Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 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 Wilderness-Served Many
Other Notabes.


fined fee and wearing a figured and
tasseled velvet cap, who will. ifhis pipe
be drawing we'll when the visitor
comes upon him, tell life story which
sounds like masterpiece of fiction,
And in the telling he will, IL 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.
81 am cook" said the old man to
reporter of the Times-Democrat, speak
ing in the squeaky voice of great age
and in English that bears only 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. am a sol
der. My father marched with the
emperor. and his son marched with
Lee. Though chef, l have. 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 l do look
back, decide wherein my greatest glory
lies-in the meals | prepared for Mr..
Davis or in the bullets l 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
resumess
Il am getting old. | was born in
Normandy 80 years ago
Some people say you are 103," his
wife and prompter ~ given to declar-
ing at that point, and 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
on. and she observes. dryly:
He's so vain"
Then having said that, the old lady
lapses into silence again, and Jean
Baptiste Vallee resumes his story:
II was born in Normandy, as | said,
80 years ago, and when grew to be
young man | was drafted into the
army For 10 years | served the tri-
color. Then | was discharged. and I
made my way to England where |
cooked n neal forget who for, but
for some of the nobility. And Il was
such a meal that they said to me, You
shall cook for the queen, and sent
me to Scotland to do so.
81 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
or 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: Valeo makes life
happy state
Il could not serve all of them all the
time, of course-not even Vallee could
do that--so | cooked little while for
each of them-two weeks here and two
weeks there. you know, aud so on
But they did not pay meme. ValIee.
All! what do you think OF that? Even
the@uueen 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 Vallee
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; 1t would make me rich.
However, when they did not pay me
/ went TO the Camerons and cooked for
them. They had just come from
China, those Camerons, and they were
heroes, and deserved Vallee.
Then I came TO America, and Com.
modore Vanderbilt sent for me, and we
made a deal and cooked for him.
She was in New York then-she, my
wife, there-and met her, and--and-
you understand
AT that the old lady laughs and says:
Il had just come from Ireland. I
admired him; but he Gid not know II.
1t was my secret. and he never found
IT out till long afterward. Listen 10
him and you will hear just how II was. -
The old man when she finishes, re-
sumes:
One day while I was cooking for
Commodore Vanderbilt on his yacht
he told me we we're going to take a
voyage. and we did take II. We went