The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-01-06
AT A CHINESE DINNER.

Observations Of the Only European
Guest at the Banquet.
I had novel experience the other
night, says 1.-THE Stars Yokohama
correspondent, in being the sole Euro
pean guest at dinner party attended
by some six hundred progressive China
men. The occasion was the birthday of
Confucius. That sage, according to
Chinese calendars, was born 2,449 years
ago. Confucius has still d strong hold
on the educated Chinese, and the party
of reform, of which the unfortunate
Kang- Yin-Wei was the leader, are par
ticularly attached to his teachings.
The Reformers, indeed, have lately baen
making strenuous efforts to revive the
cult Of Confucius, and this was the first
time for many years that his birthday
has been celebrated In style. Probably
in China the victorious conservatives
did their best to crush the movement,
but here in Yokohama it was a great
success. Nearly all the Chinese of the
place, except the legation people and
the employees of the Russo-Turkish
bank-who are Manchus-jo Joined in.
The dinner was held at the josshouse,
which was a perfect blaze of Chinese
lanterns, electric light and grand dragon
flags, and crowded with Chinese in their
most brilliant silks-reds and greens
and mlues of the liveliest possible
shades. Seats were provided for every
one-an improvement on the japanese
custom of sitting on ones knees-and
the meal was served on small tables to
accommodate four. The dinner COM
menced at half-past six o'clock and it
ended at eleven o'clock, and there was
eating and drinking the whole time,
with no laborous speeches to distract
the attention, no music to divert one
from the main object, and no irritating
humorist to waste time. Your Chinese
may be effete, but he can eat and drink
like a Gothic hero.
The method Of serving was peculiar
Before each guest was placed a little
cup, not much bigger than a thimble to
contain the hot liquor beloved of the Ce-
lestial; plate about two inches in d.
ameter, a porcelain spoon, and some
ivory chop sticks. Each course was
brought on in a large basin, placed in
the center of the table, and the guests
iiCipNo tilCIiSCiN CO dS lllSy pltdScu. ne
lates was so small as to be quite useless
and so the chop sticks moved from the
guests lips to the basin direct in a
manner which was a little repellant to
European ideas. The plate and cup I
should add, had to serve for about
twenty courses.
The first course was of trif1es-
parched almonds, melon seeds, kind
of radish and field bananas. Fancy any
one but Chinese commencing dinner
in that dry way. Melon seeds in partic-
ular strike one as imposs Bile as part of
a menu. After toying with these for a
few minutes the next course arrived. 1t
was no other than the famous birds
nest soup. Like Huckleberry Firms
dream Of being rich, it's mot what it is
cracked up to be-" but I can imag CINE it
being quite edible if one is hungry.
Then came sharks fin, which my palate
told me was not at all bad though my
reason rebelled against the verdict.
Then there was pigeon done in mystic
rious fashion, chicken and some I'M
known fungus, translated to me as
mushroom (Which 1t was not): salmon
stewed in mysterious sauces, and fried
chicken and bamboo.
Young bamboo roots are a common
dish with both Chinese and Japanese,
and are almost as succulent and nour-
ishing as deal chips. Then there was
the brain of the wong fish, which APP
pears to be quite an intellectual fish, for
there was more than enough brain for
the six hundred present. What wong
fish is, its sixe shape. habits and moral
character, I have no idea. Then fol-
lowed duck which had been cleverly
boned and boiled in its own skin. Then
came the awabi shellfish (of which,
again, I am ashamed to confess ignor-
ance), a preparation of pork as fat as
an alderman and as rich as Rockefeller;
more mushrooms and bamboo in cryp-
tic sauces, chicken and ham, and one or
two other things, the component rarts
of which not even Lord Raleigh could
have determined Finally--a blessed
tea and fruits. A ciga-
rette was smoked relgiously after each
course. and at the end of it all each
guest was given little box of outland-
ish confectionery.
The Chinaman makes a jolly host,
and, when well educated, is by no means
an uninteresting companion. was
speaking with one who could talk Eng
lish like professor, who had enlight-
ened ideas on the necessity of free
press and the advantages of railways
and telegraphs for China. He had
passed stiff English examination in
and ancient and modern
languages. japanese of similar at
tainments would have made Of himself
ereask frock-coated horror, with
napless pot hat and brown boots. But
this man stuck manfully to every detail
Of his national costume. He had a most
pronounced pigtail yellow silk tunic
and blue satin breaches. One respected
him for it.--London Star.