The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1907-12-16
ECCENTRIC IN EATING
Pet Fads and Aversions as Dis.
played at Table.
ODDITIES OF FAMOUS MEN.

Most Of us have met some eccentric
diner whose differences from those -
the other guests were noticeable. And
eccentricity is an elastic word, which
may be applied, as will be shown, n
various directions Sometimes it IS
genuine. whim or characteristic
which is inherent. Sometimes It is the
result Of desire TO appear singular
and attract notice To this latter mo
tive probably was due Byrons eccen-
trcity at some dinner tables when. re
fusing. to everybody's astonishment,
the ordinary dishes OF each course, he
simply mashed potatoes on his plate
and poured vinegar over them, eating
them in silence and drinking only soda
water with them. The chronicler OF
this episode dryly aG3s that in the
evening Lord Byron went TO a club
and there had an excellent supper
such as a commonplace people would,
enjoy. The great bard's eccentricity
at dinner led TO various minor ones
initiating It under the idea that 1t
conferred distinction, even as for "a
similar reason they copied his tura-
down collar and loosely knotted tie
Condiments are among the common
est illustrations Of this peculiarly.
There is very Old story nearly a
century old, in fact-of a diner In q
coffee room who ate no mustard, which
so irritated another who held the gen
eral opinion about 1t that after offer
| ing it at intervals TO the other he
! jumped up with the cruet and said,
"Confound IT, sir you shall have mus
/ tardr Some few people dislike salt
which most deem a necessity. Indeed.
some years ago letter appeared in
print from a lady who expressed her
/ opinion that salt was most injurious
and was never used in her household.
saying. indeed. If we remember right
ly, that even her bread and butter
were homemade to avoid a particle OF
the mineral being used at her table.
Some people eat salt instead of sugar
with puddings. whether from actual
! preference or the wish for singuarity
seems doubtful Others repudiate the
| mere suggestion of pepper. On the
other hand, cayenne Is sometimes cat
On with everything Edmund Koan in
his latest years used Il is said, to
drink brandy with cayenne In It, a
beverage which is mentioned as hay
ing been liked also by Peter the
Great when staying at Saye's court
Mint sauce everybody likes with roast
lamb, but some eccentric diners have
It served with every joint. which is a
] al fflt
would have been fine theme foI
Charles Lamb. The eating OF rasp
berry jam with roast veal is anothel
popularity, a variant Of the general
custom of having red currant jelly
with saddle of mutton, which Is In.
deed an exquisite combination
Other strange antipathies for com
monplace edibies are recorded Thus
Cardan loathed eggs Neither boiled
nor poached had they for him the
agreeable associations they have FOR
most Of us The mere sight of them
made his gorge rise. What would
Charles Lamb have spid OF a Han
oyerian gentleman who was distin
guished for his feats IN hunting, Herr
Vanghuin. who tainted at the sight Of
roast pig? NJ Chesne, secretary e
Francis l., detested that general IA
vorite, the apple, as the sight Of one
made his nose bleed. The learned
Erasmus could never eat fish. Indeed
It IS said that its odor even was SC In
furious 20 the great Dutchman that 4
caused feyerish symptoms On IN,
other hand, Quln, the actor, every yea
In the latter part Of his life jouueyet
TO the west country 10 eat John DOr
fresh from the sea. The famous
scholar Scallger blanched even at th'
sighs Of water cresses.
Very often the unfortunate man wh'
really Is the victim of internal whimi
Is not believed to be so, but privately
IL not aloud. is characterized as fad
dish, not to say impertinent But while
such pecullarlties as these are due q
the stomach, that imperi0us organ
there are others in diners which ar
those Of prejudice, habit aud occasion
ally the liking for unpopular views
y Such diners by no means add 10 th
& enjoyment Of ordinary people at
+ "hospitable board as the Old worll
4 phrase runs. Thus there Is the CUES
who is worrying himself and every
body else about possible drafts. anotl
4 er who ostentatlously declines fish an
Il soup aud limits himself TO the roas
and also has the foolish but by u
q means uncommon idea that 1t IS ur
Il wholesome unless dried up to an ari
brown II salt be a thing 60 be shuI
ned by some gasuonomes. others hav
the same notion-which they do nC
) keep 10 themselves TO pepper II,
n matoes are a bugbear % some. macl
4 erel 10 others Some eye in dlsal
y proving silence the others who eat
the ordinary manner they themseiye
b dining by strict rule with various omil
r sions In the courses, also there Is IN
Z diner who experiments, as It were, o
his food, tasting each morsel tentative
a ly and with DUBIOUS deliberation as
he were not sure he were not bein
t poisoned There are those who aI
fretful n there Is the least want {
mathematical accuracy I'M laying III
4 table, who are savage Il their speci'
knives aud forks are absent, who a