Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-11-30

ARGENT London letter thus amusingly de-
scribes a scene at the Derby:
We had gone early to get good place and in
common with all Others at about noOn and be-
fore the races had begun we commenced to un-
pack the hampers and make preparations for
luncheon. Our drag had been detached from
the horses, and was then run by hand close to
other vehicles; this had been done in the case of
all. so that we were all packed in like sardines. All
about US We're vehicles of all sorts: and in EACH
humblest well rs most aristocratic. luncheons
came out In a twinking, very much as when one
gets up in the morning and sees that during
night all the trees have suddenly pushed out
their blossoms
do not know that to the general public there
Is anything very Interesting in the eating and
drinking of a mob; but Yet must confess that
to HE II was not the least interesting mart of
the show. Close to us so that we looked di
rectly down on il, was an open carriage in
which were man. his wife-prohabIy for she
nagced him just as if she had gotten the right
to do so from a regularly organized prest-two
young women. PROBABLY daughters of the afore-
said couple. dirty man-seryant in knee-bree-
ches ard t0p-bOots, while around the edge of
the vehicle swaTmed half-dOZen young chaps
with monocles stuck in the case of each in his
sinister optic with tight trousers, cutaway
coats. and sticks held at the position in the
manual know as the trail
The man servant spread the lunch. 1t con-
sisted OF a whole ham. a few boxes of sardines.
huge round Of cold roast beet. "a large basket of
lettuce. ehickorv. and the like for a salad;
basket Ofboiled Holsters. several huge loaveS of
bread. ami an innun.erable collection of claret
champagne. zoedOnc. soda and other bottles not
to mention stout, ale, bitter. which to the
number OF tribe less than q hundred, were
ranged on the ground behind the carriage evil
IDENTIFY reserve ready TO be ordered into action
at the proper moment.
The vastness of these preparations excited nv
attention. and became measurabiy Interested
became more after the party had fallen to
and the action had begun. The Young cads had
gone away. and the work of assauting the lunch
fell TO the family proper.
One of the young ladies was sprituelle
sprlte. OF some twenty summers: her sister was
q couple of years older. and both were dressed
in the richest OF garments and were sparkling
with diamonds as if they had been twin con-
steilatiOns- | watched the conflict. The ham,
which was I'm the shape of redOubt. rapidly
crumbed away and disappeared. The great
round of beef went down before the assault
Offering a resistance scarcely worthy the name
The Holsters came calamity to the front, but the
invincible courage of the BritOns was too much
Tor the crustaceouS band. and they went down
as did BGrnsides columns at Fredericksburg
The masses of bread went into action and dis
appeared. the salad was annihilatetl the pickles
and sardines were wiped out, and rank after
rank of the gallant bottles of beer went in and
shared the fate of the others. Nothing could
stand against the determined and unceasirfg at
tacks of the English stOrming columns.
| became especially interested in the heroic
behavior of the younger of the two sisters She
was always in the van, in the thckest of the
fight Whenever she charged everything went
down before her. but it was after the edibles
were disposed of that her reserved energies came
into play She had captured more than her
share of the beer Outposts. and then she volun-
teered to assault the reserve of clarets think
she swallowed from three to four quarts of beer
during the meal. and then evidently being a
little thirsty, she ordered some Bordeaux In a
few minutes she absorbed couple of full glasses
Of claret. and then, thinking perhaps that she
needed something to drink. she swallowed a
bottle of soda water. A moment or so later. it
occurred TO her that she ought to have some
thing to drink; and then the pater fshed out
from under the seat an immense bottle the clear
ness and OdOr of whose contents when it was
uncOrked convinced me that it was genuine
old Bourbon First she took half a glass
of claret. which she filed I'D and drank and
then she filled up one and placed it conveniently
by where she could reach it without difficulty:
and now, for the first time since the action be-
gan, she ceased firing. Her bugles had evil
IDENTIFY sounded recall and she fell back from
the pursuit and went into camp. That is to saw
she brushed off the crumbs, shook out her
skirts, put on her gloves. arranged her opera
glass. scanned the field, and then seated herself
comfortably to await for the race
All this may seem to be sheer eyagreratiOn:
but it is scarcely anything of the kind | waited
to see the buttons on her waist fly off with the
sGddenness and report of the explosion of
champagne cork. They did nothing of the
kind. She never flushed under the operation
When she had settled herself for the race she
was as serene as if she had just lunched off
''wOasted strawberry" 1t was the most ire
mendous feat / ever saw; a sort of feat-and-
mouth transaction such as has but few if any
parallels.