The Washington herald., 1912-08-06
FOREIGN GOSSIP.

OL lt8 kln0 IN the WOTlQ ana never uob
been described in print This collection
contains some $1,000 menus. Two OF the
books are filed with the menus of the
House Of Hanover. dating from the reign
OF George ~. Previous to the reign OF
Queen Victoria these menus at Buckfng-
hum Palace and Windsor Castle were
written on plain foolscap paper by the
head chef. but only one copy was made
and laid beside the plate OF the sover-
eign at dinner. The royal midday meal
in those days began with an entire. fol-
lowed by soup. Then came q Joint. and
later fish and sweets. A favorite dish OF
George ~ was boiled mutton, which ap-
pears almost each day in the menu OF his
time.
When Queen Victoria ascended the
throne menu cards were printed for the
first time. They were headed with q
gold crown. underneath which were the
letters W, r. and l." Poached eggs oil
toast and hashed mutton evidently were
the best relished dishes of that ruler
At least. they appear very often on the
cards. But the items on the menu be-
came much more numerous when King
Edward came to the throne. Caviar. the
genuine Russian article. ever since has
frequently figured on the royal menu
cards on the top of the list. and has got
to be a very favor,te royal dish. II Is
served at the Kings table with black
bread and lemon. Formerly II used to
be eaten with toast. The cost Is SIS per
pound.
The menu Of the Derby Day dinner at
Buckingham Palace practically always is
the same-clear turtle soup. whitehall.
trout. quails, venison. lamb. ortolans.
chicken roast. asparagus. peaches. and
ices. The best wines in the royal cellars
are served at these Derby dinners-Gar-
ten Hook. 1915: sillery, 1866: claret lafitte.
q
imagined that these vintages are almost
of priceless value. II sold in the open
market each bottle would sell for at least
800.
On the occasion OF some of the great
state banquets at Windsor Castle. when
a foreign sovereign is the guest of Brit
ish royalty, a rare item is to be seen
upon the menu. 1t is "Cygnet a la Wind
sor," which in plain English means roast
swan. II Is said to be an exceptionally
favorite dish of the German Kaiser.
On ordinary occasions the royal menu
cards are plain white cardboard, edged
with gold. with the royal crown on top
and the letters &c. r." underneath. but
at special state functions the cards are
designed elaborately, and equisitely
painted by hand.
The menu cards at the German court
are nearly three times the size Of those
Of the court OF st. James. The favorite
dishes at Berlin are salmon outlets and
jugged hare, as they appear upon the
menus more frequently than any other
dish.
~ the court Of st. Petersburg the
menus are printed In gold and are headed
with the imperial Romanoff arms. The
names, of course. are IN Russian char
acters, yet. strange as II may appear. the
b.. hzaH
steak.
Apart from royal menus the collection
contains menu cards OF dinners and BAN
quets in all parts of the world. For in
stance, there is card of banquet
given at hotel in the Fiji Islands dated
June "A. 1896 1t is printed upon nnen
and 1t begins with sharks fins. Other
items are birds nests and snails. The
wine list boasts of English stout and
beer" Then there Is a very Interesting
card. telling of the dishes served at a
banquet at Pekin. II is written in Chi
neses letters on a leaf OF some tree. The
late Ii Hung Chang was present. and IT
is supposed to have cost $500. a pretty
stif price for a dinner in China. and
showing better than their recent revolu-
ton that they are getting civilized In
the Celestial empire. Talking about Ii
Hung Chang. who was a great diplomat
who on the occasion of his visit to this
country. among other things in his bag
gage, he also carried with him his cof-
fin. At farewell banquet given him by
some Chamber of Commerce in one of
our Eastern seaport cities there ap-
peared painted on the souvenirs this lit
tie verse:
Linger longer, Ii Hung.
Linger longer, Ii
Linger longer, longer linger,
Linger longer thee.
A strange history attaches to one Of
the menu cards that came from Chicago
In the side Of the card is hole made
by a bullet. At the dinner, which was
given in hotel, dispute arose among
the diners and ended in a free fight. in
which revolvers We're used and one of
the diners was killed. The menu card
in question was shot through. and was
afterward secured by one of the walters.
The waiter went TO San Francisco short
ly afterward and was drowned in the
harbor. When his body was recovered
the menu card was found in his pocket
and was subsequently sent to the Hotel
Association.
The collection contains the menu cards
Of some OF the most extravagant freak"
banquets given in New York by million
dish which was not an edible but which
contained a diamond locket for each
lady guest. This dish cost 5000. Ices
are a feature of all great American
banquets. favorite ice is Roman
punch" which is served in the middle
Of the repast. This custom of serving
ices In the middle of dinner became very
fashionable in England about ten or
twelve years ago. but 1t is noteworthy
that 1t was a custom which has never
obtained at the royal dinner table.
To be a member of the British royal
household entails no small expense for
uniforms. 1t is necessary to have a full
dress for courts, state balls. concerts,
and other great ceremonials; a levee
dress. which is kind of undress uni
form. for less formal occasions, and
special evening dress Of blue cloth. with
black velvet collar: also for certain Off
GERS of the household a Windsor uni
form. The total cost is about f30o.