Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-02-24

fingers For dessert they ate grapes. HSs,
nuts, apples. pears and almonds, generally
in their natural state. The Saxons proha-
bly, introduced the finger bowl. Theirs con-
sisted of tiny silver ever, and folded be-
side 1t were always two little lowered ana
fringed napkins. Surely necessity is the
mother of invention. One would feel the
need of a wash basin in these days II ohhg-
ed to eat boiled beef and cabbage with the
hands. The SaXons were not given to lin
gering long at the table, but they had
pretty taste for rare old wines.
Roman Luxury.
The Romans believed in eating slowly and
being a long time at it. They sat at family
dinner. which was called ''prandium,' about
three hours. In those early days O'CLOCK
was the hour for rising, and breakfast, or
jeutaculum, was eaten at . O'Clock. Inc
meal in the middle of the day was quite
elaborate among the luxurious classes, but
coena, or the evening meal, was the great
feast Of the day. 1t usually consisted or
but three courses, but there was great va
riety of viands. The men reclined on coucfr
eS about the table, but the women and chis'
dren sat up. If there was a guest, before no
took his place at the table his shoes were
removed by a servant and his feet washed.
II the evening meal was banquet, 1t often
began as early as o'clock and lasted for
fifteen hours. We are assured by various
historians that this was not an unusual
time to spend at the table. Among the
tasteless eXtravagances of the day there
was none to which the vulgar rich more
commonly devoted themselves than that of
the table. 1t was not SO much their amDi-
ton to surround themselves with the most
graceful or gorgeous appliances of luxury,
with richly furnished chambers, with eX-
quisjte music, with coucheS and tables of
costly materials and elaborate workman
ship, though all these, too. had their vota-
b rteS, as to amaze their guests with the eX-
traordinary money value of the articles they
managed to consume. 1t was for their rar-
lily only that nigntingales and peacocks and
the tongues and brains of phoenicopters-
whatever those creatures may be-were re-
garded as delicacies; still less could it give
any pleasure to the palate to swallow pearls
dissolved in powerful acids. But such was
the rampant luxury of Caligula, in which
he strove to initiate, or rather to Guido. the
oriental Cleopatra"
CieOpatra's Effects.
The effects in lighting the palm bowers
in the east room of the White House and
those planned to amuse the Gridroners
are not rev. Cleopatra used the idea with
telling effect when she went up to capture
Mark Antony at Cilicia. She dined and
wined the Roman general as he had never
been entertained before. But of all the
/ surprises which the voluptuouS Egyptian
perpetrated, nothing so enchanted him as
the sudden descent from the ceiling of
clusters of lights, which were cunningly
arranged in circles and squares. 80 that
the whole spectacle was one of indescrib-
able beauty
The Roman senators were as mighty at
dinner they were at debate, and one
who had a capacity for consumption of
food that was a match for that of the
glutton. Caligula, whose viands he was
surrounding, was on the spot made praetor
by the delighted monster. The Roman
emperors seem to have been born gluttons.
Claudius, who followed Caligula, used to
spend enormous sums for food, upon which
he gorged himself almost to suffocat ton.
1t was the duty of one servant to tickle
his throat with a feather, when he could
then relieve himself to continue"
one historian relates, though 1t seems in
credible, that human being could be so
beastly. In favorite dish of mushrooms,
Agrippina, his wife, to whom he had grown
hateful, mixed poison. Xenophon, Claudius
physician, whose duty it was to apply the
feather ran a poisoned one down the i'm
perial throat and finished him. Galba, who
followed Claudius, is said to have done
nothing but eat and drink while he was
awake.
Vitellus, whom Gibbon characterizes as
the beastly," spent S6OO0,0O0 on his table
in six months. Flamingoes' tongues was one
of the tid-bits he INDUCED in. One of the
notorious gluttons was Apiceus, who dis
covered the means of preserving oysters
alive. He had fortune of 100000, which
he dissipated in searching for dainties to
please his ennuid palate. one day he found
that only 100000 of his wealth remained,
and through fear of starvation he entered
his bath and cut the arteries in his wrists
Fortunately nobody found him until he
was too dead to resuscitate. He wrote a
cook book, at least one is extant as a curl
osity which bears his name.
Lueullus' Splcndor.