Baton-Rouge gazette. [volume] (Baton-Rouge, La.) 1819-1856, 1843-02-18
From The Trop'c.
MY FIRST DINNER IN NEW on

MY FIRST DINNER IN NEW on
LEANS.
BY THE AUTHOR or "T'oM Owen, THE BEE
HUNTER"
5rlrern ought to be nothing about A dinner
- make if an era in ones history in any way,
generally speaking. The power merely TO
~rratifv the appetite just sufficient to sustain
lfe, is eating IN poverty the life spent mere
" in gratifying the appetite, 10 brutal. we
like = good dnnnr, and we sit down at one
| with that conpIaGency Of feeling that denotes
= fl,ankfuIness that may be called a Silent
blessing, vet We feel more pity for a man that
recolIegis his bad dinners than we do tor one
| who distinctly remembers his good ones. In
| every dav life things commemorative often
start from tie table, " M you rccolIert,' says
Gus,jbus, " that 80 and 50 happened the day
We eat the frcBll salmon ~ 81 remember
the event. replies Dulce, " from that cxqnl-
site hon mot uttered on the OCCASION re-
member nv first dinner in New Orleans az
distinctly as ! remember my first love- J,
trust # was impressed upon m mlt.d
thr,ngh the intellect "a well "a through the
senses, or else | should be ashamed t. rc'neln-
her it at all. As | ionrneyed on 10 the city
inr The first time, naturally suggested 10 my
travelling companion my desire to be most
rleason,lv provided for, and contrary TO usual
custom. nv friend launched forth IN eloquent
declamatieus open the table Of his host, drew
pictures of plenty which threw my most SAN
pulne expectations and hopes into the shade
and caused me to look forwardsw with a kind OF
stranoe interest at what | was about to see
offered M TO the palate. | landed at the levec
frontinp he CITY, in the middle Of the morning
ALTHOUGH it was early spring, a glorious sun
such as Pomona love-, was making everything
look cav the swollen Mississippi dashed a
few waves over the artificial barrier that con-
fined it to it's channel and as they coursed
along in little ~rivulets they s~parkled like mol
ten silver and gold, Indicative we thought OF
the wealth which was borne upon its waters
and which paid tribute to thereby.
need not say where | ate my first dinner
in New Orleans, il was not at the st. Charles
tor that building in the night following !
2 Looked. in the cold moonlight, like a n'agnifi
I cient ruin, so quiet, SO grand virtual. I'M
clink of the money drawer, the NOISE OF gas
Y SEES, or the the confused hum OF the crowd ha
t not vet usurped he place OF the hammer an
d trowel. forget about the st. LOUIS. How
e ever. the dining hall was a long one, ana IN
u dinners numerous. ! made my entranc
after the soup dishes had done their ofnc'
and consequently was a lTtle iafes IL mig
have been the exercise, or the excitement {
' a hastv breakfast. that made me feel uncon
= monty we'll to enjoy a dinner, was usual
" DISPOSED that way, and looked down the ln
tables crowded to excess, with great concel
for fear there was 10 room for me, until tn
OF melancholy time, when GRAVES grow IN
81 water and ~gIobules of fat, and meats are]u
IS when alive, the cruets half filled, and Il
cloth away. | trefnh'ed at the PresP.e'
wheu 70 my inexPress bic relief, on my lie
near the door at the head Of the two To-
dy ding tables, vas a small one, around viii
a cat some six or eight gentlemen. The ne
nd Of this table was unoccupied, and | wliho
ereuou seated myself in the vacant en-
never saw a man come in late to dinner :"
did not look around on the company pres