The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1853-12-08

1 bs' tiiht nc ueClhreu We SHOULD commence
housekeeping instanter, by preparing our
| breakfast
To sit down to coffee, bread, and butter,
scented very simple, easy matter but when
the articles are to be collected and a dozen
flights q stairs to be descended and ascended.
The labor is tremendous Five times did DR.. r.
and d. disappear and re-appear quite exhaust.
cd, before the coffee milk sugar, bread, and but
ter, could be ordered and in the midst of the
congratulations at the possession of these valu-
ables, he discovered salt TO be among the miss
ing Then came the fact of no spoons, knives
or forks in eYr little house. After deal Of
yexation, all these things were purchased, at
twice their value, and collected
The principal article, most desired and anx.
lousiy looked for wa5 the coffee d. solemnly
set about lts manufacture. The exact quaint
| ty OF gyeuDd coffee was measured the proper
quant'sy OF water poured over, TO which IN a
CIRCULAR pan, WA placed usi set On FIRE the al
| cohol. Each one hold a watch in hand, and
we waited anxiously the expiration of the tea
minutes. Ii came at last the alcohol was ex
tinguished and the first cup poured out. IL
had a mulatto-ish color as if it had made the
exact divide of half and half D. tasted, and
setting down the cup, exclaimed
=" have been all my life in o state of WON
| derment, "a 20 the mode of manufacturing
steamboat and hotel coffee. The wonder is at
an end-Eureks-the discovery is invaluable"
" The discovery" retor!ed DR.. Bob, with ex-
IRENE disgust painted on his face, may be in
valuable, but the coffee is vile stuff
| Patience, fellow sufferer said d, eve
are savans, and must not permit our selfish ap-
| petltes to interfere with the pursuits of SCI
ence. Let us try again.
| Pouring in double the quantity of alcohol
he said it should boil twenty minutes This
was impossible, as ut the end of the lawful ten
minutes, the fire expired of itself 1t was hard
to tell what had become of tho extra supply
Of spirits; but, on tasting this second expert
ment, the doubt at once vanished The weak
coffee was considerably strengthened by the
| spirits. As if to crowd oil ills into limited
space, Dr. B. put down his cup with more than
horror in his face, and pronounced himself
| poisoned. ! could not imagine what WAS the
trouble, until, after tasting again and again
the abominable mixture, ! discovered he had
| been drinking from cup 10 which had i'm
| prudently mixed a tonic, made up Of herbs
| bitter as btterest known.
| "There is point" said D.. Z" at which we
are assured by the divine Watts that patience
ceases to be virtue That point is now be.
fore us and, to show my appreciation of the
| sentiment, will make this coffee-pOt coDtri-
| button to Paris at large"
SO saying, he stepped upon the balcony, and
tossed the tin curiosity out to the world Its
| descent was curious; for q short distance it
| took rather q Outb-by-eastcrly course. In
this direction it struck a stone projection of Il
| house near by which changed its flight to al
| most due east, and so continued until it hit
| and went in nc window, through pane of
| glass, with some nOise. From this it immedi-
ately flew out qnite hastily indeed, followed
| by white night-cap, covering the head of an
irritable old citizen, who, with the tassel of his
| cap shaking with very wrath and indignation,
| looked in every direction but the right one
The coffee pot continued until il struck street
| cleaner in the back, who jumped, as if shot
We left knot OF this usesu' CLASS =. 7gpapy
| settin git down AS an Internal macnine," of
| neater construction and more convenient form
| than the great original.
We ordered breakfast from the Cafe de
| France and a very excellent breakfast it was
The smoking viands, the boiling coffee, with
hot milk and real cream, restored our good
hamor; and after partsking, with many q
laugh and Jest, We felt disposed TO be on good
terms with the world at large, and Paris in
particular. With the last however, we had
an unsettled account. Ii could not brook the
indignity of having kitchen ware tossed in its
face, violating thereby certain laws OF peace
and propriety. We had scarcely flushed our
morning repa~t when ring at our bell usher.
ed ia two of the police, both with terrible
swords at their side, and the worst-ftting
clothes believe ever did see. We were or.
dcred TO appear before o dispenser Of justice
to suffer, if guilty. for the hideous offence
charged As we were not prepared with q
barricade, to meet the unexpected emergency
our only course was quietly to submit, with L
tremendous appeal for mercy.
To some of your readers, who may wonder
at the rapidly with which these functionariet
found us, will say that, in going into any
house, or hotel, to lodge, you are requested e
leave Your passport in the porter's lodge, until
from it in what is called the police book, i:
entered all the particulars the document MAJ
afford. The porter, or concierge is in the az
OF the police the commIssaire who runs your
errands, is in the same service; the driver Of
the voiture, in which you ride, reports to the
police your interpreter, if you have one, be-
longs to that disagreeablo body; aud, in fact
the law, through hundred eyes is looking on
you continually.
In the present difficulty suggested sending
for our Minister. DR.. Bob begged to have
professional advice; but d. said he could not
think of involving our country in war on &C
count Of vile cofiee-pot; and al for law
yer, he thought from experience, that would
make matters worse. There was no use deny
ing the charge. The indignant old citizen wa
on hand, dscoursing rapidly in excellent
French The bit-in-the badk workman wa;
hard by, talking vehemently in very bad
| lacs hnf 10 opta IA
awful crime, and submit to pnnirhment. As
we were strangers. and as Paris lives on stran.
gers, the polite judge only fined us fifty francs
which, with the expenses incident, brought the
amount up to about twelve dollars. Riding
| homeward we made a calculation a. 10 the
cost Of our morning meal, attempted in an
economical way, and found wo had expended
near twenty dollars
Experience purchased:
French cooking is science.
French housekeeping is a mystery.
Science comes from labor-mysteries from
Providence. You're, &c
Two young men waited upon the late Peter
s. Duronoeau, ED 10 ask his professional as
sistancc. One Of them commenced
Mr. Duponceau, cur father died and made
will"
&" Is it possible? ] never heard Of such a
thing" answered Mr. Duponceau.
81 thought it happened every day." said the
young man.
9" lie the irs. case Of the kind" replied Mr.
Duponceau.
"Well, )" said the young man, =" if there is to
be any difficulty about il, we had better give
you foe TO attend TO the business"
The fee was given, and then MIR. Duponceau
Observed
"Oh | think know now what you mean
You mean that your father made will and
died. Yea yes that must be it ! that must be