Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1901-01-18
VINEGAR PIE.
Pathetic Story of Early Days In Ohio
when Fruit Was
Scarce.

When one understands how pie fs
the glad epiphany of the so, Is
yearning for beauty of living, as II
were, the bud tip of plant cropping
its way upward between the dull,
hard clods to sunlight and the air,
he understands also how some kinds
of pie have story to tell, pathetic
story for those who can appreciate,
writes Harvey Sutherland in Aims
| lees.
In the early days of Ohio there was
n vinegar pie. A paste was made of
| flour and water. Enough vinegar was
| added to give it a pleasant tartness
and sugar was stirred in to suit the
taste Then this was used as a fill.
ing for the top and bottom crust
Smile, if you can, Mt this poor eff
fort, but bethink you who ii was
that made it and where and why.
We may set the scene in log cabin
in the wild woods of the Western Re-
serve and people it with settlers from
Connecticut, an ambitious husband
and his young wife who have left
behind them the old folks at home,
knowing that they will never look
upon their faces more. They have
come the long, long, journey in their
covered wagon to the far west OF
Ohio to seek home in the wilderness.
The Indians are but barely gone.
The timber wolves still howl nights
while the young mother bushes her
babe to rest. In the twilight bears
snufile at the door sill of the rude
cabin. 1t was sufficient shelter
from the weather, but no rag carpet
covered the puncheon floor to soothe
the eye with its soft coloring, no pic
lures hung upon the mud-chinked
wall of logs. There was no lack of
food to eat. The virgin soil, never
before turned by plowshare,
brought forth riotously. Standing
at his door, the husband might kill
wild turkeys with his rife. There
was game in plenty, deer and squir-
rels, possums, wild ducks, wood pi-
geons and, once in long while. a
feast of that most highly-prized of
all meats, pork. Wild berries grew
all about, and here and there up
sprung tree planted by Johnny APP
pleseed, ragged, wild enthusiast that
he was, almost a legendary hero in
his benefcent resolve to scatter far
and wide over the new country the
best fruit ever God gave to man.
There was plenty to eat, but when
at last the store of fruit for win
ter was exhausted, the soul sickenee
at the plenty of mere animal food.
"'LwOOgh't twas soft we could hev
I pie luck them we use to git back
hum" sighs the husband.
Land sakes! Uriah Kinney! / amt
got one mortal thing l could make a
pie aout o." retorts the wife.
"No, s'pose not. | amt a-faultin'
ye. l was unly sayin' woosht twas
so't we could hev a pie luck them we
used 40 git back hum. 'Twould kind
O. seem more luck livin'."
Then the wife falls to biting the
end Of her forefnger. She plans;
she meditates. Oh, woman of a thou
sand wonderful inventions! Some
thing has got to give when thy brain
throws its weight against a problem
Result in this instance, u vinegar pie.
"Gosh, Polly. This is lickin' good!"
exclaims the husband, wiping his
mouth with one hand while he holds
out the other for a third piece OF
pie. (Crockery was scarce in those
days.) Then he spreads the news.
"By darn!" says he to the next
man he meets, my Polly Ann med a
pie f. me day b'fore yistiddy was the
all-fredest best pie ever et.'
"Sho!" doubts the man that hears
him. Cant git nup-pie this time o
yer. fruits all gin aout."
"By darn! she med it anyhow" and
he smacks his lips. "Smartest woman
l ever see. Med it aout o. vinegar
she did. Tell yeou. fetched the spot
IL did"
81 want to know" says the other
man, admiringly. And he did. The
recipe was passed around, and vim
egar pie spread like wld-fre to the
southwark 10 the people that call q
pail a bucket and IA basin a pan, and
where they have letter or" broad
enough and fat enough to roll out
pie crust on in case of an emergency
Years have passed, and with them tho
memory of that dear soul that first
discovered vinegar pie; yes, ever
vinegar pie itself has passed away
too, save in the recolections of the
older people, so complete is the tri
umph of the self-sealing fruit can
have used the name of Kinney, but
that was because ] thought it sound
ed kind of Yankee, but | should like
to know her real name, and where
she sleeps, that I might stand be
side that weed-grown hollow that wa.
once a mound above her, that might
read the messy epitaph on her lean
ing tombstone:
"A Faithful Friend, Mother Dear,
A Lowing lies buried here"
~ =, x.'. s..; 1: