Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1884-12-05
A Walters KccOIIectiO"s
TFrom the Baltimore Hqrald. j

AltiiA NtHN. u ""l"
heard Of what Am eater Inc w's.
Well, lean say that | Fleo i-r' -.
Clay great m4nJ ycals, )ee-17e
waited on him, both at ihe Nauo.i-
al and at ilancock's a. vol az isi u
great many other places. 5.f
Clay was great lover Of Ofo'cd
oys.c.s and baked pumpkins. Ae
was tho NOS, s,ugGlar min1l dI<r
saw about his eating. fOa don't
know that Mr.. Clay uscl tc eat
butter on his watermelon! Wen,
sir, he did. | recollcct very Wei
that on certain day, whom thoro
was a great many famous men at
the table, including Mr.. Corwin,
Mr.. Calhoun, Gen. Taylor and Gen.
Carey, of Michigan, Mr. Clay had
his watermelon set out before him.
After having the melon sliced, hc
said. Now, gentleman, y0u have
before you the most magnificent
product Of the vegetable kingdom;
now here is the most magnificent
product of the animal Kingdom
butter Then he proceeded TO but-
ter a slice of melon. and he put the
butter on thick and | can tell j0u
he did not stop at one slice. In
fact, may say that he did never
stop at four or five slices Of butter
Ell watermelon every time they
put watermelon IN tho table. Eut
| can say Chat none of The other
gentlemen ever followed his advice.
One of Mr.. Clay's friends, "a kol.
tucky colonel, tried it once, bit
You ought to sec him lay the water
melon down real Quict.
No, sir, Incvcr soc nobody 'ccpt
Mr.. Clay take to buttcred water
melon.
Somehow or other all those great
meu had their pcculiaritics about
what they wanted TO est. There
was Mr.. Calhoun who always had
his 'possum and sweet potaioos
when he could get them. lie used
to say to ne: 'Nov Steve, you got
me a nice Fat 'possom, cooh it tho
day after it is killed, par boil it,
then put il in n hot oven with boil
ed yam potatoes laid around If in
the oven, and then let it slowly
brown. If YOU can get a coon,
: $ eve, ycu make plenty oi coon
gravy, yorv brown and pour it
over tic 'posrnn. Au' don't }ai
fail TO have 'possgn woii favored
with poppc. a'taa4 sage. Ne.-
sir, you inst ought 70 soa lir c-.'
houn, sit down toa ,lishof passm
with coon gravy. 'Io wasu'. % bi.
Iman. brt be was mighty thia,
tlere was plenty orro3n a.'.t4'3
v.s'. " rouM mate ihat .pa
sum rrm sick before ho - stIrcrta
with r.. OF course }ir 'aihc''
had all the old Southern ha',..
lie wanted his coffee ia ,Ac mora
ing before he got ont Of bod. For
breakfast he wanted hot corn
bread or biscuits and tho breast n
a chicken. He wouldn't eat any
other part Of chicken. For din
uer ne didn't care much for any
thing except soup ard fish. 1t
was at night ne wanted his pos
sum or any extra dish he might
fancy.
Senator Benton, Of Missouri,
was a mighty funny man about his
= eating continued Uncle Steve.
Il was ut the National Hotel for a
long time while ne boarded there,
and / can say that he was abont az
fussy a man as you ever saw. 10
could talk more and pay his wait.
ers less than any Congressman /
r ever waitcl ON. lu The morning
he would say to me: Steve, you
black rascal. bring me Il Missouri
cocktail That would mean vh Sc
key straight, two drinks in one.
He would call for prctiy much
: everything on the bill Of fae, but
he didn't touch much Of it. What
! do you suppose was his fayOrte
dish Bacon and molasscs, rs
- sure as you are born? He w.olld
. have a big dish Of bacon fried crisp,
, with the gravy at the bottom.
Then he would pour a pitt of mo-
lasses over it, and tell you when
he got through there wasn't any.
, thing left but the dish. That the
! reason Mr. Benton had his meals
f mostly in his room. lie did not
want people to know that he was
50 fond of bacon and molassos.
r There's President Harrison, who
r. died so quick after he got into the
, White House. They all say that
he died from excitement, nervous
a prostration. and all that. Bnt the
n man who waited on him said that
4 he died from too much dinner. Dc
10 had been in the White House but
=. few days when he told the waiter
# he bad brought from Indiana to
- get bin up what he called a regu-
Il lar old fashioned South Bend din
~ ncr. That was Mr. lIarrison's home
i, in Indiana, and his order meant
70 cabbage, pickled-pork, fresh roast
pork, peas, cucumbors, and sweet
potatoes, with cornmeal fritters
Ie for desert. That was on the day
If that Mr.. Webster had - long talk
Is with him. Mr.. Webster was in hi:
y cabinet, and he said Harrison, II
10 H. L Il nfinn rnni.nt.u dnniI kil