The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1889-03-29
[Cuatinote0 from lust mceh' |
CHATTER NXNNfIl,

are born at as tender an age in America aa
elsewhere, but the society for the protectu:l
of animals probably prevents their hcn.
killed for food while they are young enough,
to enjoy life, and so the patrarehs ulan" nIs
reserved for the table.
That which renders the pro,len of dining
almost past solving is that the ntat t.;ls u !,n
attacked with plated knives which tear but
do not cut it. suppose that, us half the
lower class Americans still cat with their
knives it was necessary to abandon the Idea
of having steel knives for fear Of their acci-
dentally gashins their faces If sharp steel
knives were in general use in America the
streets would bc full Of people with faces
SCARED and scanned like those of the Heidel-
berg students
The Americans drink little else but water
at table, and one cannot help wondering how
it is that the filter seems to be an almost un-
known institution III the land. Leave your
glass of water untouched on the table, and
in a few moments thick sediment of mud or
sand will be visible at the bottom of it.
Down south il is worse still,
At Jacksonville was waited upon at table
by an extremely obliging negro
One day be brought me sosLe water, put ice
i'll it, and tiiscrcetly withdrew behind my
chnir
its contents
"Epaminondas!H cried
"Dat's not my name. sah Tin called
Charles"
''Charles. look at this water, there is q
snake iii it.
Charles took the glass, looked in it, and
then with a rcass.lring grin, announcctl:
Its dead, sah."
THAT is comforting said I, ''hut 1t may
have left eggs, which will come to life by
thousands inside nc
Charlcs was facctious, and YVES not to be
put oft Of rountcnance for such triflc. Ho
took up the glass again, rc-exalnined it, and
replaced it on the table,
tDeres no danger, s:ih; its a niulc,n hc
said.
In almost all hotels south Of Washington
the walters are colored mon. Tho service is
but poor The negroes are slow-it Is tho
guests who do the waiting"
At Delnlonico's especially, and in the prin-
cipal hotels Of New York, Boston, Philadel-
phia and Washington you can dino admir-
ably. Iu tie smaller towns you must be COLI
tent with feeding.
But let us take our seats at the table tl'hote
of the best hotel in any second rate town that
you please III Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, or
some other state Of the Union.
No printed menu. A young woman, with
an elaborate coiffure of curls rolls and bangs,
but no cap, approaches, darts look of con-
tempt ut you and, turning her back upon
you, gables off in one breath:
"Croutaupoturbotshrim hrimpsauceroastbeeftur
cepotatoestomatoesapp
mincepievanillacrcam.
Do not attempt to stop her; she is wound
up, and when she is started is bound to 60 to
the end You must not hope that she will
repeat tho menu a second time either If You
did not hear, so much the worse for you
Unfortunately the consequences are grave;
it is not ono dish that you miss-it is the
whole dinner. You are obliged to order all
your repast at once, and the whole is brought
you, from soup to cheese, at one time.
vas SO i'll inspired one day as to order
some soup to begin with. The waitress re-
AA-SA
"That is nll you ordered" she said to me.
"Tou do not suppose | can make twenty
journeys to the kitchen for you"
rose and sought tho hotel keeper. made
the humblest apologies, pleaded that was
foreigner who had only been in America
fortnight, and was not yet accustomed to the
habits Of the Americans. Ipromised solemnly
never to tTansgress again in this way. Mine
host went to the young person who was at
the head of the battalion of harpies in the
dining room, and interceded for me with her.
| had the happiness Of being forgiven, and
was allowed to appease my hunger.
From that day forward, as soon rs one of
these witchins damses began her incantation,
cried out:
Hold! Enoughl Bring it all in"
Then | would eat the least distasteful Of the
messes and leave the rest, can assure you
the hotel did not make much profit out of me.
This is how the dinner is served:
The duchess" begins by ainging spoon
and knife and fork down on the tablo in front
of you. 1t is for you to set them straight,
and would advise you to do so without any
murmuring When you have taken your
soup, the said duchess brings you n plate,
around which she places u dozen little oval
dishes in a symmetrical fashion that one can
but admire,
The first little dish contains fish and a tea
spoonful of sauce Of some kind 1t is need
less to inquire the name of this sauce. All
the fish sauces are the same; only the name
varies, The second apparently contains
little lump of raw beef; the third n slice OF
roast turkey; tho fourth mashed potatoes;
the fifth a stcwcd tomato; tho sixth cram
berry sauce, the seventh chicken salad; the
eighth some rice pudding, and the last con-
tains horrible dictuD slice of apple tart,
with a large helping Of cheese in tho middle
of it. These two things are eaten together
and arc consequently served on the same
dish,
You begin at tho left Tho first presents
no obstacles but its bones and is soon disposed
Of. You turn your attention to tue next
dish on the right and attack the beef. 1t is
impregnabe, you can make no impression
upon it. You pass Tho turkey is not obtlu
rate and you fall to on that. making little
raids on the potatoes, tomatoes and cranberry
sauce between each mouthful Thanks to
the many climates Of America the thellnon,-
eter varies in winter from IS above zero in
the south to As below in the north), you have
turkey and cranberry sauce all tho winter.
Strawberries six months of the year and to
matoes ali the year round.
Oh, the turkey and. cranberry sauce!
ate enough Of that dish to satisfy me for the
rest of my days No moro turkey and cram
berry sauce for me- though should live to