Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-09-03

S.-E-SSs5s1 Tszys@-SsO
RAKINa IN SHALLOW WATER.
BY flterirg the water which it takes into its
mouth through these. 1t mas no ears and no
nose. but scientists saw that it can see and that
it will close its shell if a shadow passes above
il over the water. The stomach of the oyster
is the bag which lies just behind the mouth. Its
liver runs around the stomach. and this liver Is
green or chocolate i'll color. 1t has lungs. which
are like the gills of fishes. and it has u heart
though II Ea7 no brains. The liquor found IN
the shell il the life blood of the OYSTER and il
it were not for this it is said the oyster would
die. You can tell the age of an oyster by its
shell. and the layers upon this show the nurlbe-
Of ii l. old. Some shells hay e been found
which were nine inche. thickand some scien lists
claim thar there are oysters which have lived n
hundred years.
OYSTERS IN HISTORY.
While We are taking our first oyster this eek
let Us see how the animal has been eaten in the
past. The Greeks were fond of them. for
Sehliemann found lot of oyster shells among
the ruins of Troy and Plato said that in the
transmig-ation of souls eiTeminate men were
reborn as women aud then "a oysters Horace
Cicero and Seneca were all t, I'd of ovsters and
Iiinv says that Alexander the Grea. found oys-
tiers foot long In the Indian ocean. HI re
are said TO be oysters i'll South Australia today
which are big a dinner plate and one of
these fried in butter is enough for a meal. he
Romans took oysters an apj etiZer before
Their big dinners and they were The mos: glut-
. tonous oyster caters of all times. The Emperor
Nl;etlus Il said TO have swallowed as MANY as
1000 oysters at a sitting and Seneca ate hun
dreds of oysters every week. About the time
of Christ great many oysters were brought
from Great Britain TO Rome. and il is said that
the British oysters were al this time worth their
weight In gold in the Roman markets. The
ancients chewed their oysters and did not swal-
low them whole as we do. They had their artifi-
cial oyster beds and one Roman noble capitalist
built a summer palace beside his beds and
made his fortune by running an open-air
restaurant. with oysters on the half she'll The
Romans were SO fond OF them that they used
artificial means to get rid of them. and il is
said that men and women carried feathers with
them to the table and after eating their fill of
oysters would retire with these and tickle their
palates until they had relieved their stomachs
and were ready for second course. Among
[ others who followed this custom was Julius
Cesar.
HOW TO EAT OYSTERS.
Raw oysters are the most easily digested of
all food and this ia undoubtedly the most
healthful way TO ca. them. If eaten alive thev
digest themselves and they act as a stimllant
a. well as a food. They are good for melan-
choly and they are the best thing in the world
\
every night before singing, and it was a famous
French rhysician. who lived far beyond four
score. who ate two dozen every morning and
said that they were the fountain OF his strength
One OF the greatest oyster meals record was
lately eaten in London. A man bet that he
could eat twelve dozen oysters, was he'd down
by twelve glasses OF champagne, while the cathe-
dral clock was striking twelve. His bet was
| taken and he won it BY placing a dozen fresh
oysters in twelve wine glasses and beside
these dozen glasses of champagne. He
swallowed the oysters glass BY gla's and
washed each down with a glass of champagne
and The story is that the man is alive and hearty
Vinegar should not be used with raw oysters
and the best thing TO take with oysters is beer
Whisky. brandy. rum and other liquors tougher
the oyster like leather and make it indigestible
Raw oysters are eaten best when they are first
! opened and In their own liquor. 1t is not well
tOeat them before YOU go to bed, they are slim
Ulating in their effects and NAV cause insomnia
| II takes just two hours and fifteen minutes for
the healthy stomach to digest a raw oyster
and cooked oysters require considerably longer
| time.
SOMETHING ABOUT COOKED OYSTERS
| Washington clam, to be headquarters for
steamed oysters of the United States. Mr..
/ Harvey, the restaurant keeper, invented this
method of cooking the oyster A half peck
/ l. the smallest order and this number is
/ put into wire basket and lowered into a
steamer, where they are LETT for a few minutes
! and then broayht out and opened for the GUS
TONERS. They are served with pepper, salt and
! butter and are very delicious. A steam of this
kind costs here about IS cents and il is far
/ superior TO the ordinary oyster stew or oyster
| soup. The oldest way of cooking an oyster on
record is that OF famous fire ea Ter Of the past,
who said he Was able to put live coal on his
tongue and raw oyster top of this The
coal blown with the bellows and i,
famed and sparkled until il cooked the OYSTER
. whereupon the fire eater ate il. You will find
this story in ''Evelyn's Memoirs" and the man
lived in 1872 l do not vouch for
the statement The Chinese have a curiou,
way of ealing oysters They like them drv
They first boil the oysters and then dry them in
the sun until they look like mushrooms They
I seldom eat raw oysters, and when they eat their
I oysters fresh they sauce them with ginger and
| vinegar. The best way to stew an oyster is in a
/ chatting dish. and an oyster stew should never
have water mixed with it, Milk takes away the
flavor of the OYSTERS and the best sauce ia their
/ own liquor. Apicius, the famous Roman epi-
! cure. cooked oysters with pepper, the yolk OF
! an egg. vinegar, oil, wine and honey, and this
/ is said to have been n favorite Roman dish.
THE PEARL OYSTER.
Every now and then pearl is found In the
American oyster. but they are usually very
small and vaIueless. Very few white pearls arr
found in America and one of the largest eve,
discovered was one which came from Bount
Brook, n. j.. and which was bought by Titan,
for 81 900 in gold. IL was sent to Paris and
was finally bought by the Empress Eugene
This was about thirty years ago Since tina
time another pearl came from this same region
but it was unluckily cooked before il was dis
covered. and after il had gone through the Hre
il was not worth five cents, though originally il
ia said that its value was o., 900 The Wiscon-
sin pearls which were recently discovered Their
included quite a number Of fine ones, worth
from $500 to $500 each. They were, of course
fresh water pearls and varied In color from {
light purple to q dark brown. A pearl wss 10
Gently found on the Miami river, in Ohio, which
sold for $500, but the great pearl regions Of the
world are in the orient. The pearl fisheries Of
India. Japan and China produce more thar
$4,000 900 worth Of pearls every year, and IL
1889 IL ,000, 900 pearls were found Oh Ceylon
These pearls are gotten by divers and the diving
season is in the spring The divers ere Easl