Arizona republican., 1899-12-13
A DESERT FEAST
By Which the M seting of Two Gentle
men Was Celebrated.

There is no doubt that Shelby NJ.
Cullom, deputy collector of internal
revenue for this district, will
get through this world without
Not long ago Mr.. Cullom found himself
at Hot Springs junction. doomed to
wait for the southbound train, which
was reported three hours late He
had just had an execrablc breakfast,
for there was Just at that time an in
terregnum ia the culinary department
of the only hotel at the junction. There
is said to be a good cook there now.
M. Cuilom figured that he could
avoid the horrors of lunch by not
eating, but he would have TO have his
dinner.
1t happened that just at that time
the private car Of the GIiscom party
was standing On the siding, the &C.
! cupants Of the car having gone to the
springs. Mr.. Cullom walked around
the car several times and at last de-
tected smoke issuing from a chimney
! in the kitchen end. He went back to
the hotel, filled his pockets with fine
]
| knocked at the door and an important
/ looking colored person opened it. Mr..
| Cullom bade him good afternoon. IT'S
! q nice car you all have here" he said.
Yes sab" was the reply. About the
incest car that ever came to Arizona
continued Mr.. Cullom. You're in
! luck to own this kind CT an outfit.
Have a cigar" The colored man ac-
cepted the cigar and explained that
I his interest in the car was not exactly
proprietary. but that he was attached
to it in the relation of principal chef,
which was pretty much the same thing
as owning it.
Then Mr.. Cullom entered directly
upon negotiations for his dinner Il
don't like to trouble YOU he said,
but 1 can't get anything to eat here
and I think gentlemen wherever they
meet should do one another good
turn. If ever you run across me any
where in my private car don't hesitate
to come right in. I'll give you the
/ best there is in the shop" The chef
agreed that q touch of a lonely desert
siding made all men kin, and told Mr..
CUllom that he'd fix him up a dinner
| How soon viii it be ready?' " Bout
an hour "When'I the folks be back?"
/ Tomorrow. Then I'll have time to
eat it," said Mr.. Cullom.
! He went away, but not out of sight
of the private car. Pretty soon the
smoke began rolling out of the chimney
so furiously Mr.. CullOm feared the car
was going to start. He called in fifteen
minutes. then in half an hour. The
chef told him the dinner was coming
up. In an hour he couldn't Withstand
the delicious smell waited over to him
across the desert sands and knocked at
| the car door again. The chef said it
would be half an hour longer. Mr..
! Cullom went away, sat down on a rail
and held his nose to keep out the agon-
/ izing fragrance. In an hour the cook
appeared on the platform, waving
| towel
! He told Mr.. Cullom to go to the other
! end of the car. He let him into the
handsomest thing in rolling stock he
| had ever seen. A great wicker chair
was drawn up in the observatory before
a table covered with snowy linen and
Respondent with glass and silver and
gold. The chef first brought tempting
viands for the encourag cement of an
appetite, which had long since
ceased to be an infant indus
try. Then came the soup. Mr..
Cullom had imagined that that
kind of soup was made in heaven. He
had never expect ted anything like it to
be served in this world.
Then came next a long array of
things the gods eat, and at length the
piece de resistance, a huge roast OF
! beef, corn-fed the chef said brought
from Chicago. The vegetables were
unlike those raised by Chinese gar
deners. The lettuce had crispness and
delicacy OF flavor that We're unfaniiar,
and the fruits We're something TO dream
about. The olives were the finest
growth in Italy But the black coffee
at the end! All other coffee Mr.. Cul-
lon had ever tasted he believed was
base imitation, whose servers ought to
have been arrested for criminal adul-
teration of food products. The guest
lay back in his chair wishing that ne
might become one of the party and go
hack to Philadelphia or to the end Of
the world in that car. How Ions he re-
manned there he does not know. He was
aroused by the whistle of the belated
southbound train, and by a mighty eff
fort he arose, conquering an almost
irristible desire to remain where ne
was until breakfast was ready. He
asked the chef how much he owed
him. The chef seemed hurt and said
the dinner was only a good turn which
one gentleman should always be glad
to do to another. Mr.. Cullom
offered him a dollar and a cigar,
not as a perquisite, but as
token of regard by one gen
tleman for another. The roast alone
cost twice the dollar.
VELVET FLOUR q, HING.