The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-01-21
RAcors STERLING VALUE.
4 Humble Provender. Bat Of Hisfori-
ca Conscnuence.

Iron the Nsu- Orleans Ti1Ie--D claocrat.)
L have a profound respect for bacon. "
remarked q thUaghtful citizen a. a local hO
tel cafe speariRg one Of he ~~-ary brown
slices that Sarnishsa his breakfast eggs.
As = patriotic American il commands my
uubCU1ded esteem aEG gratitude Did ii
ever occur 10 vou rrat Ne are indebted
primarily 10 .aC5n f0- lhe opening W and
development ana civilization Of more than
oHe-half of this grand and glorious Re
public That without bacon. the great
West with lis thriving cities its count
less indus Eries. as fertile farms, its mag
RificeEt mines. its gigantic web CT railroad
and telegraph and telephone lices and all
It's other wonderful evidences Of progress
and prosperity tn-sl without bacon tliS
sure: llv flourish'g domain world IN al
proba5z iltT be . bowling Wilderness Il the
pTSsCu- moment Tbs tEorsFttul citizen
psgSsi for breath
You astouish me said his friend
across The able
THAT IS because you have never given
the subject any attention. ne replied
Bacon has been ne chief agency in the
development of cur country. for the sim
PIE reason that It has been the chief food
Of the pioneer Il was the only kind OF
meat that was easily portable ana would
keep for an indefinite period. Fremont 5
pathfudeTs carried st. so did the gold
hunters of - sni 50 did all that ire
mendous army OF emigrantS and frontiers
men Wlo gradually opened up the un-
known region between the Mississippi Riy-
er and the Pacific Coast. The Prospectors
who toiIed UP and down the continental
divide and located the great mineral re-
sources of the country lived principally
upon bacon. and to this day il is the main
item IN the grub stake Of every aGyen-
turer who goes into the mountains TO seek
for ore
To sum the matter up. the advance
guard Of civilization has moved steadily
westward. eating bacon and conquering
savage nature. and without that humble
article of diet the red man and the buf-
falo would sti1 be prowling over regions
where pink teas flourish and culture rules
the r0Cst-
you must bear in mind too. that the
bacon upon which ali these gigantic
achievements are based is rot the high
priced. delicat elv-favored breakfast bacon
of a frs--class cafe. 1t Is sterner stuff.
Il i the strong. dark. greasy bacon Of
ordinary commerce. that comes in great
rough slabs and smells Ike Scorched shoe
leather At first sight yoJ3 "EnIla turn
away from il in disgust. but As ration
10 work on and travel on and fight on il
has no equal IN tho world l grant You
that the fancy condensed foods they are
putting Up for the armies nowadays are
vastly prettier to look at. and the chem
lists say they contain ten times the nutri-
rnent 10 the square inch. but let q COM
pany of tired. hungry soldiers go into
camp after a forced march or a fierce bat
tie. and I viii Eager horses 10 horse hair
that they throw away all their tiAnei
gimcracks for one rasher Of good old
fashioned bacon. hot from the Skillet.
an not especially fond OF bacon myself, ~
added the thoughtful citizen. but I re-
we're il for the ilIustrious part il plays III
history. if I had my way about Il I would
remove the torch from the appraised hand
OF BaTtholdi's magnificent statue Of Lib
erty Enlightening the World and suksti-
tute colossal rasher CT bacon Then il
would be truly symbolic of American
progress