The morning call., 1893-02-12

gu Can i've WITHOUT DUOkS, Uub HOb
without cooks, said Lord Lytton long
ago, and as i! will be true 20 the end, let us
take a practical survey OF the London
kitchen before leaving the great city. An
other trite and true saying is this: You
can get more for shilling at Milne Inn
and less for guinea in London than in any
other place on the globe. This. however, is
growing less marked, as tradespeople are
coming TO be noblemen, and as noblemen,
in rare cases at least, are coming to be
tradespeople. and the once impossible
lines between lord and commoner are being
broken down bit
Fortunately for the poor, and for the
rich, too, for the English are fsh-eaters
from one extreme to the other, "the fruit OF
the sea" as the Italian calls 1t, never fails
of wondrous harvest. And yet there are
exceptions. Salmon, for example, are no
longer plenty or cheap although the time
was when all contracts for board and
articles of apprenticeship contained clause
to the effect that the boarder should not be
compelled to eat salmon more than twice a
week. 1t is held that. as rule, fishing in
the sea, that is deep-sea fishing. where the
large fish that too often live upon the small
ones are taken by thousands OF tons an
nually, incessant fishing only Increases the
supply.
You should sail away up toward the
North Cape, the land of the midnight sun,
TO see this soft Of fishing for the British
table. Fleets and fleets! Ships as plentl-
ful as farm horses on an Illinois prairie;
hospital ships. chapel ships and ships for
Sunday-schOull so that now when the fish
erman comes home to his braWny armed
wife at her stall 10 Billingsgate market he no
Longer fills her ears with vile language as
OF old, for he is Christian now, to some
extent at least, and you 90 and come at
Billingsgate with as little tear of Insult as
at almost any other part Of the great city.
You should go to Billngsgate, too. Go
there and get a ''whiteDait breakfast"
Don't forget that, else you may die without
ever having really breakfasted. Lord
Hought0n. famous the world over for his
breakfasts, always went there in person to
get his fish, fingered and nosed the fishes
him self, selected them with great care, all
the time bantering the women at the stalls
and talking all the "billingSgate" of the old
times which his fifty years experience had
taught him.
AS it was in the line of my travels and
trade as scribe he many times picked me
up as he was driving there at early dawn,
and thus it was L come to know as much
about this wonderful Billingsgate menu
for the British table as | do about Oakland.
This once foul and dreadful place is all
lie marble and granite now, marble floors,
thing clean and orderly and quiet And
the a6undancel Like cordwUOd 10 a forest
the great fish from the deep seas are piled
up. but melting away like snow in the sun,
and passing out through the half-hundred
doors to The hundred thousand white
capped cooks of London; for, be it known, not
one fish must be in sight when the day is
done. Over III Germany they are not per-
mitted 10 sell you fish except it be taken
fresh from the tank or stream, and still
alive but a law like that would make
revolution in London; and so they have a
whole day TO dispose of dead fish here. and
the previous night to arrange them ready
for market from the stalls.
No, let us not despse this fish food or the
source aud story OF 1t and market OF ii. We
are now talking OF the vitals OF the greatest
city and tile greatest race of men, by great
deal, that the world has ever seen. So let
us see ION what meat doth this our Caesar
feed" The Greeks were great fishermen,
and they were surely great people; and
how constantly do We find mention of fishes
and fishermen in the sacred story of the
Jews that other greatest among the nations
that have been. 80 you see IL is worth
while to stick pin here and stop to think
bit. Yes, l know you are ready to say
"Bosh! 1t was beef and beer that made
England great" Not so. II was Billings
gate. London does nst eat meat every day
London, the best of Lcaaea, or rather the
biggest OF il, does not eat meat. If we ex-
cept the morning chop, more than once
week; but she eats fish continually. As
for the poorer classes. about four-6fths Of
the population, they don't have meat once a
month, and even then their meat is of the
cheapest sort, beef on ice from America or
frozen mutton from Australia So you can
set 1t down in your mind as a solid, frozen
fact that England drew her thews of man-
heed and force OF mind from the fishes OF
the sea.
The Londoner, like ali Of his race, is
great eater He is greater eater than the
American. but he is not a prOmiscuous
eater lie eats much and he drinks much,
and often too. but he ignores and deSpises
dainties or sweets. Pies He is Mortified
at the mention of such things. True, he
has never tasted pie any more than he has
tasted hot bread, but he has right and a
righteous horror Of all such slow poison.
Now | have it in my mind, although |
cannot assert 1t positively, that Lond0ner
does not really dine every day. think he
is little like an Indian In this, as "a rule,
and really dimes only about once a week
True, he is eating aud drinking more or less
from morning till night at bars, lunch
counters and the like; but il is only on
Saturday night, when the work and the
worry are behind him for the week, that he
dons his white tie and Swal0w-tail and has
real roaring hurrah at his club
These clubs are counted by thousands;
they are free-and-easy places mostly and
OF course do not include such stately and
impressive clubs as the Atheneum in this
general mention. Oh, the grand and good
Atheneum! 1t takes you nearly twenty
years TO get in there, although the building
takes up whole block and is a regular
Buckingham palace. Captain Cook. the
great navigator. and our neighbor late OF
the kaDaka Islands keeps the gate there in
stately bronze, and General Outram of In
dla sits his rampant horse with drawn
sword, as princes. kings. bishops and arch
bishops pass IN and out in stately silence.
And yet the table in this greatest Of all great
clubs in the world Is very plain and sim pie,
so unlike the great clubs of America. The
kitchen and the cooking all il sight, as in
the best places Of Italy. You pass on down
through lane of roasted meats toward the
little tables, only big enough for two. and
you Dick out as you pass along what you
feel tempted to eat. have seen the Prince
of Wales aud others pick out their roast by
tapping 1t with cane as they went along
\ GU cannot take any one to dine with you
here, as at nearly all other clubs, unless he
IS himself a member. l ought to mention
that outside OF the regular members, who
are kept on probation nearly half lifetime
before admission, YOU may, without your
knowledge, and certainly not by any effort
or your own, be made an honorary member
for limited time. A huge document is
sent to you under seal with this figure ON
the head of 1t. And this Is counted the
highest honor London can pay you.
The greatest dinner in London is the
newspaper press fund dinner. which grew
out OF the poverty and pride Of Tom Hood.
You know when he was dying Hougnton
and some others sent him large sum,
which he returned. This was made
nucleus for fund which has helped many
good men. The help is given secretly mo one
knows that this or that unfortunate fellow
scribe is being helped; and the fund is
kept up quite as secretly. You fluid two
empty plates when you sit down. Between
those two plates you slip your check or
bank note, and the two stewards-they
were Lord Houghton and Anthony Troll
lope when / last dned there-come around,
and the plates are carried away by string
Of servants. each with pack of plates up to