The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1891-02-27
THBPoIsoNED HAMS.
A War Incident of Particular Interest to
Lady Readers.

A War Incident Of Particular Interest to
Lady Readers.
"Now, mistus. amt we gwine sen
Marse Ran no box dis Christmas. 1t
p'intedly do seem too bad to dissapp'int
de chIle!'
We we're all "chillun" to nanny, and
even though my soldier-brother now
bore the title of major, she could never
forget that little more than twenty
wears before he had laid his curly head
on her breast, well knowing there was
no more faithful repository for his
childish woes.
Tears came into my mothers eyes as
she thought of the soldier-boy who
would have to be disappointed as far as
she could see. 1t was the Christmas of
1864, when the people within the con-
federate lines were almost at the last
extremity of their need.
20 mammy!n she said, what have we
for a box? Not a turkey or chicken,
except old Speck, did the last raiders
leave usl / sent to the village yester-
day to get some eggs, but the last had
been sold at fifteen dollars dozen.
You know last Christmas we sent the
last coffee, and unless you or Chloe
could go to make it for him, Randolph
would never have it At to drink, out of
the rye and ochre we use."
"Why, mistis, is you done forgit the
plzened hams?"
These "pizened" hams are worthy of
a place in history. When it was re-
ported that the raiders were coming
my mother determined to save, il pos
sible, the few hams we had left. Taking
nanny and faithful Ben into her con-
fidence, she proceeded with Ostentatious
secrecy TO the smokehouse, well know
ing that the eye of a young negro was
at each chink, trying to find out what
'ole mis- was doin' so secret in the
smoke-house."
The next day the federal soldiers
came. While some looked after the
live stock, others proceeded to the
smoke-house, for Virginia hams always
had high reputation. The looks of
the little negroes told as story OF
mystery OF some sort, which excited the
suspicious OF these soldiers, which were
confirmed when they discovered fine
white powder over the meat.
Selling one black boy by the collar, a
soldier demanded the secret.
Use skeered to tell YOU" sobbed the
boy, while his teeth chartered, Ca Sc
nanny caught us peepin', and said ef
we told she gwine to bus our head
open"
But as the danger of a "bus' open
head" seemed more imminent from the
soldier than from nanny, the confess
sion was finally extracted that "Me and
Dick seed old mis- sneakin' long to de
smoke-house, and she shot de do SO still
like, dat we peeped in, an den she was
putin dat white stuff on de meat, and
Uncle Ben said as how eff de Yankees
eat dat meat day won't nebber eat muffin
mo-"
Just then a slip ofwhite paper labeled
''strychnine" was discovered in a cor
ner. So our precious hams were saved
by harmless shower OF -four and a
piece of white paper.
With ham to start with no cOnfed-
crate would despair OF a box. So Chloe
proceeded to make half bushel of gin
ger-snaps, which with 'goObers" (pea-
nuts) constituted the confederate con-
dictionary. l turn now to my Coded
crate Recipe-Book," and see how those
snaps were made:
"One-half meal, one-half -four, sor-
ghum, potash instead of soda Ia dark
powder got from hickory ashes by some
homely chemical process, garden-raised
pepper, and little horse-raddish for
We had peach preserves, made with
the inevitable sorghum, of course; but
as there was not jar to be had we had
almost despaired of being able to send
any. Nanny solved the problem by
producing some gourds, well-sweetened
and dried. These were filled with the
precious sweet, and when the plug re-
placed over the hole and secured with
paper and paste. Some of the field
hands brought in two young pOssums,
for Simson said If ''Marse Ran done got
to be major, knows he amt forget to
love possum."
proposed to sacrifice "Speckle," the
only hen l had left, but Chloe protested
that dat old hen had so much sense she
mustn't be kilt, even for Marse Ran"
When the raiders came the good old
cook had stuffed the hen into an empty
box in the kitchen. There the wise
bird stayed without making sound for
thirty-siX hours. wondering, no doubt,
what made the night so long. When
she was released the found herself
monarch of all the surveyed" Every
other domestic animal on the place had
gone the way of all flesh.
But though there was no poultry for
it, the preparation for the Christmas
box went on. In one corner was put
little bag of cloudy-looking salt. Ran
dolph said in his last letter that il there
were always salt, the corn-pone or hard
parched corn would not be so bad.
This salt was triumph Of confeder
ate ingenuity. All the large meat
houses had floor of earth, over which
had been cured and hung the meat used
on the plantations for generations.
These dirt floors were dug up and the
earth boiled in large kettles until all
the salt was extracted. Several wagon
loads of dirt produced a few quarts OF
the precious powder.
Our box was filed at last with one
thing and another, and seemed to our
poor confederate eyes very complete
when the chinks had been stuffed with
and home-knlt gloves
and stockings.
The box was done but there were no
nails with which to fasten it. The
had said, few days before,
that he had no more iron. But Ben
brought from his stores some old horse
shoes. Armed with these l myself went
to see the nails beaten out by the smith,
since we dared not trust that precious
iron out of our sight.
When Rams" next letter told us how
that hard-won box had given him and
his brother officers the first good meal
they had enjoyed for weeks, many tears
were shed. Old nanny could hardly
stand under the caresses that were Law.
ished on her, as the prime mover OF