Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1884-11-08
WINE-OFFICE-COURT.
The Cheshire Cheese" One of His.
toric Taverns of London.
The Old Chop House Where London
Redouhles Her Charms TO the
Imaginative Sight.Seer-
The Old and New.
TLondon Cor. pbiloae,nbia Times


One of the first trips an old Londoner
makes on coming to town is to -Wine-office-
court, Fleet street, where is the world-re-
nowned old chop-houso, The Cheshire
Cheese, noted for its punch, lark-pie and
kidney pudding. It is only a few minutes
walk from the Strand, at Charing Cross, op-
posite to which are Gates restaurant and
the American Exchange and Register, both
well-known resorts of Americans
AS you enter this old chop-ho;lse London
redoubles her charms to your fancy You
stray into the old grill-room. You are i'm
pressed with the "reminiscences of Oliver
Goldsmith and still earlier of Ben johnson.
In one corner is the very table where John
son sat and drank and did not always. more's
the pity, pay his score Where that grand
head rested against the wall the paint Is
quite worn off, and each proprietor in turn
has sturdily refused 10 have this memorable
worn spot repainted
Under the building in the cellars are
stored hundreds of gallons of the hest wine
and spirits in London This place was once
the resort of the wit and wisdom Of bonnie
England. Here to-day gather the brightest
journalists, the cleverest artists, the most
original and un conventional thinkers, not
only Of London, but of every cline and city
whose visitors flock thither. On the wall
hangs portrait of Henry Todd, who CON-
mencei his career as a waiter al the @Olde
Cheshire Cheese in February, 1872 The
inscription sets forth that 1.-THE portrait was
painted by Wageman, July, 1927, subscribed
for by the gentlemen frequenting the coffee
room, and presented TO Mr. Delaware, the
landlord, in trust, to be handed down as an
heirloom to all future landlords of the Old
Cheshire Cheese, Wine office-court, Fleet
street.
London abounds in historic taverns, but Of
them all none are more historic or interesting
than TIE Cheese To eat steak here is
not to masticate fried cork, while the tank
ards Of bitter ale, foaming and delicious,
with which you wash down the steak, are
worth long journey to enjoy. The folk lore
of this famous haunt is interesting, not
alone to tavern-oving, but to general poster
lty, although as to n complete and detailed
account of its very early history there is
much Of obscurity. While there are no posi-.
tive proofs there are authentic legends that
William Shakespeare spent many an idle
hour at this place, because it was on his way
To the Blackfriars theatre, in layhouse yard,
of which be was SO long time absolute man
ager
Another famous man who haunted the
Cheese was Francois Marie Arouet Voltaire,
side by side with Bolingbroke, Pope and
Congreve. The expression, "he's not the
cheese applies to one who was unequal
by reason of his want Of position and clever
ness TO associate with the regular frequenters
of the Old Cheshire Cheese
Later on, though now "old times" there |
"a yna ~ 4
Chatterton as I've mentioned already. On |
the opposite side Of Fleet street from the |
Cheese, in the Temple cnurchyard, Gold. |
smith was buried, in almost the same place |
where he had lived and died, and in the same |
building where Blackstone wrote his Com
mentaries.
But leaving these old days and old legends
of. the places round about, we find that in |
modern times William Makepiece Thackeray,
Charles Dickens, and now today that prince
of diners and Ion vivants, George Augustus
Sala, have frequented the Cheshire Cheese.
and waxed eloquent over its comforts and
subtle charms.
Men who serve the frequenters Of the
Cheshire grow gray in the service, and each
boasts Of his own particular customers. OF
the younger walters, all are mostly civil, and
the young women at the bar are not only
polite, but lady-!ike i'll manners and appear
ance II is surprising how soon one gets
used TO the innovation of the feminine bar
tender, and il is not to be questioned that it
is good custom productive OF greater re-
iinemcnt among the male frequenters, and
where the young women conduct themselves
i'll no wise degrading TO their
minds or morals.
At the Cheese various amusing abbrevia-
lions arc used by the walters, who bawl their
orders through the pipe to tho kitchen. But
in time You learn that NUT means "a NUT
ton chop" "A kid" stands for n kidney and
sos isonly playful diminutive for sausage
In drinks "cork' is Irish whisky and rack"
is English gin and both liquors ard food are
IF the very best quality All the principal
papers, morning and evening, as well
rs monthly magazines and week
les, such as Punch. Fun. Cham
oerS journal and All the Year Round, are
supplied on the eating and lounging tables
md the visitor is as welcome to use them if
he orders only chop and a glass of beer as
4 he rioted in the most extensive bill of fare
II is the custom tn present visitors with
ong clay pipes, which is tradition. These
pipes are fac-similes Of the ancient church
warden pipes once smoked here, and the Gus
ON is kept up in love and memory of the
'lden days; Shakespeares words: Shall
not take mine ease at mine inni' give the
gentlemen an excuse to appropriate the clay
pipes for Use then and there.