Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1902-01-09
FRENCHMAN SERVES THE LOST
CAUSE AS COOK AND SOLDIER.
LIFE STORY OF VALUE
Prepared the Meals for Jeff Davis and
Handled Musket for Gen. Lee in
Battle of WiIderness-Ser Many
Other Notables.

taSSeled velvet cap, VINO Will, II his pipe
be drawing we'll when the visitor
comes upon him, tell life story which
sounds like a masterpiece of fiction
And in the telling he will, if he goes
wrong at any point, be prompted by
another figure, almost as ancient and
fully as picturesque as himself-the
heroine of his story.
They are, these two, Jean Baptiste
,Vallee, chief de cuisine, and his wife,
aged so, and Irish, recently come TO
the home from st. Joseph, La. where
where all they possessed was de-
stroyed by the flames which recently
swept that town.
II am a cook said the old man to a
reporter Of the Times-Democrat, speak
ing in the sQueaky voice of great age
( and in English that bears only a slight
| accent, "and l have cooked for many
years, and in many lands, and for mon
archs and presidents and generals
| But I'm more than a cook I am a sol,
! der. My father marched with the
! emperor, and his son marched with
| Lee. Though a chef, I have, I say.
| heard cannon roar and bullets sing
and now that I'm getting old I'm fond
| Of looking back over what have done
! and | cannot, l say, when / do look
| back, decide wherein my greatest glory
lies-in the meals I prepared for Mr.
| Davis or in the bullets I fired for Gen
eral Lee"
Having said this much the old man
is wont to relapse into silence for a
while and puff at his pipe till the
smoke comes in clouds. Then, when
that happens, he takes the stem from
| between his lips, clears his throat and
| resumes:
Il am getting old. l was born in
Normandy 80 years ago.
Some people say you are 1903" his
wife and prompter is given to declar-
ing at that point, and a twinkle flashes
in her blue Irish eyes as she speaks
At the interruption the old man
shrugs his shoulders and says, address
ing himself to the writer:
People will talk, you know"
And the blue Irish eyes of his an
cient helpmeet twinkle again thereup-
on, and. she observes, dryIy:
| He's so vain!"
Then, having said that, the old lady
lapses into silence again, and Jean
| Baptiste Vallee resumes his story:
Il was born in Normandy, as I said,
90 years ago, and when 7 grew to be a
Young man I was drafted into the
army. For 10 years l served the tri-
color Then / was discharged, and I
made my way to England. where
| cooked q neal forget who for, but
! for some of the nobility. And it was
such a meal that they said to me, You
| shall cook for the queen and sent
me to Scotland to do so.
Il went to Perth, and for Is days |
/ cooked and cooked, and when the
queen and Prince Albert and the royal
! party came such dinner as they new
err saw before was ready for them.
after they had eaten they inquired
/ who the chef was, and when they
found out, this one and that one said:
I must have Vallee; Vallee makes life
d HAPPY SCdLe.
Il could not serve all of them all the
| time, OF course-nOt even Vallee could
| do that-sO I cooked a little while for
each of them-tWO weeks here and two
weeks there, you know, and so on.
But they did not pay meme, Vallee.
All! what do you think of that? Even
the queen forgot to pay
At that point the old lady usually in
terrupts again, saying:
THAT was his own fault, sir. He
went from one place to another so fast
they could never tell where ValIee
was, and people like queens and
princes can't bother themselves with
looking for those who do not cone
and get their money
Here the old man, who has been
putting at his pipe while Ireland's still
loyal loyalist defends the memory Of
Victoria, breaks forth again with:
We'll, | should like to be paid now. |
with interest; it would make me rich. !
However, when they did not pay me |
I went to the Camerons and cooked for |
them They had just come from |
China, those Camerons, and they were !
heroes, and deserved Vallee !
Then l came to America, and Com
modore Vanderbilt sent for me, and we
made a deal and l cooked for him.
She was in New York then-she. nv
wife, there-and l met her, and-and-
you understand
At that the old lady laughs and says:
II had just come from Ireland. II
admired him; but he Gid not know It.
1t was my secret, and he never found
it out till long afterward Listen 20
him and you will hear just how it was"
The old man when she finishes, re-
sumes:
Zone day while l was cooking for
Commodore Vanderbilt on his yacht
he told me we were going to take a
voyage, and we did take it. We went ,
to Nicaragua, and as soon as we got I
there they took our boat. They said 6
we had come to aid General Walker. !
and would not believe US when we said t
We had not.
We'll, it was a long time before ]
got back to New York, and when | did
hey told me she had married and ;onc
away. Then I went to Washington =
and cooked for President Buchanan :
Then | got tired of Washington and c
,ame to New Orleans, and finally went ;
o Galveston