The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1916-09-22


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lowed to use. My tuyher
had SO much pewter In his home tnat
the place almost tInkled as you
crossed the threshold. My only sister
has a unique assortment Of samplers
10 show for life of industry and
vigilance Is Il any wonder that / in
herted the collecting habit? asks Percy
WaXmun In the New York Trlb-
une. Then he goes on to tell his
story:
My acqulsltive instinct, however,
has taken an entirely different lurn.
] am a collector of tastes. From
early childhood the gustatory novelty
has possessed an inordiuate charm for
me. / have seemingly lueNhaustlble
curiosity where uuheard-of edibles
are concerned.
Needless 10 say this rather unusual
form of the collecting mania from
which I suffer has led me into many
queer eating adventures, some of
which have proved most amusing as
well us highly instructive.
As a boy / lived in Australia, and II
was there that / handled my first gun.
It was presented TO me on my twelfth
birthday. l had to promise to shoot
only for educational purposes or to
obtain food.
Fifteen miles away from the city of
Melbourne is a delightfully."- hilly dis
trict known rs Diamond creek. | de-
clded that Diamond creek should be
the scene of my first attack on the
brute creation.
In and out of the gum tree cloisters
/ scraped and snooped and lodged, |
nping the heroes of all the hunting /.
stories I had ever read. On and on | /
painted till at last l saw strange /
looking bird ahght on top Of blue I
gum. \ joyful tremor went through |
me.
/ poised my gun. l took ain. l |
pulled the trigger. Bang! and oh, |
joy of joys down fell my first game. "
To my boys eyes my bird seemed |
the largest, widest and most ferOcious /
thing in the world. In reality it was
a little larger than a robin. l looked I
at the bird. 1t was quite strange to .
me. / had never seen its Ike before. I
The sun was straight overhead.
That meant lunch. The brilliant in
spiration came to me that in obedience
TO my promise l ought to eat my
prey. l cleaned him in the creek as
boy cleans things and patiently roasted
my quarry. And then l ate him. The
flavor seemed a little disappointing. 1t
did not taste anything like the kind
of game l got at home. 1t tasted al
most queer"
Several days later l again went
shooting, this time accompanied by
much older boy, who knew lots and
lots about game and bush lore and
things. To my delight shortly after
we had plunged into the bush
brought down another Of these gray
birds and proudly came running to
where my companion was, to show him
my prize. TO my amazed horror he
burst out laughing.
And is that the kind Of bird you
ate?' he roared. do you know what
that is?'
NO
"That is a butcher bird! It's one
OF the buzzard family"
I don't suppose many Of my readers
have ever slipped the delectabe thirst
destroyer known as kava. l sincerely
hope not. It's native heath is Samoa.
had often read of the celestial in
spiratlou to be derived from hashish,
sake and other exotic liquids and be-
fore landing in Apia l used to wonder
If Robert Louis StevensOn's aflatus
had ever received any assistance from
kava.
It was almost under the shadow of
Stevenson's own Vailma that my own
brief, neyer-to-be-forgotten plunge in
to a bowl Of kaya splashed its way
indelibly into my personal history.
had sueaked off by myself to pay
visit to a native hut. There in
cone-shaped thacched, beehive-lke
abode Of smell | was invited to try
the famous Samoan drink, whitley
gray liquid much befrothed, resem-
bling for all the world that which is
found in the humble boiler on Mon
days after the linen has just been
hung out to dry.
My first sip tasted all right, and l
think l became perhaps a little over
confident and increased the pressure
of my intake too speedily. Five min
utes after my first sip | was whirIing