Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1905-08-08
IN PLACE OF CATS PAM.
FORKS NOT THOUGHT OF TILL
AFTER FOOD BECAME HOT.
Used Very Early by savaGes-some
Examples From Fiji Islands Now
at Free Museu11-Comparatively
Recent With Civilized Races.

Used Very Early by savages-some
Examples From Fiji Islands Now
at Free Museu1-Comparatively
Recent With Civilized Races.
Some eating forks made by the Fiji
Islanders and recently received and
arranged for display at the Free Mu-
scum of Science and Art are interest
ing not only in themselves, but in j.
calling the fact that 1ngers were, in
deed, made before forks" as the
old saw says, and that the use OF
such implements among civilized peo-
pies, except, perhaps, the Chinese, are
of surprisingly recent origin. 1t ap-
pears, also, SO far as the history of
savage races can be traced-which is,
of course, not so far as the history of
the civilized races-that forks are not
mark of civilization and that saw.
ages used them in some form as early
as, if not earlier, than civilized peo-
pies.
Nothing, 1t seems, is modern or re-
cent with the Chinese, and the use of
the chop sticks, which are form of
fork, runs back with them into an
tiquity. With the white races, how
ever, the fork did not come into use
until the late Middle Ages, and then
for a long time was used sparingly,
having hard fight to establish II.
self. No evidence of the use of forks
is found among Assyrian or Egyptian
excavations, none among the ancient
or Pompeii. Forks appeared on the
continent of Europe earlier than in
England, but they were almost I'M
known and were not to be found even
on the tables of the wealthy at the
time Columbus sailed to discover
America. 1t is probable, indeed, that
our American forefathers who landed
on these shores did not know too
much about the fork.
Gloves for Hot Food.
1t was not until long after the cook
ing of food came in that forks were
thought of, but it is likely, neverthe-
less, that their use was first suggested
by that same instinct which caused
the monkey to USE the cats paws to
extract the hot chestnuts from the
fire. In the time of Aristophanes
gloves were worn at meals, and writ
ers of that time speak of persons
whose fingers had become callous
from eating hot foods. In France,
when forks were first introduced,
priests were inclined to regard them
as objects of sinful worldliness, and
in Italy, where they appeared still
earlier, such 'insensate luxury" as
the use of forks was severely cen,
sured by the ecclesiastics.
In England when the fork was first
introduced it was regarded as an at
fectation if not as being actually I'M
clean and ill-mannered Ben Johnson
made fun of it and so did Beaumont
and Fletcher. AS late as 1888 our
Governor Winthrop received from a
friend in England the rare gift of an
Irish skeayne or fork, the use of which
the sender found necessary to de-
scribe, adding, "the future application
of which leave to your discretion"
evidently meaning that forks at that
time were not universally acknowledge
ed as desirable.
Forks of Savages.
The Fiji forks now to be seen at
the Free Museum are of wood with
the end for holding them not unlike
the modern clothespin. They are of
three, four or five prongs, which are
not placed fiat, side by side, but ing
4 circle. The prongs, on an average,
are nearly three inches long and the
mouthfuls taken by the Fiji are evil
IDENTIFY enormous. Also to be seen at
the Museum are forks from Borneo.
These are really tongs made of wood
and are similar in their use to the
Chinese chOp-stick, the morsel of food
being grasped between the two arms
and not pierced by prongs. Exam
pies of the forks used by other saw
age tribes are to be seen at the Mu-
scum. All of them are of wood and
none present the brilliant appearance
either in design or workmanship
which is to be found so numerously
in the silver shops at this season of
weddings and wedding presents. It is
well established that the use of these
forks by savages originated with
them and antedates their knowledge
of civilized peoples.
After forks were finally accepted
and established among civilized ma
lions they began to vary in the num-
Der of prongs, the shape and the size,
but for long time they were made
to special order and singly, and were
carried to the table by the owner be.
cause the supplying of them by the
host was regarded as a possible af.
front to the guest, conveying the sug-
gestion that he did not know how to
eat properly without them. The mod
ern silver fork, fiat and with four
prongs, is a product of the nineteenth
century, while the new things in spe-
cial forks for oysters, salads, ices and
pies are being evolved every day
Philadelphia Record.