USELESS ACQUISITION

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 379, 13 August 1903, Page 3

USELESS ACQUISITION

! French Chof Who Was Oat ttf Hm» with Bofflalo Bttt. Tfce *2e>m »f Mwtr >Mh Sweei -mm r to It* »•«••»»*•« «m im ~ WWb. Some years ago, when Col. Cody started on «. tonr of the Boeky mountain* as the host of a number of foreign military officers, having been feted by them in their club* and homes, he wae anxious to cater to their every taste and oomfort whili in camp life on this side of the great pond, relates the Detroit Free Prc>*». His orders were to spare no »x----pensM, and among the "luxstri&s" taken along was a French chef with a record nnd a price. He wae secured frorti the Brown Palaee hotel in Denrer, Louis Pierre Gaseirgue was his name; but for the long trail, and the generous price paid to him, "00 plunks a week," a cowboy said the «hef consented to be called "Gas" for short. :vji* He had the selection/of the canned goods to be carried along, and turtle eoup, of the very beet, M. Gas ordered, and it took an extra wagon, to hold them. The ehef wa» radiant in a 'snow-white suit and cap, and presented the appearanee the first night in camp of a ghost, and was regarded with superstitious suapioion by the cowboys and others of that ilk. "Gas" set in to show the wild westerners a thing or two in the culinary* art by his first carap dinner. He had a patent cooking store, the wtd* world for a kitehen with heaven for a roof, while china, fins lines and Wines were right at hand. Six o'clock wae the Jinner hour that first nigfit at the base of the San Francisco mountains, nnd Gas was in raptures orer his dinner. Buffalo Bill, the host, looked serious, the guests more so. Such a dinner they could get In any club in o, city, but they did mot say so, if they did keep up a devil of a thinking. It was not what Col. Cody liked, but it was what he thought he ought to.hare for his distinguished guests. The latter stood it for two days and then went on a strike. "I say, Cody." ventured Sir Bt. John Mildmay, major of the Grenadier Guards, "do you call this wild west- • ern camp fare and cooking? Ton see, we are all half dead with dyspepsia now, and thought we would get some good, wholesome food on this thou-sand-mile, trip in the saddle with. you." The others Joined fa His shorus i*» the same effeet, while monsieur, the chef, looked a* solemn as a country parson's horse. As for Col. Cody, he beamed with delight, said that Boeky mountain trails and table d"hots dinners didn't mix well, and Gas was at once given leave to go along, as «» eouldn't be sent baok, as an oirv - ment, a useless acquisition, and tTPsa scouts were installed as cooks, /r.ry, with the ehef, the canned goc£%, china, fine linen and the store r-:;/.-•salaV up in the wagon, and tin jfirj—n. and caps wers brought forth. And such eooking as these scv-;. :• did could not be improved upon, w'-r'.;«. Col. Cody showed that he was a firstclass cook himself. He eonld throw a flapjack from a frying pan into f&s air It feet, turn it over and have it eome down on the other side, navel onee making a miss and tolling into the fire. The guests tried to leans this trick, hut it was found too ax* pensive, as they never missed fits firs', but always tha frying nan. X. Loaia Pierre Gessirfas eonld not be pes* vailed upon ta taste any of Iks f*oa» ti«r cooking, feat stuck" to his soups sad plum paddings, wfctSa h* kwkafi as though fea had buried his <ba»« friend. He sought sssiteo&ant in tt&> ing a broncho, and was thrown daslyv He took to a wagon aad! was op—*\ after whisk he walked, droned to* hind, and wa« soared aoarly to daatß by the Indians. One day ha atocsS looking up diaeonsotetsly at the ran end said in a funereal tons] "Bat sqbJ do shine for all persun, but It da Mi just seem to shins for ma." ' When the long trail ended a€ BsM Lake City the Trench she? wai Mm only one of ths party wfco bad hadfe* gestion, and he drowned his sorrow* by getting gloriously drunk, henes was happy for the time being. But CoL Cody braced him up and returned him to Danver, having paid well for a "KußtUfi" not to be taken on e) RoekJi BsWuntain trail. \ Invciftttea «• Bar latvasers. Nervous travelers who dread sleeping in unknown houses will welcome the ao-called "vigilant dragon," which is not unlike a small brash* shelled tortoise. It is, in faet, a dome-gong table bell, with spiked legs and with a spiked dragon's head. When a bedroom door is elos«d ths spikes are placed in the floor and against the door, and then ths • dragon's tail just touches the iloor. This tail is eon-nected wltk the bell •clapper, *o that if «.njont eades.ror» • to open the dao? from the outside sn o'oitaclft ia met with, and the alarm is gives. When the anxious vv&tehes of the night eve orer the "vigilant dragon" becomes a reposeful bell foa the writing table. —London Kxprees. ~ Blast-aTnveiao* Aa«-li*4o*e. In western Europe, and particularly in Germany, the employment of motors utilizing gases from blast furnaees is increasing. It is said that ths use of these gases, which is i »t so common in England or the United States, effects a considerable saving in the cost of founding. The motors thus driven ajna employed principally for actuating air compressors and eleetric generators.—Science. ~