Sullivan republican. [volume] (Laporte, Pa.) 1883-1896, 1893-04-21
: PRESIDENTS AT DINNER.
HOW THE NATIONS CHIEF Elk.
ECUTIvES HAVE DINED.
Washington and the shad--Enter.
tainments of Early Daye-Later
Presidents Careless Eaters.

Presidents Careless Eaters.
yT1HAT did the Presidents eat9
NNf is not 80 frivolous ques-
v " tion as the light-mlnded
and unscientific would i'm
agine. Let US try to answer 1t with
gravity and reverence.
Washington had plain tastes. As
President he was even inclined to be
economical. He used to lecture his
steward every week on the evils of ex.
travagance. But the steward, an ex-
cellent man named Fraunces, who wcr.
shipped Washington and had proper
sense of the dignity of his position,
would mutter at the end OF each weekly
lecture: Gay, he may discharge me II
he will, but while he is President and l
am steward his table will be supplied
with the best the country can Afford"
Washington had a special fondness for
fish. One February an early Delaware
shad, caught in advance of the season,
was seized from the market by Fraunces
and served up triumphantly at the Pres.
idential table.
"Wbat fish is thatf'' cried Washing.
ton, as the savory odor met his nostrils.
IA shad, sir" said Frauncea, glee-
fully. "The only one in the market,
the first one of the season."
''But the price2" Washington's face
grew stern.
"Three-three dollars, "stammered the
steward.
Washington's sternness in creased.
"Take it away" he cried. ''It shall
never be said that set such an example
of extravagance."
And the dish which was too great an
extravaganza for the President was
carried off into the kitchen, where the
servants ate it with no qualms of con-
science.
Washington's immediate successors,
Adams and Jefferson, were light eaters
in private, but the former gave stately
and magnificent bauquets, while the
latter kept generous table in the large
free-handed Virginia style. Forty guests
was no unusual number, and it is said
that the marketing for single day fire..
quently amounted to as much as $50.
Madison revived the State dinners of
Adams's time with good deal of the
attendant cerem onial, which Jefferson
had discarded. Yet Mrs. William
Winston Seaton in her diary rather
sights one of the banquets at which she
was present. "The dinner" she says,
was certainly fine, but still was rather
surprised, as it did not surpass somer /
have eaten in Carolina. There were
many French dishes, aud exquisite
wines, l presume, by the praises be.
slowed upon them; comment on the
quality of the wine seems to form the
chief topic after the removal of the
cloth. Candles were introduced before
the ladies left the table, and the gentle.
men continued half an hour longer to
enjoy social glass;" But Madison
himself was light drinker. When he
had hard drinkers at his table he would
invariably dilute his wine with water in
order to keep up with them, or else
merely touch the glass to his lips while
the others took deep draughts.
In strong contrast to Madison's ban-
quets were those given by Andrew Jack.
son. He hated conventional etiquette
even mere than Jefferson die. and set his
face more sternly against ceremonial.
He always used steel fork himself and
provided his guests with one steel fork
and silver one. After dinner he
moked long handled corn. cob pipe.
At his farewell reception jackson intro
duced curious novelty. This was an
enormous cheese yard thick and as big
as barrel in circumference, which was
cut into three-pound pieces and dis.
tributed among the guests. This proved
such great success that Van Buren was
tempted to emulate the example. But
the carpets and the furniture suffered so
severely from the greasy crumbs which
fell upon them that the experiment
was never again repeated, and indeed
the custom of serving eatables at general
receptions came to an end forever with
Van Buren's lest term. 1t had grown
to be such glaring abuse that just
prior to the election of 1910 hungry
crowds had besieged the East Room.
clamoring to be fed, and threatening to
vote against Van Buren il they were not
entertained.
4 The deaths of two Presidents may be
directly associated with the table. The
first President Harrison caught a fatal
cold while out marketing, his invariabls
custom, before breakfast. Taylor died
of cholera morbus, resulting from a
hearty meal of cherries washed down
with ice milk, which he partook of on
his return from a Fourth Of July cele-
bration. In an hour he was seized with
cramps; in five days he was dead.
With the exception of President
Arthur, the later Presidents have all
been rather careless eaters, paying small
attention to the delights Of tins table
when they dined en- famiIle, and allow
ing their stewards or the la lies of the
White House to take full supervision
over the State banquets. President
Arthur, however, though light eater
was essentially an epicure, who took
great interest in the affairs OF the
kitchen, and made the supervision of
his dinners matter OF earnest study.
His private dinners are said to have cost
as much as $5 plate, his public ones
over $40. President Cleveland, on the
other hand, during his first term, is said
never to have entered the kitchens of
the White House, and though blessed
with wholesome appetite and a