New-York tribune., 1883-06-03

| most reprehensibls eater / have ever seem.
Inl the frst place, the knives are Purpesey maas
often of tho same shsrpness"to enable him 10 est
gravy with it, The result il that the fork which
plate while being cut with the knife has to be used
with great force to wrench of fragments OF food
The object Of the two instruments Is thus materially
abused for he holds the meat down with the kniio
ard tears it Into bits with his fork Now, RAIDER
don't say For have been carefully studyihg
travelling Americans st their food 'al oyer ano
West at any Iate), and what say Is strictly cor
rect This abuse knife and folk then necessiates
an extraordinary amount of elbow room f0r IN iorc
Ing apart tough slice o! beef the elbows aa9 -
stick out as square possible and the consequence
is rs the proprietor of hotel told me- only & Lo,r
Americans can eat In space IN when SIX bnsiIsIl
men will dine comfortably. The latter, when leeu-
ing keep their elbows to their sides: the former
square them out on the line OF the shVuilels anu -.
right angles to their sides. Having thus 20. % eno
travelling American into POSITION. watch nIii oon
.uming bis food! lie has ordered a dozen por-
tOns" of as many eatables. aud the whoIe oi n.'
meal. after the detestaDie ara fe % s ppt before
hio, at ,nce To eat the doZen or 80 ulnerene
things which he has ordered, he has only one Se he
and fork and one teaspoon ibendlhg oser ti9
table he sticks his fork into picked eherhlh anu
while munching this casts one rapid. hawk-ilko
glance over the spread viands and the proeeeuS 70
ssat Neberculei what u sight it is lie daDs hls
knife into the gravy of the steak. picks up WIN us
fork piece of bacon and while the one Is golns
M, 10 his mouth the other reaching out LOT sOhe-
thing else He never apparently chews his food,
but abs and pecks at the dishes one after the otnsr
with a rapidlty which mereiy as Juggling tllckI
might be performed In London 10 crowded HOUSES HOUSES
every day. aud with an impartiallty that; cohslu,
cred as "diaag" is as savage as any meal oil req
Indians or of Baustos Dab, dab peck, peck, grunt.
growl snort The spoon strikes in every now ana
then. and a quick suckiug.up NOISE announces tao
disappearance of mouthful of huckieOerries on inc
top of bit of bacon, spoonful OF custard pie on
the heels of iadish 1t is perfectly prodiglous. III
deGes coherent description. But how on e1rth does
he s ns Is when
he swallows for have seen children gettlng riI ol
cake with the same sort of spasm Yet the Iapldity
with which he shOvels in his food IS wCnder 20 me-
seeing that he has not got auy pouch, hko the
monkey or the pelican. Does lie keep MS hlisccI-
laneous food in a" CROP ike pigeon or pIeiin,
mary stomach like the COW, and chew inc cuu
atterward ut his leisuref l confess am Deate Dy
IT, The mixture of his food, If ii pleases nin does
not annoy me- for If man likes TO eat mou,nis Ji
hucKleberrles, bacon. appe-plo picked Inackerei'
peas mutton. gherkns, oysters. radlshes, tonaloeS
custard and pOached eggs tins is 00nd tds meal
copied from my notebook on the spot IN ndlscrIm-
mate confusion, it has nothing to do with me- but
what want Tn know is why the travelling Amerl-
can does not stop to chew his food; or why rs is
invariably The case. he will dispatch in i've minutes
meal for which he has half an hour set specially
apartf lie falls upon his food as If he were de,
mented with hunger as II he were wilu .hihg oi
prey tearing victims that he hated into pieces; ana
When the hldeous deed is done he rushes out rom
fbe scene of massacre with handful of toothpicks,
and leans IDLY against the d0"rpGsIs aS ,S;n II tno
wece without limit or end! The Whole thlng is u
mystery to When first came intc tue country
| used to waste many precious moments III gazing
at the fine cOufused feeding OF my nelghDors ny
the table and waiting 10 see them chohe bnt i
have given that up now. plOd systematically anu
deliberately through my one dish. content 10 hha
myself always the last at tue table with a tumnlt
of empty patters scattered all about me. Nothing
can CHOKE the travelling American.
One of Mr.. RobnsoIs brief anecdotes deals with
the delight of the vanished Wilde when
told by the elder Enghshman that
whole tribes Of Indians fed on sunhowcrs. Poor,
sweet things " said he; feed on sunllowers! How
charmngl If l could only have stayed and dined
with them! But how delightful to 20 back TO Eng
land and say that have actually been in a country
where whole tribes of men hre on suafOroS! The
preciousness Of it