Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1880-09-01
The Prince of Carycrs.
New York Times. I

He had seen that | admired him, and had
| must confess that when first had the pleas
ure of making his acquaintance it was rarely.
oil! too rarely. that could avail myself or his
appetite could be assuaged at just half that
price. STILL I would linger In his immediate
netghborhood, and enjoy MIN in Barmectdlan
kind Of way. / famliarized myself with his
style and manner. studied his pose, the
feEure OF his wrist, the play OF his arm.
l fancfed that man as Paganfni or VieuX-
temps with bow In his hand, and felt sure
that as an instrdmentalist he might have
founded new violin school. at was but a.
sister art after all" ] often said to myself,
''that Of music, In which there enters a ce;-
tain amount OF appreciation OF sound and a
great deal more OF mocha meal skill. That man
has technique. AS never another individual pos
SesSed Il. Could there ever be caprice played
on one String. as that man carVes his beef?' For
days and months he executed for me nocturnes
10 tenderlon. rOmanceS on ribs OF meat WHAT
a tender appreciation he had of grtstle. and
how with an inlperceptible movement he
evaded 1t, as he would a false note! He never
sawed, nor haggled. shipped, iacerated, mtuced,
dismembernd. nor hacked There came from
his knife waves of beef, every slice shapeful,
symmetrical. These fell noseleSSly on the
plate. IS might the broad leaves dropping from
0ver-rpeness in some tropical forest. They
splashed the gravy.
Rapidly sketching his career for me one day
he said: 81 was waiter In a hotel. and got in
time TO be pantry steward on one OF the Cunari
steamers. There was no sci mplng there,
was a carving OF hams, and tongues, and
chickens, and beef all the time. Then I cot
tired OF the sea, and took this place five years
ago, and have been here ever since. It's
heavy job, more nor Slice a minute. Uni,
here piece ri four ribs. with the bones of, IS
Is pounds. Two slices to the pound is about
the measure. Roast beef is the most expen-
sve thing, II 1t is prime beef, the lunch counter
has, an told not to stint, nd don't. This
here beef has got to give, though, 50 slices. II
vas TO DE a minute on each slice. there would
DC lot Of people ling for their beef. Us
got &c II done quick. When pushed. haff-
minute Is about the time. clean decks for
piece OF beef from the kitchen. oh, no;
amt going to dun my good knife by taking
away them bones. l have shorter knife tar
that ] surveys my beef first, and takes it an
In: calculates where is the bone and the gristle."
Saying this, with shorter knife. and before
| was aware of it, the rib bones and the side
With its osseous contiguratlons, had been re-
moved, and the outside oyerdone portion was
taken OIL. Then 10 walters came with orders
Tor beet. The long knife was taken, and at
every lash, with a razor-like movement the
was beautiful. He never spilled a drop. There
was no splashtng on the sides OF the dish.
This feat he accomplished by striking the
hands OF the spoon twice on the side OF the
dish, then every particle Of gravy was driven
With centrifugal force from the spoon. It was
a, dellghtIul staccato movement, which con
ton at that, my carver said:
Yes, rather pride myself on that trick.
amt too proud to say that the gravy used to
bother me. 1t kept me sleepless sometimes.
when was passing building, / see brick
layer, with his trOwel full OF mortar, hit
brick two Or three times and get his troWel
clean. practieed that singing movement for
long time. There is fellow In a down town
establishment ut amt Jealousy, Sir) as tries to
carve, but he's an awful bungler, worse nor
movement, and spilled IA gentlemen's coats a
splashing gravy on them. and cracked his
plate every time. II does depend good deal
can cut beef satisfactory, but it comes as much
as anything else, from the knife. Nothing
dulls knife as much as beef. Busy days In
5eet IN tie s'Z hours. spoil knife every 40
minutes. SO ] always have dozen knives
ready. Tnis house keeps a helper for me,
whose business is to keep MY Instruments i'll
good order. Now, Sir, hoping You viii excuse
me, gents, before you has been complimentary
about my Way or working the kite, but not
one OF EN- have ever paid any attention to my
forEing; they don't seem 20 take that in. Them
ribs, sir, has to be held down Just as if they
was In wise That's the trying part of this
he, business. You stand here six holrs on I.
stretch a-pinning down a lively bit o beef a
sleadying ii with your LETT arm, and 1t takes
all the flourish out Of your right hand. There
is Chicago carver.tn a leading restaurant
there. cGuntryman Of mine, that's quite al
artist, only he's miserable with FORK. | never
saw Frenchnan as could do it; It kind OF eX-
cites EN-, and they murders their beet. NJ,
sir, IN hotels at the table dotles, there amt no
Carvers worthy OF the name They jags their
roasts by fits and starts, and does it behind
screen, that's put up on purpose 10 hide 'ern
No, Sir, you couldn't invent any kind OF ma
chine as wonld do ii. flashing machines can
be made, but this ere kind OF thing Mr.. HEIDI
son couldn't get around. Now, sir, you
wouldn't believe IT, but 1t can be done"
"What can be done?n
81 can tell the breed of cattle and the state it
cones from when It's roasted and put under
10y knife. and whether it's cOrn or grass fed
Inc l. rl..f.1,
that was Kentucky; before that il was Illinois
have cut VI six different states today. It's
the difference IN the grain, the tone OF the
uinS-the way 1t feels under the knlIe'