The times., 1898-09-04
GEN. MANGO.
Has Killed More soldiers Than the
Cubans Ever Did
(From the Boston Transcript.)

(From the Boston Transcript)
In the long list of suggestions from the
medical department, all of which were
disresarded, the ripe mango was recon-
mended a desirable article of diet But
somebody at headquarters issued an edict
against it. and the soldiers were called
up by the company commanders and told
that if they ate the fruit they would be
punished This is the way the company
commanders addressed their men:
Now. l see that some of you have been
eating those mangoes in spite of our ad-
vice 10 the contrary. Do you know what
the Cubans cali this fruit? They call II
Gen. Mango, because they say that the
mango has killed more Spanish soldiers
than all of their generals put together
If you eat it Gen. Mango will kill you,
jusLaas it has killed the Spaniards. l am
told on good authority that If you eat a
mango every day and then get yellow
fever you will swell up frightfully and
surely die. Now. / give you this positive
order, that not one of you shall eat any
of this fruit. and l shall punish severely
any man that disobeys the order"
AFTER such an order the cbedient regu-
lars gensiA!ly let the mang3es alone. al
though they were abundant. tempting.
and delicious. The volunteers ate them
more freely, without any bad result. 50
far as heard from When the Cuban
officers and aides were asked their opin-
Ion as 70 the wholesomeRess of the fruit.
they generally said: "It is perfectly
wholesome If eaten ripe; All these bad
things apply to the unripe mango. which
is sometimes eaten by the SpaniardS."
Most of the army doctors seemed TO think
that the only way 30 prevent the eating
of the unrfpe mango was to prohibit the
fruit altogether. There were many cases
in which even Dhe most obedieEt regulars
were impe.led by thirst and by hunger
for bit of fruit to disi0bey the order;
and as the clear yellow mango is always
ripe, while the unripe fruit is green or
greenish. It did not take a very high
order of intelligence to discriminate be-
tween the fruit which was fit to eat and
mat which was unfit.
1t is certainly hard to believe any Ill
OF mango when one looks at it. The
tree Itself is a most beautiful and attract
i've thing. Imagine tree as large as a
big Massachusetts oak. covered with rich
and glossy foliage finer than that of the
orange tree, ard covered a so with golden
/ fruit nesting brilliantly among the green
leaves On such a tree there must often
be a hundred barrels of mangoes, fully
matured every one OF which Is as large
as Il g.ood-size5 pear, In shape the mango
/ is not unlike 4 short and thick cucum-
! ber. and 1t has thin. tough skin, which,
| when msfured reveals a mass of the
most delicious, juicy pulp. The only
| trouble about caring the mango is that
| one needs an ablution afterward. Some
| say that the ideal way is TO get into n
| ba.htub take the mango, eat It. and
! then go on with the bath But one is per-
| fertly willing to take the trouble 10 seek
/ the ablution for the sake of the fruit.
| And imagine the trees which bear the
| fruit growing wild everywhere, and also
| springing up in every garden and door
| yard the largest and finest ones were
| away UP on a wild mountain side, where
| apparently no one had ever gathered the
| Astounding fruit Nor are they native
| fruit in Cuba; they have been introduced
| from India and simply gone wild in the
| rich soil of the island.