The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1884-12-27
Our Oliu.
Great Statesmen at Table.

Il want to tell you," continued the su-
peranuated restauranter, "of Henry Clay"
"Perhaps you never heard of what an eater
he was. Well, | can say that knew Mr..
Clay great many years, because | waited
on him both at the National hotel and at
Hancock's restaurant as well as at a good
many other places. Mr. Clay was great
lover of broiled oysters and baked pump
kins. He was the most singular man /
ever saw about his eating. People said he
wanted to be eccentric for effect. Perhaps
you don't know that Mr.. Clay used to eat
butter on his watermelon? Well, sir, he
did. l recollect very well that on GER
tain day, when there was great many IA
nous men at the table, including Mr.. Cor
win, Mr. Calhoun, General Taylor and
General Carey, of Michigan, Mr. Clay had
his watermelon set out before him. After
having the melon sliced, he said: "Now,
gentlemen, you have before you the most
magnificent product of the vegetable king
dom; now, here is the most magnificent
product of the animal kingdom-butter !"
Then he proceeded to butter a slice of mel
on, and he put it on thick, and l can tell
you that he did not stop at one slice. In
fact, l may say that he never did stop at
four or five slices of buttered watermelon
every time they put watermelon on the
table. But l can say that none of the
other gentlemen ever followed his advice.
One of Mr.. Clays friends, Kentucky
colonel, tried it once, but you ought to see
him lay the watermelon down real quick
No, sir, | never see nobody 'cept Mr.. Clay
take buttered watermelon.
Somehow or other all these great men
had their peculiarities about what they
wanted to eat. There was Mr.. Calhoun,
who always had his 'possum and sweet po-
tatoes when he could get them. He used
to say to me "Now, Steve, you get me
nice fat 'possum, cook it the day after it
is killed, parboil it first, then put it in
hot oven, with boiled yam and potatoes laid
around it in the oven, and then let it slowly
brown. If you can get coon, Steve, you
make plenty of coon gravy, very brown,
and pour it over the 'possum. And don't
you fail to have the 'possum we'll favored
with pepper, salt and sage" Well, sir, you
OuSuI W SGC WI. NdluOuI uOMu W Il
dish of possum with coon gravy. He
wasn't big man, but he was mighty thin,
and there was plenty ofroom about his vest.
He would make that 'possum very sick be-
fore he got through with it. He used to
say that it reminded him of old South Car
olina to eat possum, and that's the reason
he liked it so well. Many a time he's told
me about 'possum hunting at night, with
colored boys and dogs and an axe, freeing
the possum, cutting the tree down and
roasting the pOssum before log fire. Mr..
Calhoun's neighbors down there used to
send him boxes of persimmons, and these
he would distribute among his friends here
as one of the great products Of South Car
olina OF course Mr.. Calhoun had all the
old Southern habits. He wanted his cof-
fee in the morning before he got out of
bed. For breakfast he wanted hot corn
bread or biscuits and the breast of a chick
en-. He wouldn't eat any other part of the
chickens, For dinner he didn't care much
for anything except soup and fish. 1t was
at night that he wanted his 'possum or any
extra dish he might fancy.
''Senator Benton, of Missouri, was a
mighty funny man about his eating" con-
tinued Uncle Steve. II was at the Ma
tional hotel for long time while he board
ed there, and l can say that he was about
as fussy man as you ever saw. He could
talk more and pay his walters less than any
Congressman l ever waited on. In the
morning he would say to me- "Steve, you
black rascal, bring me Missouri cocktail"
That would mean whisky straight, two
drinks in one. He would call for pretty
much everything on the bill of fare, but he
did't touch much of it. What do you sup
pose was his favorite dish? Bacon and
molasses, as sure as you are born He
would have big dish of bacon fried crisp,
with the gravy at the bottom. Then he
would pour pint of molasses over it, and
l tell you, when he got through there wasn't
anything left but the dish. That's the
reason Mr. Benton had his meals mostly
in his room. He did not want people to
know that he was so fond of bacon and
molasses.
"Theres President Harrison, who died
so quick after he got into the White House.
They all say he died from excitement, ner-
vous prostration and all that. But the
man who waited on him said that he died
from too much dinner. He had been in
the White House but few days when he
told the waiter he had brought from Indi-
ana to get him up what he called a regular
old-fashioned North Bend dinner. That
was Mr.. Harrison's home in Indiana, and
his order meant cabbage, picked pork,
fresh roast pork, peas, cucumbers and sweet
potatoes, with corn meal fritters for dessert.
That was on day that Mr.. Webster had
a long talk with him. Mr. Webster was
in his cabinet, and he said Harrison, if
these id office seekers don't kill you,
that dinner will Well, sir, he never saw
well moment after that dinner. He had
indigestion, headaches and swimming in
the head, and they say his mind wasn't
right till he died 1t might have been
something else, but believe that it was
that dinner that caused his death. The old
cook at the White House said that she had
cooked for five Presidents, but that Mr..
Harrison could eat more than all of them
put together. Why, sir, he could eat two
whole whitehead cabbages and pork to cor
respond, with corn-cakes and molasses, at
one time. The story at that time was that
when he was in the army he always ate
double rations, and the commissary did not
charge him extra for it. While he was
fighting in the army his favorite dish was
raw pork and hard tack, and the other Off
GERS used to sit around and watch him get
away with it.
"Who was the smallest eater l ever
knew? Well, I've known good many
small eaters, but l believe that Mr.. JEFF
Davis was about the smallest 1 ever saw.
He was always SO thin you could almost see
through him, and they used to say it was
because he did not eat enough. waited
on him at Welcker's before he was Secre-
tary of War-it must have been about forty
years ago. He looked sickly and pale, and
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