The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-04-15
1ns D1sBKs OF CHIbDBooD.
Reeonect,ou- 81 . Iusy sts,.r-.s-.
Prom ire r,rcn,te,h CENTURY Cookery.

Prom the Ttrentieih Century Coosery.
You may forget whn ever tickles your in
tellect, but you will never forget tho tickling
OF your appetite. sitting In py room In tho
glow Of n crate FIRE. with dim old pictures
hanging on the wnils, the dishes OF my boy
hood days come back 10 me.
remember one supper above all others.
My father was a clergyman. There was n
protrncted meeting In Ilonesdale, Pa. where
we lived. | was about nine years old, and
every night was forced to seek salvation AT
this meeting. 1t was u bitter cold winter. In
addition TO his clerical duties, my father was
the iewelicr " the village. I was employed at
the shop until the services began. TLey were
held In what was called the Bcrean Hall. above
the jcwelry shop. l was allowed to go over
TO Goldsmith's oyster saloon and get q plato
OF tcR oysters for supper. My father had the
same. Wo got about n dozen oysters In those
days for 12t9 cents-a Spanish shilling. From
the oyster saloon We went direct to the pro-
tractcd meeting. 1t would be called a revival
meeting In those days. There was plenty of
hell fire In the celebrations, and n dozen or
more sinners went up TO the altar, or anxious
sent,' on the night in question:. The services
hold on until midnight. Then l had to walk
about thre, quarters of a mile across the canal
and up a hill To my home. IL had showed IN
in depth. The. wind was blowing a gale. My
With vaif0I WOOL. SMy,' brother IhSrp %nI / r.pV along at HI,
side with our heads and bodies buried in the
S WSSicn G mitte ense hsld we're fepe nqmo' by Sesp''s STRING ins
hung around our necks, and our toes ached
When we arrived home my mother Get out
to cook the supper. as all of us were hungry.
IL was = plain supper and h1rriedly gotten;
potatoes. The mackerel was A No. 1-Xou
never see. such mackerel nowadays. Tho
meat was the color Of the finest sauterne, and
ter. The potatoes were as crisp as new
flown snow. and we mashed them. and ate
them, with a knife and not with a fork. Ofall
the dishes that 1 have ever seen since that
time. in odor, taste. and digestion, that was
There is always a laugh when a man talks
about, bis mothers cooking, but that cooking
was the best | had ever seen before. or that l
The key oysters had been good. but the
mackercl capped the climax. the seventy
doubt whether more than ten thousand ever
have tasted the old key oyster. IL acquired a
Il nav %ns 'g a pec nil y wo Sslld IN %f asHor II t Tef t SSSh"adi
ones midriT. The oysters in those days were
carried TO Honesdale in sleiGhs. from New
ter was at Lacka waxcn. A good many years
ago, just after the branch road to HOnesdale
was built. ! went into a restaurant, and there
sance by It's side. The train stopped there
,bout ten minutes, and In that time .hree;guar.
ago aHs' and the o SsSs nj lacked eit the '1 peculiar E&' d"vor
OF IDp Olu ones.
A word az to the knife and fork in the olden
days. | never saw n man use a fork In convey
ing food to his mouth until 1 was 12 or Is
years old. Men could use the knife in those
days skilfully and gracefully. Indeed, the
use of the fork was impossible. as forks were
then Did fashioned. two pronged affairs. not
wider than your. little finger. saw an old.
timer the other day. He was enjoying a meal
in Fritz Reuters restaurant in Washington.
He was Senator Allen of Nebraska. He used
the knife with exquisite grace. AS l gazed
at him and saw the rare It'd. bits disappearing
from the blade, the old feeling came over me,
and ! tackled my meal in the Jane way.
found out that I lacked the experience of
youth. ! tackled an egg fried on one side. It
was a little greasy. and as | was about to snaD
it from the point Of the knife, 1t slid toward
the handle and landed on my shirt front. I
had lost my ability to handle the blade prop
erly. Senator Allen would have done much
better, as he evidently was not out of practice.
AMOS j. CUMMINGS.