The Placer herald., 1855-12-29
Death to the Frying Pan,

A correspondent of the N. O. Delta wri-
ting from Virginia Mountains, rails, 'in good
set terms" against that tme-hallowed uten-
sil, the Frying Pan. There is something
worth remarking in what he says:
The frying pan is the curse of this section
of the country-a curse far heavier than the
primal curse entailed on man, "in the sweat
of thy brow shalt thou eat thy bread" Fry,
fry, fry, fry, morning, noon and night; there
is no intermission, no relaxation, no change.
Every thing is fried. Fish, flesh, fowl, vege
tables, all alike are fried. Even the fruits
that the hand of beneticent Creator has so
profusely scattered over this favored land are
fried. Apples are fried. Is this fact not
suggestive of the idea that the frying pan
was an insduous present made by Satan to
our good mother Eve, to fry the apple with
which he had excited her appetite, corrupted
he innocence, and caused the expulsion of
our first parents from Paradise? We know,
by the way, that the old gentleman is re-
markably fond of fried souls; hence he must
have had frying pan, and assuredly, it ex-
hibts his gastronomic taste in striking
point of view, for if this diabolical uensil
should ever be used at all, it is preparing for
the table this delicate fish.
o. for the wand of magician, that could
convert every frying-pan in the land into
gridiron. What blessings would there not
alight on that mans head, who, by effecting
change so important to the health and the
we'll being of the inhabitants, would, in this
splendid climate and bracing atmosphere,
eventually give rise to and produce race
unequaled in vigor of frame (the parent Of
vigor of intelect on the face Of the globe.
The Young America of this part Of the coun-
try would soon be the envy and admiration
of the whole Union, and instead Of turning
his attention to Know Nothing futiitiles, and
half-fried notions, would direct his energies
to disseminating the doctrines of Brllat
Saverin, and operating radical reform in
the great department of the kitchen. But,
alas such miracle as this immediate con-
version is impossibe; time and "mora sua-
sion' alone can effect such a revolution in
cookery, as would prove of durable benefit
to the whole human race.
1t is admitted by Psychologists, that meats
or any other aliment, when fried, are more
indioestble, more deleterious and destructive
to the human stomach, than when prepared
in any other way What wonder then that
these mountains, where the air, so pure and
redolent of health, are yearly resorted to,
and not in vain, for the cobbling and patch
ing up of broken down constitutions, should
to the surprise, the astonishment of all who
visit them, produce, not unfrequently, too
many of race, who, instead of the ruddy
glow of John Bull, exhibit sallowness. of
countenance, and a debility of frame, Sut
rarely seen in the swampy morasses Of Lou
isana What wonder that diarrhna and
dysentery, that typhoid and other fevers,
should prevail to an alarming extent. What
wonder that doctors (as thick as blackberres,
known to all by their portable apothecary
shops carried in their saddle bags) should be
met with traversing every mountain path,
and diving into every nook, dell and valley!
The cause is but too plain, too palpable; the
frying pan IS here.
A race SO cursed with frying pans cannot
be healthy; and as direct consequence of
want of health cannot be endowed with vg-
orous minds and energy of purpose. They
must degenerate. Hence, we find their all
important work the Railroad, intended to
connect the Atlantic with the Ohio anguish-
es and is crippled. Hence, too, the great
Kanawha, that ought to bear continuously in
her beauteous bosom the salt and coal, with
which her banks so proifcally TEEN, is inca
pable of transporting the heavy burden, I'm
less the window Of heaven be opened, and
the channel Of this picturesque stream be fill
ed to nearly its utmost capacity. Are there
no means by which the directors of these
con,rar ;ee can be stimulated to aotivitv and