ENORMOUS EATERS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 1002, 3 February 1912, Page 4

ENORMOUS EATERS.

Not long ago a Berlin market porter undertook, for a wager, to put away, at one sitting, six mutton chops, twelve eggs, a goose, a duck, 61b of potatoes, and 221 b of hay. Difficulties were anticipated with the last course, and large sums were laid against the accomplishment of the feat. The ingenious porter solved the difficulty by calling for a cigarette after he had finished the duck. He then set light to the hay, pounded the ashes up with the potatoes, and swallowed the lot. After a heated discussion, the referee declared him the winner. A certain Mr Jerry Eke, of Norfolk, on one festive occasion had a small calf prepared and cooked for his special delectation, and deliberately consumed it, all but the bones, during the space of seven hours ; and so little did this interfere with his excellent digestive powers that he joined his boon companions in a hearty repast the same night, and appeared to be none the worse for it. Perhaps the smartest gastronomic feat on record was that performed by Vicomte de Vliel Castel, who, to decide a wager, disposed of the following items in 2 hours 40 minutes : Twenty-four dozen of oysters, a soup, a beef-steak, a pheasant stuffed with truffles, a salmisof ortolans, a dish of asparagus, another of peas, a pineapple, dish of strawberries, five bottles of wine, ending with coffee and liquors. The meal was valued at 25 ' t • , A Siberian soldier, notorious for the insatiable appetite he possessed, once disposed of a meal, in the presence of an English officer, consisting of 10 pound of bread and butter, and 10 pound of beef, and a bundle of tallow candles _ as dessert. A young Russian soldier, 17 years of age, named Tarane, ate 24 pounds of beef in 24? hours, and on another occasion disposed of a repast prepared for 15 people. In the Bodlejan Library at Oxford may be seen a bill-of-fare that gives a very good idea of the enormous appetite possessed by Peter the Great and his suite. It refers to a visit paid by the monarch to Godaiming, in Surrey. At breakfast Peter and his dozen courtiers made short work of half a sheep, a quarter of lamb, fifteen chickens and ducks, and four dozen eggs. For dinner the same day they ate a sheep, five ribs of beef, three quarters of lamb, fourteen pullets and as many rabbits, and a good supply of brandy and wine.