The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1895-09-07
WEBSTER'S POTATO TALK.
His fha Lecture to a Party of Trav
cling Companions.

tfls ohhand Lecture to a Party of Trav"
cling Companions.
One can always spend an interest
ing hour with that fine old gentle
man, E. D. Grafton, the well known
water colorist. Sitting at his easel he
INDUCED the following personal rec
objection of Daniel Webster and his
potato talk"
1t was in the year 1S49, the year
of the gold fever, that 1 was on a
train returning to Philadelphia from
Harrisburg, and Daniel Webster was
in the same car. Every one on board
not only felt the influence of Web
ster's overpowering personality, but
the majesty of his thoughtful look
and speech as well as that grandeur
of simplicity in the familiar ease
shown toward some plain but intel
ligent farmers whom he was enter
tanning, while they attentively lis
tened to his agreeable talk upon the
subject of the simple and unambi-
tious potato. Others upon the train
hearing of Mr.. Wesbter's presence on
board, before his talk was over he
had an audience of nearly a Car full
of people. Said one of the farmers
from Lancaster: Have you noticed
how the Meshanocks and the MERGERS
are losing their foothold and 'becom-
ing shockingly bad and tasteless?
They are not dry and mealy, as they
were a few seasons ago. I believe
they are running out" Then some
one remarked that it was almost
time for new varieties to appear.
Mr.. Webster at this point took a
modest hand in the talk. Apologetic-
ally excusing himself, he told his
listeners how he had worked upon
his fathers farm in his youth, and
also upon his WI at Franklin, N.
H., and he had had some experience
with the potato; knew something
about it, although perhaps not
enough to hurt, but he considered
himself the better from having had
some agricultural experience. Hav-
ing gained their attention, he now
launched into a pleasant little potato
history and held their interest in
the subject until the end. Mr.. Web
ster went back to the remote times
of the close of the fifteenth century,
when the potato was a scrub plant,
and the crew of the Pinta, with Co.
lumbus, had landed upon the west.
ern continent and found comfort in
it as an article of food; how it was
afterWard carried to Europe by the
Spaniards and cultivated, with the
tomato, merely as a garden curios-
ity; how Sir Francis Drake, Haw-
kins and Raleigh in 1923 transplant
ed it in Ireland and England, all tho
time undertaking its merit, and
how long a while it took to awaken
within the public mind % knowledge
of its worth; how finally a confess
sion was extorted from European
high authority that the potato and
Indian corn were the two greatest
Z blessings America ever gave to the
I world; how, Notwithstanding ali
this, they were still used as food for
cattle and horses, though in a pinch
j it was thought they might help
bridge over a starving people who
had met with failure in the crop OF
cereals.
Q Mr.. Webster related that even in
Washington's day the Father of His
Country had proclaimed loudly
against the vile land vulgar horse
food" as he called it, known theI
y and now as cornmeal, and which was
5 not considered good enough for the
soldier. Mr.. Wesbter spoke of the
German and French people, who
wouldn't eat either of these article:
Q of food; that, when Antoine Parmen
e tier, a philanthropist, had Helped OF
a and improved their cultivation ant
urged their daily use, Johnny era
paud wouldn't listen to him. FINAL,
the government felt the need of aid
ing this business, and the gendarme
~ were placed around the potato field
NJ plentifully planted with them, as
N to guard a highly precious commod
ity, and Louis XIV ordered the potat'
blossom to be worn by the court la
:, dies. This done, the tide turned il
= favor of the poor, prosecuted potato
: and under the loftier name of pomm
=, dc terre it came out of the fire of OF
position cooked, as it is now said t
), be by the French cuisine, in som
300 different ways. By this compul
&c sorry recognition it now holds a.
II honored place upon the table, an in
~ dispensable adjunct. Interrupted oe
~ casionally, but respectfully, however
a by some questions his hearers no'
and then put to him, Mr.. Webste
cheerfully continued his potato tai
for nearly an hour, and it was an &C
mirable help to lessening the mono
~ ony of the trip, l "a assure you
Cincinnati Times-Star.
w December London's Sunless Month.
III IT. iS common in continental Error