Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-08-28
THE LEARNED GROCER.


He says There is No such Thing A. Dried
Curranfs and Tells why.
From the New York Sun.
Mother wants a pound Of dried currants, "
said a little girl who came into the learned gro
GERS store on 9Th avenue.
Il hain't got dried currant in the store and
there haint one in the city, replied the grocer.
"But know what you want and I've got 'em. "
The learned grocer brought forth a box OF the
little, sticky, sugary, dried fruit popularity
knowl as dried currants and used in fruit cake,
plum buildings. mince pies, buns and the like.
why, thems EN- :" said the little girl
Eyes, them's en-" assented the grocer;
land IL the Grecian maiden who trod this par
little water on her feet before she began there
wouldn't be SO much sand and grit in 'em as
there is. She must have been having o regu-
lar hoe-dOwn on the classic sands before she
began to dance on this box of fruit There,
sissy, tell your mother she must battle 'em in
might just As well put lot Of sandpaper in her
fruit cake And tell her they amt dried cur
rents, either"
whats the reason they aim dried currants?''
asked a disputative customer.
They amt dried currants any more than
they're dried pumpkins" replied the grocer.
The reason they amt dried currants is that
they weren't currants before they were dried.
That's reason enough, amt it,?
Yes" said the customer, less disputative.
But what does everybody call EN- dried cur
rants for?''
Cause they don't know any better +" replied
the grocer. They'll go right on coming in
here and asking for dried currants Just the
same after tell EN- why they amt dried cur
rants as they did before"
What should they ask for, then?' inquired
the customer.
tff any mar ,houl1 >v.r cov,. IN ba-o .cL
ask tor dried corinths." said the grocer, she
would not necessarily be gentleman, but I'd
bet on him for being q scholar. Dried corinthi
is what you should ask for when you want thi,
little sugar-coated, gritty rasin, for its raisn
"How's that2" the customer wanted t.
know.
because II was a grape before it was dried, y
said the grocer, land If dried grapes ain traisins
what are they?"
But yoa said these we're dried corin.hs,
said the customer. whats . corinth, any
howY'
"A corinth IL the smallest grape that grows,
replied the grocer, ''and il lost its name YEAR
and years ago. because it was gradually cor
rupted into currant, which became the name
of the calculated little berry Of our garden
which You might dry from now until Gabrie
sounds his horn without getting it any nearer
| the condition of raisin than q pea is. Thi
| little grape grows all over the islands Of tn.
Grecian archipelago and was first exported
from Corinth, ana that's what gave it its name
The punches don't grow much bigger than
| stem Of red currants and they are 80 full o
| sugar that when they are picked and dried il
the sun they actually seem to melt and run to
| gether, aud it takes good deal OF care ant
labor to separate them again. After they ar,
! separated IL the time when the Grecian nader
! gets her work in on them, for it il one of he
| pleasant duties to jump ON . heap of the sticky
| fruit with her bare feet until she has com
pressed enough Of the little raisins to pill,
three boxes into one. Nohydraulic press coult
the sand and grit the maidens' feet mingle will
the fruit, without which no dried corinths ar,
| genuine.
| Still, shall expect folks to come in her
| and ask for dried currants just the same" sal,
the learned grocer, a. he went to wait on q new
! customer.