The age-herald., 1901-02-24

What has become of the chaf1ng dish man? Somehow we never hear of him. Only three winters ago he occupied the center of the social stage amid loud ap- plause and appropriate ragtime. Even last winter he was still with us, but now he is a thing of the past, and we miss the merry rattle of the spoon that once coaxed the rarebit to melt evenly and gently persuade the luscious bivalves to the curling point.
 Yet, with all his good qualities there was something unnatural about the chaf- ing dish man-something weird. To the writer he always suggested that potent charm which makes the sluggish blood circulate at tempo presto and gives one an eerie feeling, half expectancy of sec ing the weird sisters themselves. gather around the audacious beardling with their
 Double, double, toll and trouble;
 Fire burn and cauldron bubble;
 Fillet of a fenny snake
 In the cauldron boil and bake
 
 For a charm of powerful trouble
 Like hell-broth boil and bubble'
 I wish that the weird sisters might have been blessed with the acquaintance of the chafing dish man. He would, no doubt, have consented to tell his own particular recipe for the charm of pow erful trouble made of cheese. Think how much easier 1t would have been for the witches! Instead of hunting in the dark for the rarest tr1fies concealed in the most inaccessible places, the old wo- men might have placed at hand a little butter, some cheese, a dash of beer, an egg and several items selected to suit the taste, and, viola tout! absolutely guaranteed to surpass anything else for simplicity of material and unmistakable strength in resisting the strongest of di- gestive organs. To make the charm po- tent, the man who originated the recipe should be present in order to give ex- plicit directions.
 Now that the chafing dish man Is a back number we can afford to make a few jocular remarks at his expense. If there is one thing on earth he enjoyed a little better than anything else, it was the handling of a chafing dish. All men are born with a thorough knowledge of just how cooking should be done, and they delight in imparting the fact to the less skilled members of the family.
 Wives and servants were especially promising pupils No matter whether
  chafing dish man could always tell them something. He knew just how it should be done. If the eggs he ate for break fast did not suit him as to the frying he felt confident he could go right into the kitchen and demonstrate how they should be prepared Or, better still, he could cook his own breakfast on his chafing dish. Sometimes, when out of temper at the bill of fare, which, though rha not fnr1a inc toh ha was thoroughly up to the status of his pocketbook, he prepared his own break fast.
 The old story, "I'H go down town for my breakfast" has played out. If the up-to-dat man really desires to touch his wife's conscience in tender places, let himU get up in the cold of the early win ter morning and get his breakfast on a chafing dish. Two years ago he might have done it, but now-never; but sup pose he did, ten to one his temper would be a little the worse for wear but his stomach would be in an excellent condl- tion for dinner.
 Through the efforts of the chafing dish man the popular phrase. Why don't you cook as mother did?" fell into dis use, for he knew how mother really cook ed, and was in himself receipt book. Newly married couples often struggled together through the intricacieS of quarts and pints of flour, etc.
 But this species of modern man did not care to make himself at ease in the kitch- en. He much preferred to practice his culinary art in a comfortable dining room a handsome chaflng dish by his side and circle of admiring friends to furnish the applause. A chafing dish without the necessary claque was not at all the thing Man needs appreciation. He would not at all enjoy preparing even one meal a day for his family, because a family meal lacks the spice of interest which is supposed to belong to the prod ucts of a chafing dish during the course