Arizona weekly journal-miner., 1892-07-20
IN rae SOUTH DURING TIRE WAR.
Trials That Reset Many . Family Which
 Had to Eat and Be Clothed.

Trials That Reset Many . Family Which
 Had to Eat and Be Clothed.
 To most people Virginia cooking has been Q synonym for a delight fully prepared meal And no doubt this universal opinion is a correct one. But Virginia cooking, when there wasn't anything to cook, is quite different matter from what it IS with pantry to which the whole country supplies every delicacy in and out of season.
 Those upon whom devolved the care of the lander during the days of the civil war tell pitiful but ludi- crous tale of the straits to which dire want and necessity often reduced them. The country was of course then torn up by excitement, and the marching troops foraging kept it pretty we'll clear of everything in the edible line. Of course the north ern soldiers appropriated all they could get for themselves and their horses. and the southerners expected nothing but hberalty at the hands of those for whom they fought Oc- casionally woman who was hard pressed for money Confederate bank notes being almost worthless) would concoct rare dishes and sell them to the passing Union troops at exorbitant prices.
 A lady, who is famed for her shrewd and keen business wit, told a funny story of some such dealings. She found some old Norway raisins and mixed with them some stale, dusty honey that had been kept for years for poison mixing purposes These ingredients she compounded into pies, and though she failed to taste them herself she sold every one of these pies to the passing troops Uncle Sam had many foes to face, but it is safe to say none ever had . deadher effect than those same pies.
 Coffee. being an imported article, was impossible to obtain Tea, mus tard and a thousand other seeming necessities grew to be strangers at southern tables. Sometimes sweet potatoes were roasted. cut into sew eral pieces and boiled as coffee, but rye was the usual substitute.
 Corn bread was of course the usual dish, and chicken or turkey often served as meat when the soldiers left any such dainty. Salt was scarce article, and a famine was staring the people in the face when salt works were started in West Virginia Pork was the usual meat, and such vege- tables as the dangerous times enabled the slaves who staid at the farms to raise, were the principal fare. Cattle were driven off by soldiers of either army, so beef was scarce. Hard tack biscuit were often the only bread to be gotten. and many poor soldiers lived on it for days at a time. Hard tack, |" which is about as diff cult to chew as a piece of marble tombstone, was soaked in water over night, then fried in milk in the morn ing.
 In the matter of clothing, too, the south was nearly as bad of as it was for food. Most of the mills for mak- ing goods were at the north, so Miss Dixie found herself hard pushed to get the goods and ribbons for her frills and furbelows. Still fashion reigned in spite of wars alarms. and the rough homespun and cheap cali co dresses were turned and made over and looked upon with truly feminine pride. When Confederate money had so much deprecated, fabulous prices were paid for the sim plest thing g-calico selling at $10 per yard, soap at $6 per pound, lawn SS0 a yard, and a barrel of flour being worth $l00 in greenbacks. Of course their value in gold was only the sell ing price at the north, but southern paper was almost worthless. Yet in spite of the depressions in the pan try, the scarcity of raiment in the wardrobe and the terrors of the rag ing war the Dixie girls amused them selves much in the manner of today. New York Advertiser