Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1865-10-13

Chisese Ceremonial Dinner.
N Ar. BowIes. Of the Springfield Republican
Of writes to that paper from San Francisco, a
interesting letter concerning the Chimes
ID residents of Oaifonis, in which be gives tn
y following sceouns Of Q ceremonial dlnne
!, which was given by some of their chief men
to . select party Of Americans, of whom Mr.
. Colfax. Of the House of Representatives
d was the special dignitary to be honored by
f the feast:
There are quite number Of heavy mercantile
houses here in the hands Of Chinese. The man
: aGsrs ere Intelligent. superior men. Their bus-
! ness 10 in supplies for their countrymen and in
teas and silks and curiosities for the Americsns.
They import BY the hundreds Of thousands. even
millions, yearly; and their reputation for fair
: and honest dealing is above that Of the Ameri-
) can merchants generally. These are the men,
with the psesidents Of the six companies, into
which the whole Chinese population is organized,
- have described, with whom Mr.. Colfax and
his friends dined last nieht There were formal
| AsAes eou ueko&kAttouS cuouSu IN Inc pteiiuinaiO
Arrangements Of the entertainment to have suf-
feed for pscifcation Of Kentucky politics. or
the making Of . new map OF Europe; but when
these were finally adjusted, questions Of prece-
dence among the Chinese settled, and proper
choice made among the the many Americans who
were eager to be hidden to the feast. all went
smooth as town school examination, that the
teacher has been drilling for . month previous.
The party numbered from 80 to 60, half Chi
Nee. half white folks. The d nner was given in
the second story of Chinese restaurant, in q
leading street Of the city. Our hosts were fine
looking men with impressive manners. While
their race generally seems not more than two
thirds the size Of our American men, these were
nearly il not quite 40 tall and stout their
| guests. Their eyes and their faces beamed with
intelligence, and they were quick to perceive ev-
cry thing, and alert and au fat in all courtesies
and pohteness- An interpreter was present for
the heavy talking; but most Of our Chinese enter
tanners spoke little English, and We got on well
enough 70 far as that was concerned; though
handshakipg and boving and scrsping and
general dexibility Of countenance, bodies and
limbs, had very large share Of the converss-
tion to perform. Neither here nor in China, is
it common for the English and Americans to learn
the Chinese language. The Chinese can and do
more readily acquire ours, sufficiently at least
for all business intercourse. Their broken or
pigeon" English, As it is called, is often very
grotesque. and always very simple.
We were seated for the dinrer aronnd little
round tables, six to nine at the table, and hosts
and guests evenly mixed. There was profusion
Of elegant China dishes on each table; each guest
had two or three plates and saucers, all delicate
and small. Choice sauces, pickles. sweetmeats
and nuts were plentifully scattered about. Each
guest had saucer Of flowers, China SPOON or
bowl with handle. and . pair of ohopsticks,
little round and smooth ivory sticks about six
inches long Chi Sing Tong. president of the
San Yup company, presided ct Mr.. Colfsxs ta-
bic.
Nov the meal began. It consisted of three
different courses, or dinners rather, between
which vas rece0 Of half an hour, when we
retired TO an ante, room, smoked and talked, and
listened to the simple, rough, barbaric music
from coarse guitar, viol drum, and violin, and
meanwhile the tables were reset and new food
provided.
Each course or dinner. comprised dozen to
twenty different dishes, served generally one alta
time. though sometimes two were brought on AZ
once. 1here we're no Joints, nothing u be carved.
Every article of food was brought on in quart
bowls in . sort Of hash form. We dove into it
with our chop sticks, which, well handled, took
up about . mouthfal and transferring this to cur
piates, worked the chop sticks again to get it or
parts Of il to our mouths. No one seemed to
take more than . single taste or mouthful Of
each dish; % that. even il one relished the fool
it would need something like hundred different
dishes to satisfy An ordinary appetite. Some of
u took very readily to the chop-sticks; others
did not-perhaps were glad thev could not; and
for these . Yankee fork was provided, and their
Chinese neighbors at the table were also prompt
to offer their own chop-sticks to place bit of
each dish upon their plates. But q these same
chop-sticks were also used to convey food into
the mouths of the Chinese. the service did not al
ways add to the relish Of the food.
These were the principal dishes served for the
first course, and In the order named: Fried
sharks fms and grated ham, stewed pigeon with
bamboo soup. fish sinews with ham, stewed
chicken with water cress, seaweed, stewef
ducks and bamboo soup, sponge cake, omelet
nest soup, tea. The meats seemed all alike;
they had been dried or preserved in some way,
were cut up into mouthfuls, and depended for all
savoriness upon their accompaniments. The
sea-weed. sharks 6us and the like had glutin-
Gus sort Of taste-not repulsive, nor very Sc
ductivs. The sweets were very delicate, but like
every thing else, had very artificial favor; ev-
cry article, indeed, seemed to have had its orig
inai and real taste and strength dried or cooked
out Of it. and Q common Chinese flavor put into
it. The bird-uest soup looked and tasted some
what a. Q very delicate vermicelli soup does. The
TEA was delicious-it was served without milk or
sugar-did not need any such ameliorstiOn. and
vas very refreshing; evidently it was made from
the most delicate leaves or flowers OF the tea plant
and had escaped all vulgar sleeping or boiling
During the first recess, the presidents of the
companies (the chief entertainers) took their
leave, and the merchants assumed the post Of
leading hosts-such being the fashion Of the peo-
pie.
The second dinner opened with cold tea, and
. rose scented hqueur. very strong, and served
in tiny cups, and went on with lichens and u
fungus-liks moss, more sharks fms, stewed
chesuuts and chickens, Chinese oysters-yellov
and resurrected from the dried stage, more fun
gus steved, stew of -four and white nuts. stew
Cd mutton, roast ducks, rice and ducks eggs and
picked cucumbers, ham and chicken soup.
Between the second and third parts there was
an exchange Of complimentary speeches by the
head Chinaman and Mr.. Colfax, at which the
Interpreter bad to 0fhciste-
The third and last course consisted of great
variety Of fresh fruits; and the unique enter
talnnent ended about II O'Clock, after sitting
Of full Eve hounL The American resident guests
furnished champagne and claret, and our Chi
nese hosts invariably. st the entrance and de-
psrture ofeach dish, invited us. with gracious
bow. to sip thsrsof. in the which they all faith
fully joined themselves M -.,
The dinner was unquestiOuably most msgni-
6cest one sfter the Chinese standard the dish
. were many Of them rare and expensive and
everything vaa served in elegance and taste. II
was curious and interesting experience, ard
one Of The sarsss Of The many curiosities extend
ed to Mr.. CslfAx On this coast. But as to any
real e.ssroasnie sstiafActon to b derived from
Il, csrtaisly '.did not re it, Gov. Bross's
6dsliy = ths srsas principle Of !" when you are
snosa he Rs1ans do - the Romans do" led
hin to taks the nsA sriatim, end eat Of every
shi.e & ,shss nv evn psrsoaal experience is per-
hsps The hest eonmsntary to b made upon the
aeal, = . nsal. Il went to the table weak and
hsusrJ, !; but found tAe one universal odor ami
AAror sosn Destroyed all sppetite and | fell
haak reGGssdly On . ssastinsioaal incspseity to
~ tha shop-eisB, snA wa sitting With grim
nsHtan0 jthruagA; dinnG No. 2, when there