Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1882-08-20
HOW AMERICANS EAT.
An Engiishman Critieises the way VIZ
Eat In the Far West.

An Euciishman Critictses the why w
Eat In the Far west.
SIM Francisco Letter IN the M~ York ~""'
TWAS in the Ogden refreshment-
room, waiting for the train for osu
Francisco, that | saw q performance
that filled me with establishment an"
dismay. 1t was a man eating his gin,
ner. And let me here remark, with I'll
possible courtesy, that the Ame,icoi
i the most reprehensible eater i nave
ever seen, In the first place, the knives
are purposely made blunt-the pack
and front of the blade being often Oh the
same "sharpness"--to enable him 10 eau
gravy with it. The results Is that 'iie
fork (which ought to be used simpie W
hold the meat steady on the plate while
being cut with the knife) has 70 DC Sseu
with great force to wrench on u"S
ments of food. The object OF 'he wv"
Instruments l. thus materially aousrH
for he holdsthe meat down witntne ktliIe
and tears it into bits with the 10TH
Now, reader, don't say no. For nave
been carefully studying Americans AZ
their food (ail over the West al any
rate1. and what / say is strickly correct
This abuse ofknife and fork, then, ne
cessitates an extraordinary amount Oh
elbow room, for In forcing apart u
tough slice of beef the elbows have 10
stick out as square as possible, ana the
consequence is as the proprietor oil no.
tel told me, only four Americans can
est in the space in which six English
men will dine comfortably. The latter
when feeding keep their elbows Ia
their sides; tho former square them out
on the line of the shoulders and
ot right angles to their sides. The
| American orders a dozen portions o.
| "a many eatables, and the.whole o.
his meal, after the filthy fashion OF the
Westinghouse" at which travellers art
fed, is put before him at once. TO ea
| the dozen or 80 different things ne ma
ordered no has only one knife ana lore
| and one teaspoon. Bending over th'
| table, he sticks his fork into picked
| gherkin, and while munching this cast
one rapid, hawk-like glance over tht
SPREAD viands, and then proceeds 70 ea y
Meh nsifiie into TIE gravy i;T OF the steal
and picks up with his fork q piece o
bacon. While the one Is going up t.
his mouth the other is reaching out fO
something else, He never apparently
chews his food, but dabs and pecks a
the dishes one after the other with {
rapidity which merely "a Juggling
trick might be performed In London u
crowded houses every day, and an i'm
partially that, considered as "dintag,
Is as savage a. any meal Of Red Indian
or of Basutos. Dab-dab, peck peck
grunt, growla and snort! The spoon strikes
/ ;,,n anI Than an1 nIIink
sucking-up noise announces the disap
on the top Of bit of bacon, or spoon
full OF custard pie on the heels Of a rad
ish. 1t is perfectly prodiglous. 1t defie'
coherent description. But how en- eartt
does he SwdU0W II? Every low and
then he shuts his eyes and strains hi
throat. This, / suppose, is when h'
swallows, for have seen children get
ting rid of cake with the same sort o
spasm. Yet the rapidity with which
he shovels in his food isa wonder 10 me
seeing that he has not got any "ponch'
like the monkey or the pelican. Does III
keep his miscellaneous food I'm "crOp'
like pigeon, or q preliminary stomach
like the cow, and "chew the cud" after
wards at his leisure? I confess / an
beaten by ii. The mixture of his foed
ifh pleases him, does not annoy me, FOL
If man likes to eat mouthfuls Of huekle
berries, bacon, apple pie, picked mack
fTeJ, peas, mutton, gherkins, oysters
radishes, tomatoes, custard and poachet
eggs this Is bona-fide meal, c0piet
from my notebook on the spot in In
discriminate confusion, 1t has nothing
to do with me.