A reporter of the Philadelphia Press called on Mr. Murrey, the chief cook of the Continental Hotel of this city, and gives us the following sketch of taste in cookery:

" Mr. Murrey is an enthusiast in this matter. He has read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and carefully conned every word written therein about food; Shakspeare is his constant companion, and he has collated over three hundred extracts from his writings referring to different dishes, principally salads; agricultural reports, which are too often to others a waste of paper, he scrutinizes with anxious eye to discover whether the tomato has been successfully grafted on the turnip, or if the carrot could not in some way be combined with the succulent cucumber; farmers' journals, giving the latest discoveries in the cultivation of fruits and vegetables, are to him precious presents, and, in a word, any book bearing upon food is of more value in his eyes than if it were on finance. And so, when the Press reporter approached Mr. Murrey with a request to be allowed to look at his collection, that gentleman, with evident pleasure, willingly agreed to submit it to inspection. And, in truth, it is a remarkable collection.

He has, in one series of volumes, over ten thousand bills of fare, and in his library over five hundred books on cookery, and on matters appertaining to that subject. ' You are quite an enthusiast in this matter,' remarked the reporter.

"'I am,' was the reads response. 'I have been fifteen years making this collection, and if I live eighteen more it will be the finest in the world. May I ask you if you are interested in the subject."

The reporter stated that he was- practically. That settled it. Instantly Mr. Murrey opened his book cases, emptied one shelf after another, piled up English, French and German works on cookery and pastry making, and so forth, and then to cap the climax he ordered up the reserves in the shape of the ten thousand bills of fare above referred to. 'There,' said he, with honest pride, 'there is a collection of which I am proud - where is its equal?'

"The writer gave the conundrum up and then went to examining the bills of fare.

"There were menus from Philadelphia, New York, Boston and Chicago; from Paris, from Rome and from Berlin; from St. Petersburg, from Vienna and from Copenhagen; bills of fare printed on white satin; on plain commercial note; on delicate tints, with letters of gold. There were bills of fare where royalty had sat at the table, where statesmen had dined, where heroes had wined; there were bills of fare which recalled the days when Daniel Webster was entertained at the great dinner in the Revere House, Boston, on January 18, 1856; when John Welsh departed to England as the American minister; when the Grand Duke Alexis, of Russia, was entertained in New York; when the foreign commissioners to the great Centennial had their farewell banquet in St. George's Hall, with President Grant in the chair; bills of banquets, public and private; of great hotel dinners in the Old World and the new; of restaurants, American and continental; of dishes ranging all the way from plain 'pork and beans' to 'sante de daisans au fumet de Gibier.' Some of these bills of fare are well worthy of the closest attention, whether regarded from a literary or an epicurean standpoint; and, as a curiosity, the following bill of fare at the banquet to His Imperial Majesty the Sultan of Turkey, served at the Guildhall, London, during his visit, is worthy of some study :

"Potage poutoise a 1'Albion; potage a la Victoria.

"Ris de veau a la Lucullus; filets de poulets a l'ecarlate; cotelettes aux haricots verts; croustades a la reine.

"Cailles a la Macedoine; crevettes en caisses, aspics de foies gras de Strasbourg; salade a la Russe; filets de soles a la Venitienne; buisson de truffes de Perigord; chartreuse a la Pariseinne; homard a la Venitienne.

"Saumon a la royale; galantine de volaille aux truffes; pate a la Francaise; jambon; pulets rotis; lanuge de boeuf; carred' agneaux aux concombres; filet de boeuf a la Choisy.

"Celestine de fraises; peches a la Belle .Vue; gelee au vin de Madere; gateau a la Princesse; ananas aux croutons; compote d'abricots.

"' I find ' said Mr. Murrey, as the writer hastily closed the last of his volumes of his collection of bills of fare, ' I find that there is even great difference in the tastes of Americans who come from various sections of this country. Now a Phila-delphian will call for terrapin, calve's head a la secret, fillet de boeuf, etc.; the Bostonians, although it sounds so like' satire to say so, do actually want pork and beans, when away from home; if not that, then rare roast beef seems to be their favorite diet; the Western men, too, are great beef-eaters, and are fond of fowl and game - solid food generally; Southern men are, as a rule, vegetarians. They are great salad eaters, and they can appreciate a salad when it is well made. Lamb is a familiar dish with them, and they can ask for it in a score of different ways. By-the-by, how many kinds of salads do you think there are? '

"The reporter guessed a dozen.

"'There are hundreds,' continued Mr. Murrey, enthusiastically. 'Yes, hundreds. Why people know scarcely anything of this subject. Do you know that over one hundred dishes in different styles can be served of Indian corn? Why this subject is inexhaustible.'

"The reporter admitted the latter proposition.

"Mr. Murrey continued: 'Men come in here who have traveled all over the world, they ask for a certain dish, and not one of the waiters can imagine what they mean. They come to me. There are thirty-six hundred different dishes, and it is hard to keep the run of it. But we find it out. Oh, yes; we have all kinds of men to deal with. When Dom Pedro was here he asked for some queer dishes, but he always expressed himself delighted.

People have got over that old idea of crowding a hundred dishes on one bill of fare. It is not considered en regie now. A few clever dishes, well cooked, and of the very finest quality that can be got, is what is wanted now. Ten dollars per head is about the outside price for a banquet nowadays, but twenty was not considered exorbitant three or four years ago; of course that includes wines. And speaking of wines - '

" At this point the reporter begged to be excused. The sight of ten thousand bills of fare and five hundred cookery books was enough in one afternoon, and the wine question was postponed. The interview, however, demonstrated that Philadelphia contained the champion collector - so far as is at present known - in this department of literature."