Greenbrier independent. [volume] (Lewisburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1980, 1895-03-21
WeBSTER'S POTATO TALK.
His onhand Lecture to Party OF Tra,
cling Companions.

NE5STER'S POTATO TALK.
His onhand Lecture to Party OF Trav-
cling Companions.
Ono can always spend an interest
ing hour with that fino old gentle
man, +. d. Grafton, tho we'll known
water colorist. Sitting at his easel he
INDUCED the following personal REQ
election of Daniel Webster and his
"potato talk"
1t was i'll tho year 1S49, the year
of tho gold foyer, that I was on
train returning to Philadelphia from
Harrisburg, and Daniel Webster was
III tho Samo car. Every ono on board
not only felt the influence of Web
stcr's ovcrpoworing personality, but
the majesty of his thoughtful look
and speech aS we'll as that grandeur
of simplicity III the familiar ease
shown toward some plain but intel
hgont farmers whom he was enter
tanning, whilo thCy attontively lis
tened to his agreeable talk upon tho
subject of tho simple and unambi-
tiOuS potato. Others upon tho train
hearing of Mr. WcSbtcr'S presence on
board, before his talk was over he
had an audience of nearly u car full
of people Said ono of tho farmers
from Lancaster: Have you noticed
how the MCShanOcks and tho Mercors
arc losing their foothold and bccom-
ing shockinGly ISd and tasteless?
They arc not dry ard mcaly, as they
wCro a few seasons ago. l believe
they arc running out" Then some
one remarked that it was almost
timo for new varieties to appear.
Mr.. Webster at this point took a
modest hand i'll tho talk. Apologetic-
ally CXCusing himself, he told his
listeners how no had worked upon
his fathers farm in his youth, and
also upon his own ut Franklin, n.
II, and he had had some experience
with the potato; know something
about it, although perhaps not
enough to hurt, but no considered
himself the better from having had
some agricultural experience. Hav-
ing gained their attention, no now
launched into pleasant little potato
history and held their interest in
tho subject until the end. Mr.. Web-
Stcr went back to the remote times
of the close of tho fifteenth century,
when the potato was u scrub plant,
a, 1,.N, - 1.
lumbus, had landed upon the west
Crn continent and found comfort i'll
1t as an article of food; how it was
aftcrward carried to Europe by the
| SpaniardS and cultivated, with the
| tomato, merely rs II garden curios-
ity; how Sir Francis Drake, Haw-
kinS and Raleigh i'll 1923 TRANSPLANT
ed it in Ireland and England, all the
| timo undertaking it's merit, md
| how long II whilC 1t took to awaken
! within tho public mind u knowledge
of its worth; how finally confes-
| sion was eXtOrtCd from EuroDean
high authority that the potato and
Indian corn We're the two greatest
blessings America over gave to the
world; how, Notwithstanding all
| this, they were still used rs food for
cattle and horses, though in pinch
1t MAS thought they might help
bridge ovor starving people who
had met with failure in the crop of
| cereals.
Mr.. Webster related that even in
| Washington : day the Father of His
Country had proclaimed loudly
against tho vile and vulgar horse
food, as he called it, known then
and now aS cOrnmcal, and which was
not considered good enough for the
soldier. Mr.. Wcshter spoke of tho
German and Fronch people, who
wouldn't eat either of these articles
of food; that, when Antoine Parlnen-
tier, philanthropiSt, had helped on
and improved their cultivation and
urged their daily use, Johnny era
| paud wouldn t listen to him. Finally
tho government felt tho need of aid
ing this business, and the gcndarmes
wcro placed around the potato field,
| plcntifully planted with them, as if
to guard highly precious commod-
ity, and Louis XIV ordered the potato
blossom to bo Worn by tho court la
dies. This done, the tide turned in
favor of the poor, prosecuted potato,
and under the lofticr name of pomme
de tcrrc it came out of the fire of op-
position cooked, as it is now said to
be by the French cuisine, in some
300 different ways. BY this compul-
sorry recognition it now holds an
honored place upon the table, an in
diSpensahlc adjunct Interrupted &C.
casionally, but respectfully, however,
by somo questions his hearers now
and then put to him, Mr.. Webster
cheerfully-continued his potato talk
for nearly an hour, and it was an ad-
mirablc help to lcsscning the monot-
ony of the trip, / can assure you.-
Cincinnati Times-Star.
December London's Sunless Month,
~, 4,1