Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 1, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 September 1874 — A New Way to Dine Without Price. [ARTICLE]

A New Way to Dine Without Price.

Lucy Hooper, writing to the Philadelphia Press from Paris, says: “ One of the nastiest tricks, but at the same time one of the cleverest of the day, was recently perpetrated on the restau-rant-keepers here. An enterprising genius set out one day to get a first-class dinner without paying for it, and he succeeded in this wise: Having procured a quantity of cockroaches, he killed them by immersing them in boiling water, and with the lifeless remains of his victims tiecTup in a handkerchief'and concealed in his pocket he sallied forth in quest of dinner. Entering the Case Brebant, he took a seat at a table in the public room and ordered some soup. The soup was brought in its neat little plated tureen, and the hungry customer proceeded to ladle out a plateful of it, which he consumed with much appetite. Having nearly finished his soup he watched his opportunity, popped one of the cockroaches into the tureen, and then screamed for the waiter. The waiter came, and with speechless indignation the rascal pointed to the defunct insect. 1 Bring the proprietor!’at last he gasped. ‘I will complain l —l —l ’ ‘ For heaven’s sake, be silent, sir,’ whispered the distressed servant; ‘ you will ruin the reputation of the house. Of course we will charge you nothing for the dish if you will sav nothing ’ ‘ Ah —well—in that case —but I can eat nothing more here, -lam too_sick—Good morningJ So off went the gentleman, followed by a storm of apologies and regrets. He proceeded To the Maison Doree and ordered a dish of fish, which he obtained on the like cheap terms and in the same ingenious manner. The Case Anglais supplied him with a roast, the Case Riche with fowl and salad, and he wound up his day’s campaign with some ices and cakes at the Case Neapolitaine, having obtained a first-class dinner without spending a single cent. When the waiters of the different cases began to compare notes, of course the trick was discovered, but it was then too late to punish the adroit swindler.”