The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-03-24
DINING A LA cHINoIsE.
,.,ouet of Strange Celestial
nainties.

Il
rea'' tel concert on Thursday, Feb.
- Al $50 p. m, at the corner OF ana
TO- ts Yours respectfully,
- Sam Wing"
-,ooa mentioned was Chinese res
in one of the larger New England
and sam was the proprietor of 1t.
u. ,orld be no doubt about the ac-
Iisie Of such an invitation as TINS;
ce4' ~. receiver of it was not even MIN
anu Already some of the guests were
u' ID the orchestra was hard at work.
- we're not many performers; Out IN
4H9' 80 Dr. Johnson's remark about
pa 7isa 7. ost," no one wished. there were
II was difficult TO say eXactIy now
M, there were, for they came ana went
IA Zach seemed to play lndIf1erently upon
az ;rstrurnent that he happened TO lay
any ,,5s mon. There were bamboo
~ adde's that looked like long-han-
NJ s,'S na1ets. dulcimer, a brass gong,
VI wooden percussion instrument.
a. lavad upon the dulcimer with a pi-
ogissin7o fiddle obligato was to the Ameri-
a.. 1ortion of the audience by far the
Va" rIeasing number on the programme.
p,t II did not make much noise ana was
not repeated What pleased the chinese
os+ we're the selections which sounded
a1tOgPther unlike dH OlN4lSotte1 u POI
+i,n1arlv able bodied bagpipes, accompan-
;oj nv a dinner gong and vigorously ma
nipulated bones.
A. times human voices, with strangely
4.iina quality would rise above all the
other din; and if any had before been i'm
To,ita enough to talk instead of listening
Ia the music politeness was now forced
mon them, for talking was useless. One
man. who had lived in San Francisco,
Of
the music that he really didn't mind it in
he least. But the others doubted his
veracitv. The Chinese auditors were un-
administrative; but the Americans ap-
nl9uded loudly whenever a pause seemed
10 indicate the end of something. Once
the applause was followed by an outburst
of laughter from the Chinese, which SEEM
ed TO suggest that the demonstration had
been made in the wrong place. But each
section of the audience knew that the
other section meant well, and so nobody
cared
The Dinner Begins.
The concert was over in half an hour.
and the Americans. who had been placed
together in a small room by themselves,
took their places at the table and counted
themselves up, and were just beginning to
be properly Mortified at the discovery that
there were thirteen of them when the four
tenth arrived and aVerted disaster. The
Chinese, of whom there were twice as
many also took their places in the larger
room They were provided with chop
sticks, but the Americans were allowed to
use knives and forks, and were duly CRATE
full. On the table, as hors d'oeuvre, werc
preserved pears and preserved lychee nuts,
and out of Difference to American habits,
bread and butter were also served, though
they were not recommended and were
eaten but sparingly. The wisest man was
ne who insisted upon being served at the
outset with large plate of rice, so that,
no matter what else came, he would al.
ways be provided with one thing that he
liked
As the host brought in dishes of roast
pig, he warned the company that they
must not eat too much since there were to
he eleven courses. The warning was hard
" necessary, for one was seldom tempted
10 eat more of any single dish than would
constitute the eleventh part of square
meal the second course consisted of
chicken stewed with edible bird s-nests,
and excited not only interest but praise.
Then came hashed pigeon, which every
one agreed would have been excellent if
the bones had not been hashed up along
with the meat. When f1ying-hshes' wings
we're announced naturally some one MUIR
INJURED.
On the road to Mandalay
Where the 1yin'-hshes play
An the dawn comes up like thunder outer
China 'crost the bay
The fish was in thin shreds and was cooked
IN a kind of cream sauce, and it was
good.
"Gwee KOw."
At this point the dishes began to be
more complicated and less Ineligible. The
next one was said to be XII pan 0he let
~ts nave their ordinary English sounds in
ms phonetic Transcript. 1t was chicken
sIeWed with various other things, but
what the other things We're, save that
,ney probably belonged to the vegetable
AnSdom, no man dared to say The dish
when followed this was a nearly white
gelatlnous mass that excited universal sus-
picion.
What is it, Sam?" some one asked.
GWee kow," was the reply.
But Yankee curiosity was not satisfied.
What's it made OFF,"
Il don't know"
Wen, ask the cook"
He don't know
Inc prospect was not encouraging: but
e'eryoody took little, and it was found
De edible, though practically tasteless.
showed
Iay ne really did know what he was
eooNlns' out further than that it was
9oIle part of some sort of fish he was
""""e 10 enlighten his questioners.
AZ ms point an intermission was taken
nv, WI [ne serving of Old white rice wine.
r ~'ncn was the first liquid that had an,
pa eu upon the table. a physician who
present was seen, after tasting il. to
n.al 10y clinical thermometer from his
boef ana take its temperature. The
;n ,l' declared that it was very mild; and
not eed experiment showed that it would
sr,.,i puIh; but, though the glasses were
na'd no one asked to have them refilled
~ man once. 1t was fe.t that an equal
nro 80 ana very similar drink could be
olcdEo'n by soaking raislns in 50 Der cent
The The wine was soon followed bv
sto. 'gst ash of the dinner. This was ,oh-
tbin. slowed with water nuts and Other
Hon,5 "hich could not be identified and II
The ' r,o Dear comparison, as all agreed. win
''ore familiar Newburg.
"HOi Shum,"
NJ next dish was the most mysterious
"h II consisted ~ .+fec