, 1884-11-01
WINE-OFFICE,GOURT.
The "cheshire Cheese" One Of His
toric Tsverns of London
The Old chop House where Louden
Redeubles Her harms to the
Imaginative siEhp-sesr-
The Old and New.



One Of the first trip an old Llnloner
makes on coming 70 own IS TO -Niie-ofiice-
court,n Fleet street, where Is the wurid-re-
nowDed old %chop-housn. The Cheshire
Cheese, noted for it, punch. isrk-pie aud
kidney pudding. MS only a fcw minute='
walk from the Strand. at Charing Cross, OPP
posits to which are Gates restaurant and
the American Exchange and Register, both
welLknown resorts OF Americans
AZ you inter thisf old ehop-housa London.
red0nbiss her charms to your fancy. You
stray into the old grll-roonL You are i'm
pressed with the remihlscenses of Oliver
Goidsmith 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 bis score. Where that grand
head rested against the wall the paint is
quite worn of, and each proprietor in turn
has stnriny refused 20 nave 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 aud u Conventional thinkers, not
only Of London, but Of every ciims and city
whose ~visitors flock thither On the wall
hangs "A portrait Of Henry Todd, who COM
meDced his career ~ a waiter at the Ode
Cheshire Cheese In February, 1879. THE
Inscription aets forth that 'the portrait was
painted by Wagemau. July, 1871 subscribed
for by the gentlemen frequenting the coffee
room, and presented to Mr. Delaware. the
landlord in trust, to he handed down as an
heirloom 10 ali future landlords Of the Old
Cheshire Cheese, Vine -office-rourt, Fleet
street. 7It .41.flt FIaidlI laMilid hied
lna.u .l...a. l.. lf.t.rar ....t Inf 81
them all none are more historic or interesting
than The Cheefe. 70 eat a steak here Is
not 10 mAsticats fried eork. Nhile the tank
ards u bitter ale. foaming AMI delicious,
with which you wash down the steak. are
worth a long journey 70 enjoy. The folk lore
OF this famous haunt Il interesting.nibof
alone To tavern-lovlng but to general poster
ity. although ns to a complete and detailed
account u lis very early history there n
much Of obscurity While there Ara no posi-
tive proofsthers are authentic legends that
William Shakespeare spent many an Idle
hour at this place, beranseit wss on his way
to the Blsckfriars theatre. In Playhouse yard,
OF which he WA " Long a time absolute man
ager. rf.f. ..- - "a:
Another fA1nons man who haunted the
Cheese was Francois Marie Arouet Voltaiis,
Eids by side with B~olIngbroks. Pops and
Congreye. The expression, hes not TIE
cheese applies to one who was unequal
by reason Of his want Of position and clever
ness to associate with tbs regular frequenters
of the Old Cheshire Cheese. a
later on, though now aold iimes,r there
came Samuel johnson, Oliver Goldsmith and
Chatterton, as I've mentioned already. On
the opposite side Of Fleet street from the
Cheese. in the Temple churehyard. Gold
mith was buried, in almost the same place
where he had lived and died, and in the same
building where Blackstone wrote his Com
mentaries. sr
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 10 day that prince
OF dihsrs and Ion vivants, George Augustus
Saia. have frequented the Cheshire Cheese,
and waxed eloquent over Its comforts and
.ubtle charms.
Men who serve the frequentsrs Of the
Cheshire grow grayin the service, and each
boasts OF bis oysti particular customers. OF
the Younger walters, all aIs mostly civil, and
the young women al the bar are not only
polite, but lady-iiire IN manners and appear
ance- It's surprising how soon one gets
nsed 60 the innovation OF the feminine bar
tender, and 1t IS not 10 be QUESTIONED that It
is a good custom, productive Of greater re-
uueAnunL hAlouk tuo AuhAc tIEluculeIh, anu
where the young women conduct themselves
modestly, in no wise degrading to their
minds or morals 2 rrsfrsi- ria
At the Cheese various amusing abbrevia-
tons are used by the walters, who bawl their
orders thnough7the pipe to the kitchen But
in time you learn that mutt means q, NUT
ton chop" "A kidg stands for a kidney and
'Sosr isonly n playful diminutive for sausage.
In drinks cork Is Irish whisky and @rackD
is English gin and both liquors and food arc
of the very best quality. All the principal
papers, morning and evening, as well
as monthly magazines and week
lies, such as Punch, Fun, Cham
bers Journal and All the Year Round, are
supplied on the eating and lounging tables
and the visitor Il as welcome to use them If
be orders only a chop and a glass of beer as
II be rioted in the most extensive bill Of fare.
It IS the custom TO present vizitor with
long clay pipes which Is a tradition These
pipes ara fac-siniles Of the, ancient church
warden pipes once smoked here, and the Gus
tom "a kept mp IN love land memory of the
olden days; shAksspaare's words; 1Shall
| not a X mine ease at mine innf' give the
gentlemen an excuse to appropriate this clay
pipes for use then and there. %