Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-07-17
Those Of Ireland and New England
Prepared for the Worlds Fair.
WHERE COOKING WAS SIMPLEST.
How the Women of the Emerald Isle Found
lime to Embroider.
THE CABINS IN WHICH GENIUS GREW
WRITTEN FOR THE pIsPArcH.I

| snoWn IN aIl It's simplicity, with p0Sslbl,
the pig under the bed, of which so muc
has been told by tourists
All the cooking that some Irish womel
have to do, it is said, is to boil q pot Q
"pittaties" and this they do up to tn
Queens taste, as everybody knows. Thi
limitation of kitchen work gives the house
wives time to embroider, make lace and t,
engage in other industries for profit.
full exhibition of these, including tn
thatched cottages in which they are manu-
factured, has been designed BY those inter
ested in the promotion of Irish industries
and the betterment of the poor people o
ireland who have dire struggle for thei
living. The Irish cottage is picturesque
but not any prettier than the log cabins, o
cliff shanties in this country.
Dear to the Irish Heart.
1t answers the purpose of shelter, usual,
ineficiently, and forms home that, with al
its drawbacks is dear to the dwellers therein
more from sentiment and association thar
for comfort or good living. Their homes in
the bogs are as dear to the Irish peasants a.
the castles of their richer brethren, and when
driven out of them for non-payment of rent
their lamentations ascend not only to high
heaven, but are published to the ends of the
earth to give testimony to the villainy OF
landlords and the mercenary grasp of those
who-after all-only ask for their own. The
exposition of one of these Irish cottages, as
proposed, and true to life, will be one of
the great features. of the Fair It will show
to the thousands of well-to-do Irish in
Chicago real picture of the homes of their
ancestors, just as will a reproduction of
the cabins IN which they were .'raised" dis
play from what humble antecedents so
many of the Presidents OF the Republic rose
into power and fame.
An amusing story is told of an Irishman
and Irishwoman who came to this country
in the steerage on their wedding trip years
and years ago. When they landed in Pitts
burg they had-as tells the story-not a
'fppeny bit between them" But they
had strong hands, stout hearts and good
looks. They worked, economical and
saved, until money flowed in upon them
without stint, and "a castle in stone" be-
came their home. Society of the four hun
dred order made them welcome at every
door. At this stage pedigree became desira-
BILE, and the madam" was wont to discourse
at favorable moments upon the castle of her
ancestors in ireland. Her husband, having
more pride in the financial success he had
achieved than in the imaginary glories of
dead and gone ancestors, who lived and
died among the bogs, spoiled one of her
finest stories and put damper upon all her
pretensions by saving that the castle of her
ancestors was cabin where 'tyou could put
your hand down the chimbly and take the
pittaties out of the pot"
Tho Food of the Irish Heroes.
Just such cabin, we are told, is to be a
part of the Irish exhibit at the great Fair,
and the simplicity of living and cookery
will demonstrate upon what food and under
what circumstances are great men grown
and heroes bred. The famous log cabin of
Thomas Lincoln, the father of Abraham
Lincoln, the martyr President, if shown at
Chicago, will be one of the most notable ex-
hibits of the great exposition. twill show
one room and loft, which was reached, not
BY stairs, but by pegs in the wall of logs.
Up these pegs went "Old Abe" to bed when
a boy, and beneath the rifted roof of that
loft" he dreamed bright dreams and
thought great thoughts. Hog and hominy
were doubtless his diet, as it was that of
most of the early settlers of the Western
country. Simplicity of living and economy
OF labor as to cooking will thus be shown as
not Incompatible with brains and the dis
blood is made an essential to the thrones of
Europe, but in America the log cabin Presi-
dents give token that energy, enterprise,
intellect, genius and that mysterious con-
dition called 'good luck" have power to
set the humblest-b born into the highest seats
of power and greatness. Harrison, Arthur,
Lincoln and Garfield were born in humble
log cabins and grew up on homely fare.
Their early homes as reproduced at the Fair
in all their barrenness of beauty. their
lack of modern conveniences, their dearth
Of books and papers, their pathetic picture
Of the stress and straits of poverty would
show the scope of American ambition and
the possibilities of the future for even the
most lowly country boy.
Homes of the Futures Great Men,
In shooting along the railways in remote
ind sequestered regions are seen little log
cabins, or cheap little weather-beaten
houses. Out of these may come presidents
and great statesmen in the future, as in the
past Grants early home, as pictured, is
common little house with two rooms and a
lean-to kitchen. Lincoln's home was bed
room, dining room, kitchen-all in one.
Simplicity. in living, absence Of society,
lack of style, give room for thought, afford
time for study, and give good, strong founda-
lion to lnborn genius and native talent If |
he country boys who have acquired name
and fame and wealth had been worried |
Is to their clothes, had been full OF the desire |
20 make display upon small means, had |
been fired with passion for spending hard |
earned dollars upon baseball and other |
rather than upon education
md books, it is likely they would have been |
eft to dim obscurity prey-as millions are |
o-day.
Country life, country fare and the prompt
ngs of narrow means seem to enter into the
making of many of the best Of men. Town
ife with its many distracting temptations,
own schools with their monotonous uni
ormity, town amusements in their endless
variety keep the mind full OF everything
ave earnest thought, cool reason and calm
consideration. Out of the plainest, the
the barest homes have come the
loblest and the greatest OF men. Out OF the
,itchens most poorly furnished, and lack
ng all. save the sheerest necessities, have
topped great women and noble men. In
he early New England days the kitchen
nd living room were all in one. Among
he pots and pans were discussed the great
matters OF government and religion.
Discussing Revolution and Cabbage.
In Revolutionary days in Mercy Warren's
ltcnen were talked over the plans OF the
olonists, and their schemes against the
British. Mrs Warren, while cooking cab
age, was full of thought for the country,
nd counseled independence before even
be Congress met, that made the famous
eclaration. In q New England kitchen
as written much of that famous book
Tncle Toms Cabin-while the bread was
aking and the boiled dinners were cook
lg.
At the Chicago Fair, New England
itchen Is to be displayed in its original
implicitly. What would make this more