The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1884-04-20
WHITE HOUSE DINNERS.
yARVELS OF THE CCL.NAR :
ART DISPLAYED AND THOU
SAND OF FLOWERS USED.
Flowers. Birds and Figures SCuiI
tured Out of Frozen Stcarine and
Fat--Roscs, Carn atiOns, Lilies
and Other Blossoms
Sacrificed.

q
other day into the realm Of pans
and pots at the White House, Of Mr.. A.
ForSin, the chief Of the culinary depalS-
ment of the Executive mansion
s'We are usually notified four or five
davs ahead. although we can get dim
ner ready on much sho ter notice. re
piled Mr.. Foutin. But we can do bet
ter nstice to the occasion when we have
ample time to prepare" b"
"Do you find the President hard to
please?'
He is very pleasant and appreciative.
Like every true gentleman, he delights
in perfect, well appointed table, and
frequently expresses his satisfaction when
he notices some peculiar effort in artistic
arrangement, culinary skill, or elaborate
design of table ornaments"
"Where do the table ornaments come
from?"
"They are sculptured by my assistant,
Mr.. A. Costa, and myself"
"Sculptured?"
Eyes; sculptured, or modelled, right
here. Sometimes we expend consider
able labor upon them, when the subject
is one of more difficulty of execution
than usual. Our material is sterine and
fat, mixed and frozen, which, in its pure
whiteness, resembles marble very closely
under the gaslight of the State dining
room. For last Wednesdays dinner we
made six low, round stands, representing
ornamental baskets, with laurel wreaths
and acorns around them. For the pre-
vious dinner we made stands for pate de
foie gras, about twelve inches high, with
the tOp-bowl representing COnvOluted
sea shell resting upon three mermaids
gracefully turned downward At the
base the space between the heads of the
mermaids was filled with choice flowers
in natural colors, limitations of fresh
moss, and every hair-line of the work
was executed in this composition of faG
and stearine, the coloring being done be
fore the freezing"
"What other works of art have you
executed in that style?"
"There is a different subject selected
for every dinner. At the one previous
to the last | have mentioned we had q.
Goddess of Liberty; before that ar
American eagle; then an archangel
blowing his trumpet, Cupid in a basket,
a flower-piece, ornamental stands. ped
estals with wreaths at the base, and othe~
subjects"
''Have you followed your vocation
long?"
"Oh, yes; have been with the Prince
of Wales, Prince Salm-Salm, the Duke
de Croeix, Prince de Ligne, the President
of the Belgian Senate, John Jacob As
tor, and was with Mr.. Jay Gould before
came here to the White House. My
assistant, Mr.. Costa has served at the
Kursaal of the famous German watering
place. Badeu-Baden, and was with the
late Viceroy of India, the Earl of North
brooke, and other noted gentlemen"
"How many courses does a State din
uSI usually COllSlSU vi
Twelve to fourteen, although we
have had as many as twenty-five courses. "
How many guests are generally in
vited to each dinner"
From forty to fifty, and on Wednes-
day of last week we had tifty-four-the
highest number of guests, l understand,
that were ever seated in the State dining
room. The largest number ever accom-
kmOdatee at that table in former years
+ vas thirty-six. While giving fewer din
+ prs President Arthur has therefore prob
ly had more guests at his table than
|@ny other occupant of the White House.
THE table is shaped like this II. In
this manner all the available space Of the
dining-room is ingeniously utilized"
&" How do the White House accommo-
dations for dinners compare with the ar
rangements of private residences that
you have seen p
Mr.. Fontin shrugged his shoulders in a
significant, diplomatic way. The state
dining-room is rather small" he said,
compared to the elegant dirtng-rooms
of some American private houses that l
have seen, and it must seem queer to Wis
itors to the White House to find the
State dining-room no greater affair TO-
day than it was at the beginning Of the
century. But" he added, with another
shrug and smile, 81 have no fault TO find
with it"
Just then, Mr.. H. Pfster, the White
House gardener, passed by the windows,
and the reporter, taking leave of Mr..
Fontin, followed the briskly-walking
gardner into his sanctum at the conser-
vatory.
' Where do the flowers come from? =
asked the Post reporter, "that are used
in the decoration of the White House ta-
ble during the State dinners?"
Three-fourths of the flowers not
raised in the conservatory are brought
from New York, ice-packed,n replied Mr..
PliSteF the rest are procurad bo,o P,1v