The Washington times., 1894-11-18

facing the park. Here Mr. Roesselle buys
sweet and Irish potatoes, eating and cooking
apples, carrots, onions, tnrnips. parsley, and
goodness knows what else. The proprietor
says he has some especially fine grapes on
hand-catawbas and concords-and he emp
ties basket that stands in crate near for
inspection, dumping 1t into an empty basket
20 see if the grapes are fast on the stems
have Just seen him sell grapes from another
crate to an innocent-looking grocer, giving
him only peep at them under the ginger
ingly raised lid. but it is quite evident that
the buyer for hotel is not to be trifed with,
and is distinctly aware of all the tricks of the
trade.
l see here the grocer from our corner
grocery buying cranberries, and | know bow
he will shake them up and measure them
without jarring, to make them take up just
as much room as possible, just rs last summer
he used to fill strawberry boxes. and by care
full spreading OF the hulls and stems, make
six boxes out of five. Still we don't harbor
such things against him, for every trade has
its tricks.
just outside the street store we come on
an amusing scene. A poultry dealer next
door has a hundred or more crates of live
chickens piled up in front of his establish
ment. As we emerged on the street a chicken
escaped from one crate, and Immediately the
place was in an uproar Small boys appeared
as if by magic and chased after the luckless
under wagons, and pursuit was in vain till
its owner called particularly worthless-look-
ing yellow dog. The dogs one mission in
life, it appeared, was TO catch chickens. He
sprang after the chicken, and in an instant
had it fast He held it till his master came
up and took it. and then as he was trotting
of with satisfied air another chicken flew
out. He turned, shot after this one like
flash, and caught it before it had gone fifty
yards. He was ugly, he was common, he
lacked both beauty and breeding, but he
knew his business and stuck TO 1t.
Leaving the Il street store we go over to
the Center Market, which is already begin
ming to look business like. Several hotel
buyers are already there and it goes to my
heart to see how the dealer, who looks clear
through you and me when we want only a
slice OF salmon or dozen clans, bows and
smiles with all respect to these magnates who
buy hundred pounds of salmon and big fish
by the dozen. Salmon, by the way, Mr.. Rose
selle tells me, is the most economical FISH one
buys, for there is no waste to it. One hun
dred pounds OF salmon, for example, contain
as much meat as 125 pounds of sheepshead
Mr.. Roeselle examines each fish presented
to him carefully
'.You can tell fresh fish, he says, ''bv
the eyes and gills. The eyes should be still
lustrous. the gills moist and rosy. Fish that
that are sent from ). distance frequently have
the gills and entrails removed to deceive GUS
toners. Never buy frozen fish If you can help
1t. Terrapin, ah, yes, " the CLEAN OF con-
noisseur's pleasure coming into his eyes, lit
takes an expert to buy terrapin. If you are
not careful dealers will sell you North Caro-
lima terrapin for Chesapeake 1t is only by
noticing the color and the minute differences
in the formation of the shell that you can tell
the difference
We buy chicken halibut enough it seems to
me 10 overfeed an army, and then we go to
Nn1N 1Srxr lnnIn Inr-g hgn 4Hav
about sausages Mr. Roesselle informs me
that he buys sausages OF a woman dealer, and
uses all she can make. There is a dealer, too,
who makes IL his business to collect all the
sweetbreads in market. and there are not
always enough in market TO supply the hotel,
for sweetbreads are scarce.
Now, says Mr.. Roesselle, picking up
plueked chicken, "how would you tell whether
this is good chicken to buy?'
l am proud TO display my knowledge. and
/ crack the tendon under the wing. The ex-
pert buyer also presses the breast bone. which
in a tender chicken yields easily. The
chickens he Selects to my surprise, look like
pin papers from which the pins have been
drawn. You can fairly see the hole each
feather left as it came out That, l am told, is
evidence that the chicken was carefully
dressed. for carelessly dressed chickens are
frequently plunged into boiling water,
process which removes the feathers, but does
not improve the chicken.
Then we look at ducks.
'This duck has been killed long time,'
the hotel man says confidently "See. when
l rub the plumage the wrong way, the feathers
moult. The webs between the toes spread
easily. They ought to be moist and soft The
mouth, 100, is dry"
After poultry come lettuce and gleenery.
Lettuce my companion never buys by the bar
rel. preferring to take it after it has been
sorted and the inferior heads laid aside.
We go all through the market noticing
everything, every large dealer all courtesy
and attention. 1t seems to me that the whole
town could be fed by what is bought. In fact
l have seen so much TO eat that by the time
We start back to the hotel feel that l shall
never want to eat again while live.
But that is not all there is to be done. Ar
irving at the hotel there's a list of all the
purchases to be made out. The storekeeper
gets this. and if the goods delivered tally
with it the dealers receive their money The
chef must know what has been bought. too
and receives suggestions and hints as to what
is wanted for dinner. He writes out his
menu. The pastry cook makes list of the
dainties he is preparing, and after looking
these over the head of the house makes out
the menu. at u O'Clock the menu for that
days dinner is in the hands of the printer
This is only faint hint of what has to be
done before you can dine at that hotel For
my part. l think could be President of these
United States, principal of a Kindergarten
chief keeper in a lunatic asylum or ANYTHING
else difficult, wearing or dangerous, but
could not run hotel. / might victual an
army. or cook for boarding school, but if L
were required to market for a hotel should
simply take to my heels and run.
ANNE HATHAWAY.