The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1893-12-02

And tho Insurmountabls Obstacle Which
Made IL Dismal Failure.

Made It Dismal Failure.
Taking Of poulets, "hers's another sto-
ry," as Mr.. Kipling would say, which was
told to me by gentleman who had settled
down to spend his old age In the neighbor-
hood of Interlaken. Monsieur, like many
another of US, had spent an idle moment
now and then in spsculatinR upon the
enormous number Of poulets which are
daily slaughtered in the Swiss principali-
ty. Suddenly happy thought occurred.
Why should he not have a share In the
profits; why should he not start poultry
farm Of his own No sooner thought than
done. Monsieur determined that he would
spare no expense; he would have the best
breed of chickens that could be procured,
and then, given large demand on the
one hand and an exceptional supply on
the other, he would bs sure of . largo
and profitable business. So he argued In
his ignorance, and having spent some E1,-
. 800 and many months Of careful supervi-
sion he found himself the possessor of as
fine q colony Of feathered nurslings as one
need wish to see.
Matters having reached this satisfacto-
~ stage, he repaired TO one of the NAM
moth hotels whose windows look out on
the glittering heights of the Jungfrau
and held an interview with the propris-
tors. They were acQuaintances Of many
years. standing; his reception was, there
fore, all that was gracious, and he was re-
quested to send down q sample of dozen
poulets forthwith. The poulets were dis
patched, and day or two later monsieur
attended to hear the verdict. He tried
poor fellow, to subdue an expression Of
exultation Al he mentally contrasted his
own plump nurslings with the tough and
bony specimens which are usually offered
up for the delectation Of the guests, and
his disappointment was all the greater,
therefore, when the landlord shrugged his
shoulders up to his eyes and replied: "Ah,
the poulets A terrible failurel Raw,
my dear monsieur--absolutsly raw At
the last moment they must be sent away
from tho table. Not even begun to be
cooked" "But that was not the fault Of
the chickens--that was the fault of your
cookp' Monsieur sighed profoundly and
executed moro gymnastics with his shoul-
ders and eyebrows. "Well, we shall then
make one more trial. Send me another
dozen"
Twelve more poulsts were thereupon dis
patched, even plumper and tenderer ths n
the last. and again my friend attended to
hear the verdict. Another failure, II ap-
peared. "Ah, my dear sir. worse than
everl Burnt to cinderl 1t was not even
possible that they should appear at the
table. At the last moment Monsieur
interrupted with q show of impatience.
Sand pray, whose fault Is thati II is the
fault off, The proprietor laid his hand
upon his friends arm in confidential fash
ion. Gomez he said, "let us now talk
together. We are old acquaintance; it
is best that we understand ono another.
My cook win not cook your chickens |
He makes his own arrangements with
the farmers who supply me, and IL does
not suit him that should deal with an
other. What can dor It Is the height
of the season, ard my house Is full
cannot afford TO be left without my chef.
cannot afford to have badly cooked food
to set before my guests. wink my eye;
see, but I pretend not to see And for
you, take my word for 1t, IL you shall sue
ceed, you sit In the public house and drink
with the cooks. You must make bribes--
you must laugh and make jokes-you
must not be a gentleman any longer-you
must also De cook with the restr
1t was too true. No cook in Interlaken
was found capable of cooking monsieur's
poulets, and as he, on his side, was too
much of a gentleman to coudescend to
drinks and bribes the poultry farm died
a natural death and left him wiser and
poorer man.--Westminste Gazette.