Page "hobbies" Paragraph 344

The hostler would have the table ready and a pot of coffee hissing on the stove ; ;

then a porter from Manning's Fish House would trot in with a tray on his head.

It was draped with snowy napkins that kept hot a platter of oyster salt roast and a mound of corn fritters.

Vernon was consummately fond of oysters, and Manning's had been famous for them since the Civil War.

Oyster salt roast -- oysters on the half shell, cooked on a bed of coarse salt that kept them hot when served -- was a standby at Manning's.

Its early morning patrons were coachmen, who fortified themselves for the day with that delicacy.