The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1893-04-07
PRESIDENTS Az DINNER.
HOW THE NATIONS oHIEF zx.
EouTIvEs HAvE nTNED. : =
Washington and the shad = Entes>
1Sinments of Mer Days--Later
Prestdents CaI = Eat srs. 4,


steward every week on the evils of OK
travagance. But the steward, an ex-
cellent man named Frannces, who iwcr-
shipped Washington and had a ptoper
sense OF the dignity Of his position,
would mutter at the end OF each weekly
lecture: Gay, he may discharge me il
he will, but while he Is President aud l
am steward his table will be supplied
with the best the country can affofd."
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 Pros.
idential table. @
"What fish is thati' cried Washing.
ton, as the savory odor ne. his nostrils.
ga shat, sir, >" said EraGncss, g.eos-
fully. "The only one In the msrxet,
the first ono OF the season."
"But the pricel" Wasdington's face
grew stern. & *
"rhree three dollars, "stammered tho
steward.
Washington's ster iucss in creased.
';Take it away" he cried. ''Tt shall
never be said that set such IA example
Of extravaganza.
Aud the dish which was too great Al
extravaganza for theI President was
carried off into the Kitchen, where the
servants ate it with NJ qualm' of con-
SCIENCE
Washington's INN ehiate successors,
Adams aud Jefferson, Serc light eaters
in private, but the fohner gave stately
and magnificent ban9uets, while the
latter kept generous liable in tho large
free-hauded Virginia style. Forty guests
was no unusnal number, aud it Is said
that the marketing for q single day fire..
a"sa.s .ns:sSss sqs; 'sas.. sse },
Adan,s's time with azgooi deal Of tn.
attendant cerem onial, which JeIerson-
had discarded. Yet Mrs. William
winston Seaton in her diary rather
sights one Of the banquctsSat which she
was present. "The dinner," she SAYS,
was certainly fue, but stin was rather
surprised, as it did not H,rpass some
have eaten in CAROLINE There were
many French dishes, and exquisite
wines, l presume, by the praises be.
slowed upon them; comment on tho
quality Of the wine seems to form the
chief topic after the srcmoyal of tho
cloth. Candles were introduced before
the ladies left the table, and the gentle.
men continued half nm 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
In strong contrast to Madison's ban
qucts were those given BY Andrew JACK.
son. lie hated conventional etiquette
even mere than Jefferson did and set his
lace moro sternly against ceremonial.
Lie always used steel fork himself and
provided his guests with one steel fork
md silver one. After dinner he
smoked long-handled corr. cob nine.
lt was his wish to throw the doors of
The White House open to the peonle in
general and allow them to partake of his
hospitality without any special invita-. |
Ion. But after trial or two this ex.
'eiiment was relinquished, though not
Until the carpets in the East Room had
'een ruined by the punch which the
rowd split on the floor in their eager
css to get at the buckets which con.
aimed it, aud the dresses of numerou,
,a.es had been i.ietrieSsAfy spoiled and
las las.es aud luralt@ss j JAG cen broken
uced . curious novelty. This was AN
lormous cheese yard thick aud as bio
oarrel In circumference, which was
!t into threc.pound pieces and dis.
'Duted among the guests. This nroved
cn great success that Van Buren wac I
mpted to emulate the example. But
carpets and tho furniture suffered go
the greasy crumbs which
u upon them that the experiment
Is never again repeated, and indeod
= custom OF serving eatables ar general
'ePtions came to au end forever with
ID buren.s lest term. It had grown
oe such glaring abuse that iu,t {
or to the election of 1910 HUNGRY t
'wds had besiegei the East Room
morIng to be fed, and threatening to
'e against Van Buren, il they were not r.
ertained.
Fne deaths OF two Presidents NAV ba ar
eceiy associated with the table. The al
President Harrison caught fatal sr
while out marketing, bis invariabI, sv
tom, before breakfast. Taylor died 80
cholera morbus, resulting from n 'e
rty meal OF cherries washed down
Ice milk, which he partook of on c
return from a Fourth of July oele d
lion. In an hour he was reiz,d viii o
nps; in five days he was dead. n
fith the exception Of President
hur, the later Presidents have ali
rather careless eatcrs, paying small th
nt!on to the delights OF tn, table pc
n they dined en- famiIle, anl alIow.
their stewards or the la lies of the
lte House to take full supervision wa
tho State banquets. President
'ur' however, though a light eater 81,
essentially an epicure, who took a -
. interest In the a(fairs of the TN
hen, and made tho supervision Of II
dinners matter Of earnest stu1v. ESo Eo
private dinners are said to have cost strs
9ch as xS plato, his public one, app
SIo. President Cleveland, on the
hand, during his firss tern, is said T..
to have entef6A 1etfr tIkohsns ~ -,
Nhifa no,ss~ ~ a 1xI ..T<'-V- <->>S " HVi