St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-08-14
THE PEANUT QUESTION.
A Suit in Court Opens the Eyes of
the Public to the Fact That
Peanuts Have Varieties.

| To the people who are mady rushing on to
! eternity strewing life's path with peanut
shucks and banana peels, the announcement
that there are peanuts and peanuts will prob
ably prove an item of news. We dare
say that the idea that this article of food for
pastime is troubled with varieties never in
anyway disturbed the gray matter of the
brain of any ordinary individual. Everybody
is probably ready to admit right here that
peanuts Were simply peanuts by tradition
and common consent as far back as the
memory and imagin alton of the Oldest inhab-
liant extend Experience has taught every
body that the peanut was always, in summer
and winter, north, south, east and west, in
Mobile and Minneapolis, the same fresh, hot
roasted peanut at five cents package. The
commonplaceness of the peanut and all its
surroundings is such that no one seems to
have inquired into its history. From Belfast
| to Los angeles we see the same thing the
country over. We have a million peanut
stands, more or less, and it's the same old
| story everywhere-a rooster, an attendant,
and half dozen packages done up ready
for sale. We never knew anybody to eX-
press an opinion of the origin of the peanut,
and every man is left to allow his magma
ton to caper on the subject (Of course, in
speaking thus freely of this matter we do not
include in the common herd the philoso-
piers of the Concord farm. We are well
aware that people who know the thingness
of the is and the whereforeness of the where
fore could knock the peanut question out in
one round.) We dare say if general
guess were made on the subject quite as
many would say they were shot on the wing
or gathered out of the river with a seine, as
that they were dug out of the bowels of the
earth like potato And then there are, it is
presumed, large number of people who
imagine they grew in the bag. 1t has for a
long time been quite the thing for individ-
uals with delicate tastes to tickle their appe-
titles with Florida and California oranges,
but the same persons invaribly call for pea
nuts, plain and simple, without prefix or
| affix.
We got hold of the string, however, yester-
day by which we may unravel this peanut
question and perhaps revolutonize the
trade A couple of individuals dealing in
! peanuts got on their ear and let US into the
| secret by way OF papers filed in the district
court 1t appears that there are at least two
varietes-the ea,abOnpoint Git won't hurt you)
Squirrel peanut of Virginia, and the common
white peanut of T4e nessee; the latter being
worth about two cents less than the Squirrel
brand. Virginia and Tennessee are both
! Democratic states, so we hope no one will
imagine we are saying this to affect the vote
of either.)
| The bare facts of the case are as follows:.
Messrs. Hill d Hunter, peanut dealers of St
Paul, purchased during 1888 and 1884 sew
eral hundred bags of peanuts of the Norfolk
Storage company, located at Norfolk, Vir-
ginia, at stated price with the proviso, as
plaintiffs allege, that if at the time of the
sale of the last of each lot, the value of pea
nuts had deprecated, the latter were to have
the amount of such depreciation deducted
from the amount charged in the original sale.
The plaintiffs further allege that the Storage
company tried to pull the wool over their
eyes by forwarding a mixture of white Ten
nessee and Virginia peanuts when they had
ordered and paid for straight, unmixed,
Squirrel brand, hand-picked Virginia pea
nuts. Messrs. Hill & Hunter assert that
they know justice when they see it, and
want $3.50 of the Storage company for the
depreciation in value and the attempt at
hoodwinking them in sending inferior vari-
cites. The public is expected in the future
to MUNICH only the Squirrel brand of Virginia
| peanuts