The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-12-04
EATING IN QUEER PLACES.
Dining in the Clouds and Beneath the
 Water.
From Tit Bits.

From Tit Bits.
 One of Blondin's most applauded feats was making an omelet while balancing on his rope at a dizzy height. When crossing Niagara he performed this culi- nary exploit, which he subsequently re- peated In England in many strange situ- ations, not the least being above the Thames, which he crossed than once.
 The summit of Salsburys spire was used as kitchen in 1655, when a plum Der named Handley having surmounted its height of 400 feet, proceeded with the utmost nonchalance to cook an ample repast. consisting of shoulder of nut ton an1 a couple of fowls. Again in 1162, when the same spire stood nj need of repair, James Grist to whom the job was intrusted, cooked. and ate d dish of beans and bacon, to the astonishment of the crowd collected below.
 On one occasion five adventurous spir- it's, under the leadership of a certain Pierre Roubaud, taking with them cook ing utensils, sealed the spire of Bayeux cathedral. On reaching the gigantic gllded statue of St. Michael, which then stood on she summit, they proceeded to cook their dinner, which they ate with great gusto much to the amazement of the onlookers, whose health they drank at the conclusion of the feast.
 In the tower of Erfurt cathedral hangs a huge bell ten feet high and thirty feet in circumference, weighing thirteen tons. Within this. in July, 1713, dined ten of the towns most opulent burghers on dishes cooked in a kitchen temporarily erected on the beam that supported the ponderous mass of tin- tinnabulary metal. To celebrate this re- past medals were struck, having on the obverse the portraits of the guests and on the reverse the representation of the curious scene.
 Descending from sky to sea, we find, one warm July day of 1900 the American submarine Argonaut running smoothly along thirty-ive feet beneath the surface. On board was a party of guests invit ed by Captain Lake to undergo the novel ex- perience of part1king, while beneath the surface, of q dinner cooked under water. The meal was a brilliant success, as, too. were the supper and breakfast served six months later, under similar conditions. on board the Holland boat, Fulton.
 A diving bell was some years since utilized as a kitchen to supply a repast for half a dozen convives who, for a wager. had undertaken to cook and eat a dinner of half a dozen courses beneath the. water. This entertainment, which took place at Naples, was held in emula- ton of a somewhat similar achievement by six gentlemen who had used a diving bell for partaking of a meal cooked on board a barge moored near at hand
 In 1706 one James Austin laid a wager of f100 that he would cook plum pud- ding ten feet beneath the surface of the Thames, near Rotherhithe. The bet was readily accepted and many people fiocked to the appointed locale to watch this strange exhibition of the culinary art. Inclosed in tin pan, in the center of a sack O lime, the pudding was low cred beneath the water, where for two hours and half it remained. It was then taken up and partaken of by a committee, who declared that Austin had won his wager the pudding being. if anything overdone.