Wichita eagle., 1886-11-11
COFFEE IN THE CONFEDERACY.
The Various Substitutes Tried in Turn.
Cotton Seed as Beverage.

The Various Substitutes Tried in Turn.
Cotton Seed as q Beverage.
, Coffee had been almost the sole table bev-
e-age Of the south, and no privatiol caused
more actual discomfort among the people at
large than the want of it. There wss nothing
for which they strove SO eagerly and unceas-
ingly to procure 4 substitute. Few indeed,
were the substances which did noe. first and
last, find their way into the coffee pot. Wheat,
rye, corr, sweet potatoes, peanuts, dGndelio1
seed, ohr-i SD. parsimmon seed, melon seed
ere but fey OF the substitutes which had
their turn AID Sheir day. "Aiig for the differ
ence becwe-l Rio and rye said the wits.
"Euresai7 CriSd On talsiasticEeTTspaper cor
respondent. Another OF the ShlcAleS which
holds the south to the commercial thrau Of
the world is severed LSt South America
keep its Rio and the antipoies It's Java It is
discovered to be- true bcyOld psradyenture
that az Il beverage the seed Of the sea island
cotton cannot be distinguished from the best
Java, unless by its superiority; while the SEED
of the ordinary variety Is found TO be not
whit behind the best Rio" What tlUtter OF
excitement and joy it raised il many q house
ECll-2nd doubtless the scenc in ours was
typical-to find that the great national plant,
the very symbol OF the Corfederacy, was IL
deed so mary sided! II gave Us greater con-
fidence, if il were possible to have greater, IN
the power ard possibilities of the south, now
that cotton, the great king, had had another
crown laid on his brow.
So oDportuGe was the discovery, too, that it
struck Us a5 almost divine revelation, ildi-
eating the interposition OF Providence III our
favor So eager we're We - test it-or rather
10 confirm il, for it was too gooi not 20 BE-
tTue-that we could not ;.1..it meal time. Re
siding i'll North Carolina and up the country,
we had never seen any SCI Island CoctC-., but
the prospect of being confined 10 Rio was by
no means appalling. y piclaninry WIS .orth-
with hurried OF to the cotton patch, then
sparsely fec,;ed with ney.iv-opened bolls. Tho
apTonful of precious stuff, now vc-i-abls
mamma, was hardly indoors before 4 dozel
hand of I'll sizes and colOrs were tearing, pick.
ing ct the discreC.:ted fiber. in guest of the
more priceless seed. The Rio was made and
drunk. Despite the sorghum sweet nj. r, tho
verdict was unanimous in its favor. / hope
that the communication Of this StupendouS
discovery to our neighbors added Is immense
y TO our happiness Is to OUT self-import3ncc.
But il in the last respect we sinned, retTibu-
tiol could not have been laggG-d; for al
though, owing to the fact that happily the rec
election of disappointments and humilia-
tons is less abiding than the opposite feelings,
l am unable 20 tel exactly why and when
we returned 70 parche1 bran, it is nevcrtho-
less true that We did.
Recipes for making coffee without coffee
when tho real article was alluded TO, strong
emphasis on the word left no doubt IS TO
which kind was meant-wcrc extensively al
vertiSed in the newspapers, and in some IN
stances sold by canvassing agents. But rye,
ol1ra seed and meal Or bran he'll in the long
run the popular favor. Thosc who could
afford an inlinitesirnal quantity of the real
article, counted out b. the grain 10 favor the
substitute, were the envy of the nciyhbor
hood y cup Of pure, genuine coffee would
in the eyes of many have been ar extrava-
gance akin to Cieopatra'S famous draught
itself. The contents OF small gourd, which
held our entire stock of the genuine article
for many months before the close of the war,
must have gone towards tho making of an
incredible lake OF coffee.-David Dodge in
Atlantic Monthly.