The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1881-10-27

|
The Philadelphia Press irreyerently
calls the noble fruit, the date plum, or
persmmon, called Tor short in Virginia
and North Carolina, the diospyros Vr-
ginia, the 'eimmoD, and describes it as
worthless wore than Il wcathesiicld on.
| ion, and ranks it a. the mcauest fru, in
| the world. This is mere Northern pref
udice, doubtless remainder Of I. war
passion. If the editor Of the Prt.s. dur
| ing the war, ere the frOsis had .nelIGwed
| the peraiminon and soltcncd .l.G,e aspcr.
| tiles which cause the face Of he cater to
| resemble the cOuntenance of Il whistlin.
master escaped from prison and eDdeay.
orcd to subsist during August upon thc
| possum fruit, we can understand his
prejudice and the sectional bitterness
| which still fingers under his tongue.
His attack is q gross Injustice 10 the
| negro, and TO the party which cannot
snbsist without the negro and can't
have the negro withou. the per-mmon
| Without 'pn..lln fruit no 'pos,um i pos.
siblc. II there We're no 'ro,sIn there
could be M postum dog. II is well
known where the negro has Been most
successfully cultivated that no reliable.
unseducibl, rural colored voter was ever
seen except in conjunction with pos
sum dog. Pcrsimmon, 'pos,nm, pos.
sum dog and rural colorcd voter are all
connected together in al iraissolublc
chain Of cause and effect Blot out the
persinlmon and away go all the depend
| ent effects Of pcrsimmon, and with 'hcm
the Republican party Of the South.
The diospyros Virginianus is not oft,
sell to be deapised even by the pampcred
Anglo. Norman American. In tile latter
port Of Noyen ncr and carly part Of De-
ccniber when the Autumn irosts have
drawn lis puckerng qualities, when it
has mcllowpd At the touch Of Winter,
when lis bitter sweets have candied and
crystalized and the fruit has acquired u
date like consistency and flavor and a
| sugared mealincss Of expression, it rivals
the date in excellence and in nutritious
| qualities. Even when it is full ripe and
| luscious, when the acid bitter hiss Just
been shaded by early fros,s into n Juicy
| sweetness, it melts softly and swcelly in
the mouth That lie is attached to it
and owes his origin to it, cnnobles the
'possum; the negro exhibits nice taste
in his affection for 'possum and it is to
the credit of the 'possum dog that he
loves the very ground the 'pnss,lm walks
on.
In those frosty Autumn times, when
the fields are brown and the golden rod
rivals the frost, with its shedding down
or still dciics the frosts with lis golden
blossums, when the sas,afras leaves
CLEAN in the fields, the thickc,s are
afame with the red sumacll, the hicko.
ries in the forest are yellow and The ma.
pies dressed out in red and gold, when
the last lingering insects arc chirping
their sad death notes, when one fingers
III the woods and fields by day, stepped
in the delicious melancholy, thinking
OF the days that are no more" what is
more delightful than 80 gladden. the
night with loud halle; inspired by the
hunt and "mOonshiuu such a. befits
the night; to thread with eager step the
groves where the luscious pcrsimmon
! Waxing over mellow
Drops in the silent Autumn night
! To follow Unclo lobe IA he cheers
old Tigo OH the silent trail, to strain for
the hoarse tones which announce that
| "Tige's treed," to press on toward the
hollow freeing bark of old 1'ige, to
swear Mt the bramble, or the prone tree
top, which catches the eager step, to
reach the pcrsimmon tree and see the
very 'possum hang between the huntcf
and the full-orbe1 moon, to wait in
hreathless suspense until Uncle Tube
has shaken the noble marsupial loose,
to see him fall to be shaken by old Tige,
in vain playing 'possum, quite chap
fallen" are sports for which we are in
debted 10 the persimmon. Ifany sport
excels these it is OH the morrow night,
when the one nights frost has mcllowed
the, game, to sit by the open chimney
! and see him grinning from out his gar
| n'shment of Sweet tatcrs," Whiting and
begging to be washed down with "stone.
fence" all followed by burnt Offering Of
kinnikinick in powatan, or old cob.
II is quite evident to us that the Phia.
deiPhin editor has never pondered the
persimmon question in all its bearings
political, economical, social and gastron-
omical, with its concomitant 'possrm,
''possum dog, field sport. stonc fence and
baked taters. Nashville 1mcrican.