Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1873-05-23
A Talk with Barnum' Ca nnibals,
Kate Field in the New York Tribune.
I was exceedingly thrilled by IL

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Kate Field in the New York Tribune.
was exceedingly thrilled by tie
appearance of the two young gentle
man from the Cannibal Islands, who
arc beautifully embossed in green
and red, and compasslonated them
for the sacrifices they make in put
ting on blankets and civilization.
Is it right to deprive them of their
daily bread-I mean their daily
baby? Think what self-restraint
they must exercise while gazing
upon the toothsome infants that
congregatc at the circus, and, like
cherubim and seraphim, continually
do cry. They do gaze and smack
their overhanging lips l know,
| because, after going through their
cannibalistic dance, they sat behind
me and howled in subdued man.
ner. The North American Indian
who occupied an adjoining seat
favored me with translation of
their charming conversation, by
which l learnt many important
facts concerning man as an article
of diet. 1t appears that babies,
after all do not make the -dainticst
morsels. Tender they gre, Of
course, but being immature, they
do not have the rich flavor of a
youthful adult. This seems to me
reasonable. Veal is tender, but
can it favorably compare with beef?
The cases are parallel. The en-
bosscd young men consider babies
excellent tor entrees, but for roasts
there is nothing like plump maidens
in their teens. Men of twenty are
not bad eating. When older. they
are invariably boiled. Comment
ing upon the audience, the critics
did not consider it appetizing, and,
strange as it may appear, felt some
what hurt by the remark, for who
is not vain enough to wish to look
good enough to eat? Fancy being
shipwrecked off the Fejee Islands,
and being discarded by cannlbals
as 4 tough subject, while your COM
panions are literally killed with at
tention! Can you not imagine that
under such circumstances peculiar
jealousy Of the superiorness of your
friends would lc thorn in the
flesh, rendering existence tcmpor-
ary burden? If we lived among
people who adored squirting, should
we not all take to it, and cherish it
as the apple of cur eye? And five
fell among anthropophagi would not
our love of appreciation make us
long to be as succulent as young
pigs? What glory to escape from
the jaws of death, if the jaws re-
pudiate us? SO long as memory
holds a seat in this distracted brain,
| shall entertain unpleasant feelings
toward the embossed young gentle
men who did not long to fasten
their affections - otherwise their
tecth-on me. 1t was worse than a
crime; it was bad taste. Roaming
among the wild animals | made the
acquaintance of the cassowary, in
which have been deeply interested
since childhood's sunny hours, for
then twas oft sang touching
hymn running thus:
| III were n cassowary.
| Far away in Tmbuctoo.
| should eat missionary,
| Hats and boots, and hymn book too.
From that hour to the present
time the cassowary has occupied a
large niche in my heart. The desire
to gaze upon bird capable of
digesting food to which even the
ostrich never aspircd pursued me
bv dav and tinctured my dreams by
night. "Whcn you seek for all
your life you will come upon sud
denly when the whole family is at
dinner" says Thoreau. l met the
cassowary at dinner. lie was din
ing alone, having left his family in
Africa, and l must say that | never
met with a greater disappointment.
Were it not for the touching intima-
ton of the hymn l should believe 1t
impossible for him to cat a mis-
sionary. A quieter, more amiable
bird never stood on two legs. A
polite attendant stirred him up for
me, yet his temper and his feathers
renamed unrutfied. Perhaps if
our geographical POSITION had
changed to 'Timbuctoo, and l had
been a missionary with hymn book
in hand, the cassowary might have
realized my expectations. AS it
was, one more illusion vanished,
and | wended my way home, sadder
and wiser.