Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1892-03-17
MOTHERS COOKING"
The Martyrdom Endured by n Pa
tent Little Wife.

tent Little Wife.
The Plainficld boys always had the
name of being smart and lgness Lutte
Baker was just about the smartcst boy
the old town ever turned out Well
he came ly II naturally; Judge Baker
was known all over western Massachu-
sets as Che sage Of Plainficld, and
Lute's mothcr-she was Kellogg be.
fore the judge married her-she had
more faculty than u dozen of your
girls nowadays and her cooking was
talked about everywherc-ncver was
another woman, Us folks said, could
cook like Mis- Baker The boys
Lute's friends-used to hang around
the back porch of mornings just to get
some Of her doughnuts; she was always
considcratc and liberal to growing
boys. Maybe Lutte wouldn't have been
so popular IL II hadn't been for these
doughnuts, and maybe he wouldn't
have been so smart IL II hadn't been for
all the good things his mother fed into
him. Always did believe there wns
piety and wisdom in New England
victuals.
did we'll; then he taught school win
ter, for Judge Baker said that nobody
could amount to much In the world un-
less he'd taught school n spell. Lutte
set on being n lawyer, and so present.
ly he went down to Springfield and
read aud studied in Judge Morris of
fee, and Judge Morris wrote letter
home TO the Bakers once testifying to
Lute's 'probity" and "acumen"-
things that arc never heard tell of ex-
cept high up in the legal profession.
How Lutte came TO get the western
fever can't say, hut get II he did, and
one winter he up and pikcd of to Chi
cago, and there he hung out his shin
gle and joined literary soc al and pro
ceedcd to get rich and famous The
next spring, Judge Baker fell off the
woodshed while he was shingling IL,
and 1t Jared him SO he kind OF dropped
and pined round n spell and then one
day up and died. Lutte had to come
back home and settle up the estate.
When he went west again he took a
wife with hm-Emma Cowlcs that
was Everybody called her En- for
Short, pretty rs n picture and as like
ly girl as there was in the township.
Lutte hal always had a laundering for
En- and En- thought there never was
another such young follow as Lutte;
she understood him perfectly, having
sung in the choir with him two years
The young couple went west well pro.
vided.
Lutte and En- went to housekeeping
N Il tnI 80. ii. h.,, 81,
work, but Lutte wouldn't hear to IL; SO
they hired a German girl that was just
over from the vineyards Of the Rhine
country.
Late" says En-, "llulIa doesn't
know much about cooking"
so sec,' says Lutte, fcclingly.
"Shc's green as grass; you'll have TO
teach her."
llulda could swing hoe and Weld
a spade deity, but of the cuisine she
| knew somewhat less than nothing
En- had lots Of patience and pluck,
but sh, found teaching llulla how to
cook II precious hard job Lutte was
amiablc enough ut first; used to laugh
it OF with n cordial bet that by and by
LIN would make famous cooli of the
rloral backing buoyCd LIN up consider
aJlc, until one evening in an ungunrdcd
moment Lutte expressed pining for
some doughnut5 like those mother
makes" and that casual remark made
En- unhappy. But next evening when
Latc came homo Tiers were dough.
nuts on the table beautiful, big, pic.
thuric GouGhnuts that faily rocked
with the Eomcly, delicious sent.
mcnt OF New England Lutte ate ohc
LIN f. hurt.
II guess it's because I've eaten so
much else" explained Lut', "Uut some.
how or other they don't taste like
mothcrs."
Nest day I'm fed the rest of the
doughnutI TO a poor MAJ whpcImc and
sad lie was starving. "lhanE you,
marm," said he, with hi heart iuI Of
gra.i,ulc nad his mouth full OF dough.
NUS; Il hu'n't had anything Z good as
this since ! LETT Connecticut twenty
year ago"
That little subtlcty consoled En-
bat still she found it hard to bear up
under her apparent inability to do her
duty ~ Lutc's critical palate. Once
when Lutte brought Col. Iii Thomas
homc 10 dilncr they had chicken pic
The co oncl praised ii and passed his
pate third time.
"Oh, but you ought to cat some Of
mothers chicken pic" said Lutte
Mother never puts an undcr crust in
her chicken pics and that makes 'cl
juici,r"
same way when they had fried pork
and potatoes; Lutte couldn't understand
why the l,sh of the wallowing. cnrn,v.
orous western hog shouldn't be as
whit, an fra AMI awcSt a. the meat
Of The sw,ll.fcl Yankee pig And why
were the Hubbard squa-hcs SO tastclcis
and why was maple sirup SO very diff
fnrcnt? Yes, am d all his prof ,ssiOual
duties Lutte founl tim2 to note and re-.
mark upon this and other Ghnilar
things, and of course Ein was-by inn
plication, at lcast-hcld responsible for
them all.
And En- did try 20 hard, so rery hard,
to correct the evils and TO answer the
hypercritica demands Of Lu,e'i foolish.
ly pctted and spoiled appetite. She
warred valorously with butchers,
grocers and huckstcrs she sent down
east to Mother Baker for all the IA.
nous family recipes; she wre stlcl in
speech and in practice with that awful
lluldh; she experimental long and
patiently; she blistcrcl her pretty face
and burned her little hands over that
kitchen rangs-yes, n slow, constant
martyrdom that conscientious wife
tyillinglv enJurad for vaarz In hor ~ d,