Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-08-19

nut, like a pearl, is judged by its luster:
like a woman, its reputation depends
upon the unstained spotlessness OF Its
character. Like some women, also, 1t is
pretty carefully powdered when gong
through the big hoppers which clean and
polish it. Remember this the next time
you purchase a sack of peanuts and toss
the shells disdainfully away.
The principal work Of these hoppers,
however. aside from the polishing pro-
cnss. is to separate the different grades
of the earth nuts from those in whose
social class they do not ravel There
are three varieties of peanuts. roughly
s~reaking-the Jumbo" or giant KIND,
which is only used for certain kinds OF
CONNECTIONS and candies, the ordinary or
normal peanut, which VI eats
now n then, and the nuts of spanish
ancestry. Whether because of their name
or no, the latter kernels are rather I'M
popular at present. although they are the
best of all for sailing or table use, II
for the genuine Spanish nuts Americans
have nc more use or respect nowadays
than they have use for the Spanish in
fantryman. Economically considered,
the Spanish peanut, like the matador or
the Castilian dancer, is all right: prac-
tically considered, the nuts grown from
vines of American grating at least are
far and ava more valuable.
| Mora and more peanuts are used every
| year in Chicago and the west. Time
was, and not SO long ago at that, when
the ordinary well-to-do family no more
thought of including peanuts in the list
of ordinary household supplies than the
arlstocratic chef dreamed of leaving
olives or truff1es out of his regular requi-
sitions. Nowadays the head of one Chi
cago family out of every ten at least
order peanuts just as he does apples or
potatoes. There is no better material in
l ttn ,nyiJ 70 syr,V fro,,r nt1 ~, n
upon than the contents of good, healthy
peanut shells. and for betWeen-mea
lunches for children they far surpass the
time-honOred cracker. Especially is this
true in cases of insufficient nutrition
anemia, or lack of the proper material fol
the building up of the nerve and bone
TISSUES. The excess of oily matter which
renders it impossible for so many people
to eat freely of other nuts is not present
IN regard to the eanut 1t Is for this
reason that the verdict of the food stu.
dents and the food producers is unani.
nous for once in regard to the nut which
grows in the ground.
That a bag of peanuts constitutes a re
markedly inexpensive hunger-fightel
most people are aware. Few people, OF
the contrary, are aware of the large ele
ment Of profit which accrues from tn,
J commercial handling of the humble pea
nut-to some people. The peanut grove
seldom grows rich, the large dealer reap
but a moderate profit, and the girls VIII
see to it that only fine and perfect nut
fly past them on the swiftly moving hop
per only go to Europe occasionally, bu
the peanut vender makes about $25 O.
every hundreweight of peanuts which h
handles. Realizing this fact one cease
to wonder at the ever increasing numbe
of Greeks and Italians who are able t
return to their native lands in comfort
J able circumstances every year, and some
} thing of the edge wears off the feeling Q
l gratitied surprise consequent upon learn
, ing that one particular peanut mar in tn
} neighborhood is giving two bags of pea
nuts instead of one for a nickel.
= The wholesale handling of peanuts i
Chicago is of comparatively recent or
igin. Ever since peanuts have been rec
: ogniZed as a distinct article of commerce
r they have been kept largely in the "pea
nut district" consisting of Virginia an
t a small slice of Tennessee, in which the
I are grown, Norfolk. Va, being the pea
nut headquarters of the world. Blu sine
the serious popularity of the peanut ha
begun to spread and the California art
Gle has declined to fulfill it's origin;
promises the western consumers nave bt
gun to complain of wasted time and d.
f lays in getting supplies. Chicago, by res
son of it's natural capacity and lOcatiOl
is obviously tHe pest liluule StatloH VI u
United States for peanut handling, and
is predicted that in the near future it wi
become the "~peanutta' center of tt
f.. earth, while the American peanut, aft.
years of ridicule n unpOpularity, is
speedily evolve into a Valuabl pOrdut
1 and source of revenue to the America
government. Even our conservative FL
S glish brethren are learning to eat pc;
nuts freely, moved thereto in part by II
vegetarian and food study cults, and ne:
" year at least two of the continental a
C mics will have a chance to prove the lf
& sustaining properties and values of tt
d nut, which isn't a nut at all, technical
speaking, because it grows under groun