Rensselaer Republican, Volume 15, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 January 1883 — A French Dinner. [ARTICLE]

A French Dinner.

“What an ingenious people are the French,” writes a friend from Paris. “I dined at the table d’hote of a charmingly kept family hotel, and I think the motto of that dinner might well have been multum inparvo. While waiting for the bouillon to be served I counted the number of people at the table; there were thirty-two, including myself. Following the clear bouillon was a fish, deliciously boiled and served with a marvelous sauce.; then came a joint of mutton; each dish in turn, which was beautifully garnished, was placed first upon the table to be viewed by the guests and then removed to a smaller table at the side of the room where stood the maitre d’hotel ready to divide into portions. The joint of muttou, by no means a large one, was cut deftly into thin slices and passed round by a waiter, another following with dishes of potatoes, peas, etc. Then there came a salad, and then a pair of plump fowls. • These being removed to the carver’s table, then began the (to me) most interesting part of the whole performance.- By means of a pair of carving scissors and a sharp knife these pair of fowls were so cut that each one of the’ thirty-two people received a piece; the drum-sticks, the thighs, the wings even were divided into parts. There was a dainty entree a pate, and then came an omelette soufle, followed by coffee, cheese, etc., and dinner was over. Of course, we had plenty of excellent bread, and in front of each plate stood a bottle of good wine. I know I arose from the table with my appetite quite appeased. If I had not eaten a great deal, I had, at least, seen much; and I know, too, that before midnight I had a craving for ‘something light.’ But still, I repeat, the French are a wonderfully clever people."—Progress. On the farm of Judge Bronson, of Seymour, Allegany county, New Yoi*k, is a natural curiosity. A maple tree one foot in diameter grows out of a solid rock, three feet from the ground, and out of this tree about a foot from the base of the tree is a cedar limb about two inches in diameter, which is as flourishing as any of the branches of the parent tree. A colored waiter is a service sable person.