National opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1865-1874, 1871-06-09
A Huge Cheese.

: There are several towns named Che
shire in the United States two OF which,
in Massachusetts and Connecticut re-
spcctively initiate the Cheshire OF the
old country by making cheese. Quite
early in the century there was a struggle
in the United States Ms to the form which
the Government should permanently
assume, John Adams advocated one
variety Of Federalism, Thomas Jefferson
another. John Leland, Puritan elder
OF Cheshire town, in Massachusetts,
threw himself heart and soul into the
controversy in sermons and speeches
and conversations he took Jefferson's
side in the question, and brought over
the whole of the townsmen to his way of
thinking. When jefferson was elected
to the Presidency, Leland proposed that
they should celebrate the event by max
ing and prescribing to him cheese such
rs the world never before saw. He nd
vised that, on a certais day, all the curd
from one days milk Of all the cows in
Cheshire township should be brought rs
a patriotic contribution to the object in
view. The inhabitants entered ioyously
into the scheme. All-men and women,
boNS anu klTlS-NHO ilN'i tht p"h'''h'P
or keeping OF cows, brought their quota
OF milk or curd to a particular spot. A
large cider.press had been thoroughly
cleaned out, a new false-bottom provid-
ed, and monster hoop laid down on it,
corresponding in dimensions with the
thickness and diameter of the intended
cheese. When the accumulated gifts OF
curd were thrown in, skilled dairy
matrons mixed, favored and tinted it.
Then cane The pressing-immcnse work,
seeing that so thick cheese could not
possibly be Of good quality throughout
unless the pressure on the curd were
much beyond the usual degree. Sturdy
men, with arms bare and muscles well
braced, turned the screw press until it
would not yield another fraction OF an
inch. Then, Leland standing in the cen
ter, and the people being grouped
around him, all sang hymn, and dedi-
Gated the cheese to Thomas Jefferson,
the new President of the Great Republic.
After due period for settling and dry
ing, arrangements were made for carry
ing the mighty cheese to Washington,
the Federal capital and MS the di stance
was not less than five hundred miles, the
enterprise was certainly n formidable
one. The weight-some say fourteen
hundred and fifty pounds, some sixteen
hundred pounds twenty times that of
II full-si2ed English Cheshire cheese)
could NO, safely be trusted upon wheels,
with such roads as America then pos
sessed. A snowy season was selected
sIedge was provided, the cheese was
launched, and Master John Leland pilot |
ed it all the way to Washington. He
was three weeks on the Journey, and. |
whenever he rested at night, received |
quite an ovation, for the nature of his |
errand had became rumored about. |
Arrived at Washington, he went to the !
White House, where, on an appointed
day, he was received by President Jeffer-
son and all the officials, with goodly !
number of ambassadors and other folks. |
Leland presented the cheese to Jefferson
in the name of the whole of the inhabi- |
tants of Cheshire /; every family and |
every COW had contributed toward it. |
The President, of course, said what was
proper on so remarkable an occasion.
He caused great wedge to be cut from
the cheese and conveyed back to Che
shire, that the townsmen might have the
pleasure of tasting the result of their
labors while all the guests at the White
House, there and then, partook of the
gift. The interior of the cheese was
found of beautiful color, richly tinted
with anatto it was a little variegated in
appearance, owing to 50 many diaries
having contributed the milk or curd but
the flavor was pronounced to be the best
ever tasted at Washington. AN Tie Yeu'