife are dead, and we may (sway believe that their
deaths were hastened by their unjust conviction.
But Dussud has lived on for thirty years after tne
calamity that surprised him when already in middle
age. He is now • man of nearly eighty, and it is scarcely
possible to exaggerate all he has gone through. If
rtambin'e dying confession be true—and there seems no
1 reason to doubt it—l)musud can only have been sup-
ported through his sufferings by a nature at once sweet
and strong, and a temperament of almost unparal-
leled equanimity. It is much to Nay, but nothing perhaps
is more remarkable in his story than the moderation
with which he writes after all he has borne. Dumas,
in Monte Christ°, described Edmond Dantes brooding
in the Chateau d'lf over the injustice that had con-
signed him to its dungeons. He left them after a
comparatively brief confinement, and in compensation
or his stiff-rings he had found in his prison the means
of purchasing all the luxuries of life and • station and
influence he could never have dreamed of aspiring to.
Yet that brief confinement had turned his kindly nature
to a malignantly resentful one, and the change seems so
natural in the circumstances that it scarcely costa him
the sympathies of the readers who follow his fortunes.
Durand lived calmly through thirteen years of the
stern reality of what nearly maddened the hero of
Du um' fiction. He had air and companionship, no
doubt; but it was the air of the prison-yard and the
company of blood-etained galley slaves. The good
name he had been cherishing for fifty years had
been made a byword, and he had been branded as a
murderer and felon among the friends who had been
used to respect him. He had left in the world
outside a faintly who might believe In his guilt
like the rest, and who, he might well fear, would
have to bear their share of his infamy. He telle
us, indeed, that, as it happens, his family did not
suffer, but, if so, it shows how strongly public opinion
must have run in his favour, and how gran was the
outrage the law had done him. Yet, through it all,
and in circumstances which might have made any ordi-
nary man all that the law had pronounced him, Dussud
kept his previous good character even at the galleys,
and won golden opinions from the officers in charge of
him. His excellent character did not shorten his
term of confinement, but when he had worked
out his sentence and returned to his home he
lived on, as we have said, so as to regain the re-
gard of his neighbours. Now, as he is standing on
the brink of the grave, his character is cleansed
from the imaginary stain that has so long rented
on it, and nothing can be more simply touch-
ing than the appeal he makes for his formal
vindication. Considering the force of his claim,
we can scarcely understand his praising the conrsge of
the journal that would appear to have espoused it.
his melancholy history may, however, do an Inman.
able service to the society which wronged him if it
teaches a lesson of moderation to French Public
PrAecutors.