Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-05-31
MuRRAY's MUSINGS.
A Distinguished Russians Craze for Cook
ing-spoolks in Central Park, New York
Scenes ON the L Roads = Daisies at
Nickel Each.

n IL
NEW YORK, May 30-"That story about the
bachelor cooking fad, J" remarked traveller
| at the Hoffman, reminded me of the distin-
guished Russian who took the culinary craze
| some 80 years ago. He was q very wealthy
gentleman, and having nothing to do and
| good deal of time to do it in, began expert,
/ menting in cookery. He wasn't satisfied to
simply monkey with chatting dish like your
| New Workers. but took up the whole subject.
| He went to Paris, put himself under q
1 famous chef and studied the art with the
| same zeal that a young sculptor would study
his business in Rome. When he had mas
tered all the French then known he returned
to Russia, set up kitchen for himself and
ran it for his own amusement
att was probably the most elaborate and
/ expensive affair of the kind ever built. He
brought rare edibles from all parts of the
world, and pursued the work of getting them
into the most palatable forms with much en-
| thusiasm. Nearly everything was wasted in
experiments, but he succeeded in the course
| of time in inyenting numerous dishes now
known to chefs and even ordinary cooks
everywhere. He was the originator, among
| other equally important things, of the Gus
| tom of serving certain kinds of wines with
| certain dishes-a custom now followed in
| every civilized country, to the early destruc-
| tion of the human stomach. Having spent
his entire fortune in these gastronomical re-
searches, he was finally compelled to go to
! Paris and cook for a living"
Desecrating Central Park.
The extraordinary number of suicides in
| Central Park has clouded some of the more
| lonely and retired portions of that charming
| resort with disagreeable 'bugaboos." Laying
aside the question as to how any sane man
can sit down in the midst of the most beauti-
| full manifestations Of Nature and convincing
4fn n1la aIf falx h to
! brains out, and the doubts as to whether any
! suicide is really sane, the consequences OF
this, growing tendency to SO desecrate the
| garden spot of New York naturally reacts
| unpleasantly upon the place itself.
The influence is unfortunately exerted
| chiefly upon the minds of little children.
Morbid womanlSind in the guise of nurses is
| thereby furnished fresh material to weave
| the customary ghostly stories to entertain
| the young. These nurses are not unfrequent-
ly seen In the shadowy recesses OF the
| Ramble with their youthful charges clus-
! tered about their knees retailing to each
| other the horrible details of the latest crime
of this nature. If the little ones are there
after startled by every rustling leaf and
shiver with every changing shadow, it is no
wonder. But 1t is almost crime to I'LL the
minds of young children with such things,
and parents ought to take the necessary
| steps to prevent it.
Room Service in Gotham Hotels.
"ExoErTINe the big Continental hotels"
''the New York hotels are the best in the
world. There is one particular, however, in
which they are weak. The room service Is
usually bad. What mean is, the matter of
attendance. I live in hotels the year round,
and in New York hotels at least four months
out of eyeryyear At the hotel where my
wife and are stopping l noticed recently
that our breakfast-which is served in our
room-was invariably cold. Ifyou complain
at the Office you will get the reputation OF a
kicker. Our room waiter invariably forgets
thing. This morning I found the following
scrawl in my napkin; The guest who remem-
bers the waiter will be well served
although am ordinarily liberal in my tips
where we get our other meals, / had some
times overlooked this fellow: Well, l took
that note to the office, thinking to do the
manager good turn. 1t @ wasn't received
pretty cold shoulder, politely declared That
must be mistaken as to the service, but
said they would look into it. Now, ! can't
Never complain at the Office. Kick the
waiter If necessary, but you might as well
leave at once if you complain. This is
Abroad, excellent room service is the rule.
In this country it is the exception. In other
respects I prefer the New York hotels to
any others in the world"
Seeing the City From on High.
cit is just like Paris or London,you know"
was the excited comment of a lady seated
high up on the roof of Fifth avenue stage.
And If it isn't 'just liket this ride up from
the growing Washington Arch to Central
Park is strong reminder of "London from
the Knifeboard," )" and the pleasant hours to
be spent on top of the Partisan buses. In
New York the possession of the roof is most
vigorously contested by ladies. 1t is the
vantage ground from which the visitor to
the metropolis gets the best view of the
storied wealth and grandeur of Fifth avenue:
In the cool of the evening it is where tired
shop girls and their ardent escorts, young
couples, arrayed like McGinty in their best
suits of clothes, take a happy evening out
pair goes immeasurably further on top of a
Fifth avenue stage than twice the money IN
ice cream.
The inside of the stage may be empty-it
usually is in fair weather as long as one va
cant seat remains on top-but the seeker after
fresh air and the sights Of the streets de-
clnes to ride anywhere else button the roof.
If four times the number of coaches we're
run the roof seats could contain but a small
proportion of those who delight to use them
at certain hours of the day. At present if
dence in the world from the most advan-
tageous point of view you must go down to
Washington place and start with the stage.
eet Aao the li additional S treat Of Of dozen half
hysterical women and shouting young girls
scrambling up steep, crooked, eight-inch
stairway for the first time. From that time
you will probably think the abolition of the
old Broadway stages was mistake, and that
all they needed was a double row of roof
seats to have converted them into a joy for
ever.
The Business of Fruit Vending.
IT is often a matter of speculation how the
multitude of street venders in New York
make a living. In the vicinity of the post
office, opposite the Astor House, are always
to be seen numerous push carts, some con-
tanning nothing but bananas, invariably pro-
PEELED by lazy-looking sons of Italy. Watch
them for an hour, or as long a time as you
so few and far between, that it doesn't seem
possible that enough business can be done
TO yield profit sufficient to keep soul and
body together. Yet very few of them but
turn out from 81 to 81 q day clear of ex-
penses. An average of 81 30 per day, rain or
shine, is not unusual. There are no expenses
beyond the small capital invested in bunch
of the succulent tropical fruit Very often
this is furnished by another Italian who may
own q number of these carts and various
street stands, while the venders are operating
on shares or commissions. This capitalist is
sort of padrone, and having himself sprung
from the ranks, requires O ScrupulOus ac-
counting from his poorer countrynan, whose
ambition to own a cart and his own trade is
almost sure to be realized in the course of
time. The latter is then ready to marry and
run an establishment of his own. He can
earn as much as the average day laborer but
he must be about the streets early and late
The police regulations compel him to keep
moving. Any persistent violations of these
rules is likely to get him into trouble though
"the finest' are very lenient in the exercise