Evening star., 1898-07-16
A CIyILIzING FORCE.
Potatoes OF the Past and the n
They Play I'm Our History.

As Hawkins got on the car TO 20 no
last night Simpson was reading from I
Star a letter from one Of the District be
at Tempa in regard to the bin Of fare
of which Uncle Sam is making his soldi
nov adays.
Brown gravy Fried beefsteak! Ere
bread, Mix Oatmeal. Hot biscuits, G.
ham! Stop there. Simpson" exclaiu
Hawkins. you'll take away my appel
for dinner.
Simpson read the paragraph through
the end of the list OF good things the DO
are trying to get away with from day
day.
DO you know, Simpson. what we ca
tured Nicksburg on? Just pork and bear
| mat was all, and cooked chiefly in I
! mess Kettles. DO you know what the bo
had before Gettysburg? For week II Va
nothing but hard tack and pork scorch
on stick. Some OF the time IL was moi
M ing put hole or two tighter in the be
Nhy' the Gay of the fight at Malvern the
| We're thousands of men that did NOT =
| olte TO eat for thirty-six hours. We W.
| at Lookout mountain on parched corn
just took II right out of the fields. stuc|
fba 1s.ehs ,l IN me cobs and roasted the ears |
| lhe camphres. Godd? ell 1 tell Won
SIMPLY was. What do you think we whiI
| pyeh ~ ehe Johnnles on at the battle of Ca 4
,I.+. nn.ase IN 81? Watermelons, sir: just Ola |
| ,,,S,,' we had marched third
miles ahead of our wagons ana the,|
WASH a thing along the road TO feed II
| nt aLt'.t we came to a big field of 'miIlionI
ina shat some trusting Missourian had ralseI
'Tba me 81; Louis and Chicago markell
IN way the boys tumbled over that q Il
hce tSn renee ana plugged those melons was
eayIloh 10 cats Do you know IL
| ere you at Nicksburg or Gettysburp, :,
| asked Simpson
simpson. l celebrated that slorto,
rourth OF July in 1853 in the ignoTninio,1
| occupation OF guarding a mule non st
pace called Pigeon Hollow. In the gre
| @Sa's 20 . oI ihihols- had bad luck all throue
! sHe wal wasn't in any of the ver, IA
Ddtues and was never shot or kiIIed-ba|
| 6udfu uuty most Of the time in soma nof1
| eraple little out-of-the-way place. RuT
| 'i Sou' simpson, IL vas a great war an
| am proud to have been in IT, We Ia
| brave men to fight US. and they gave !,
sood long job. Do you know SimDsor
| nave always had a peculiar view OF m
! suugsle 1t was this way. The south wa
used to hog and hominy. We IN nor,i
mad to have wheat bread and beef. Ty,a
Is pretty good equation. You take
hundred thousand men fed an hoQ an
homiEy and hundred thousand fed O.
| wheat and beef. and il is hard To saw vgbici
will whip. They can fight a long Will
| and still stand even.
| what gave US the victory was the no
tato' Simpson. If We up north had no
been used to eating good. old white not
toes We might have been lighting the fobT
| MES yet. The potato is a mark OF a sll
| perior civilization. Nations that eat I
| Ieao IN the march Of human progress. 70
may may get the best of men and guns, but
you nave not plenty of potatoes for a has
OF supplies you haven't an army. Be-
may strengthen and hard tack fill, but IA
potato braces and regulates the Who'll
system Now Il
| i see there is a New York scboaI n
! opposition TO the use of the notafo ~
| food, interrupted Simpson
! terAecL fanatics, Simpson-haVen't
| grain of good sense. You can denan5 a.
II, there isn't one of them in the army 1
| CuDa. Don't you believe them Go bac
| on the potato! Why. the man who wouI
| do that is as bad as a traitor. You can al
most read the history Of your country 4
| the potatoes We have had Do Won rener,
! Der, Simpson. the old Mercer potatop A.
the Harrison. and the Peachblow? nv
| Bul there was potato fit for the eodS
! Nhat days those were back on the III
Iarm when 1t came time in the spring I
| plant the PeachDlows. We bows used !
set up early IN the morning and do up tn
chores IN hurry. Then we would brin
those beautiful pink and white potatoe
| oul OF the cellar and proceed TO cut ther
| up. And the discussions we had as To ho,
| they should be cut, whether into one a
| Two eyes. There was alv-avs a dgsn,,t
| about the stem end. Some said in va
| rlght-to plant it and some said IL brougb
| small potatoes and few in the hin. VIVA
| q pity 1t did seem to cut up and put in III
| ground those splendid rawberrV hlond
| potatoes! The eyes seemed almost huua,
to US boys and looked at US reproa IN f,lII
/ as our sharp knives went through and Sic
| ed on the seed pieces. Then we droppe5 m
/ pieces INTO the furrow and covered then
ueep elther with a shovel plow or viii
/ hoes, and always some neighbor on the NJ,
10 or from the post Office would come an
| lean over the fence and tell us that Horao
ereeley or Solon Robinson or some othe
gentleman farmer said # paid better 4
/ plant your potatoes whole
! Great Scott, Simpson how I wish 7 ba.
a ran fence now for some neighbor 10 com
| and lean on and talk to me an hour or tvro
| That's the kind Of a call that brings rea
! pleasure. We would keen on dronninsJ
dropping the potatoes. and the nls M,
| would keep a-taIking. raising his vofc,
louder ana higher We got on TO the fur
! ther end OF the rows. and then let il dowI
an octave or two as We dropped back [,
| Where ne was / remember the very min
ute and spot where old Deacon TillotsoI
| told me the first / ever heard about IN,
Atlantic cable. He was leaning over a bi,
black walnut rider on the line fence be-
tween our place and the Longerbeam farm
and We were planting potatoes
do you remember when the Early Ros,
came in, Simpson? That was a great dis
coVery- We have 1t yet. while the Peach
blow of blessed memory has gone from u,
as surely a the Great AUX or the nodo
L can remember father paying dollar I
pound for the first Early Roses we had
They were $40 bushel at first, and stayef
so Tor quite while. Then there were IN,
Russets, and the Neshannocks. and IN.
Mohawks, and the Chilis, and the Pink
eyes, and the Carriers. They are all gon,
now, and not one man, woman or child N
hundred can tell the name of the potatS
he or she may eat for breakfast or dinner
hear now and then of the Freeman, ant
the Rural New Yorker, and the Carman
but I'll be blessed IL know tharo x,ha,, /
see them. / think I know the Burbank
the poorest apology for a potato. Oh, fol
the potatoes of my boyhood-"
Here's your street" said the conductor
and Hawkins jumped up hurriedIy and
rushed off the car.
As his foot touched the pavement hf
called out to Simpson:
Il tell you the potato is a mighty fores
in modern civilization. Good night old
man."
Trades Followed by AnimuIs.
rru.