Jasper County Democrat, Volume 4, Number 45, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 February 1902 — Past His First Youth. [ARTICLE]

Past His First Youth.

The swan is said to be excellent eating when young; but as it is one of the longest-lived of all creatures, it is well to learn if possible how old your bird Is before you cook It. A gentleman In Lincolnshire, England, sent a dead swan to the Athenaeum Club, addressed to the Secretary. A special dinner was to occur that week, and the committee without question turned the bird over to the cook. At the dinner the swan, resting on a great silver dish, was a delight to the eye; but when it came to carving and eaflng the bird, no knife seemed sharp enough to cut It, and of course eating it was out of the question. A few days later the donor met the Secretary and said, “I hope you got my swan all right.” “That was a nice joke you played on us,” returned the Secretary. “J6ke? What do you moan?” “Why, we had the thing boiled for thirteen hours, and even then we might ns well have tried to cut through the Rock of Gibraltar.” “You don’t mean to say you bad the swan cooked!” “Why, of course,” “Man alive! I sent it to be stuffed and preserved as a curiosity In the club. That swan has been In my family for 280 years. It was one of the Identical birds fed by the children of Charles I.—you’ve seen the picture of It. My ancestor held the post of ‘master of the swans and keeper of the King's cygnets.’ Well, I have no doubt It was a bit tough.”