River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1903-01-01
PROVIDED BY THE PALM.
Not Only PadatabIe Food, But other
Useful Materials Furnished
by the Tree.


dine, relates a writer in the Philadel-
| phia Press.
I'VE had statuary," [ replied
vaguely, land before that shells and
wax flowers under glass and halrcloth
chairs and sofas. But, if you really
want to know anything about palms,
talk to the Man from California.
His mind is perfect palm garden,
stocked with all varieties. He has
date ranches on thousand plains"
Thanks for the suggestion" ex-
claimed Felicia, devoutly. He is the
most difficult creature to talk to j ever
met. / did not know what subject to
try him on.''
"Palms!" I replied, sententiously.
palms, and yet palms, and again
palms!"
But, joking aside, / never realized
how many fascinating facts there were
about the princes of the Vegetable
Kingdom" as old Linnaeus called
them, until the Man from California
| discoursed upon the subject.
He began with the date palm, the one
| that Mark Twain describes as resem-
! bling a gigantic feather buster. This
palm alone provides millions of peo-
| pie with sustenance, and its introduc-
ton into California and southern Eu-
rope has been most successful.
In addition to the quantities of it's
young trees in California are those of
larger growth to be seen in the old
mission gardens. In the San Luis Rcy
mission is date palm $50 years old, and
very large ones are also to be found in
the San Diego and Ventura missions.
They were planted by those fathers of
the church who hoped to extend the
dominion of the cross not only over the
golden CALIFORNIA;, but over all the
western world.
These palms are especially beautiful
when fruit bearing, for then they pre-
sent a picture of the most vivid color
/ ING. The trunk rises high in the air,
SCARED by innumerable dead leaf
stalks. At the summit the long wand
| like, dark green fronds arch upward
and outward. and from between these
fronds hang the deep yellow fruit
stalks, laden with heavy clusters OF
brilliant red dates with the bloom of
the plum or the grape upon them.
By adroit questioning Felicia led the
Man on to the subject of cocoanut
palms, which are also remarkable for
| their economic uses. There is a native
proverb to this effect: ''He who plants
a cocoanut tree plants vessels and
clothing, food and drink, a habitation
for himself and a heritage for his chill
dren."
To the inquiring mind the question
presents itself: Why take part in the
struggle for existence? Why not emf
CRATE to that morning land, and live
in peace and plenty ever afterward?
He who would do so could build himself
home of porcupine wood, which is
procured from the trunk of the tree
| and is very durable; leafstalk rafters
| are to his hand and his house is ready
for the picturesque roof of matched
leaves. He can cover his floor with
mating made from coir, the fiber
which is about the nut; he can make
brooms and brushes of the ribs of the
| leaves and can utilize the old leaves in
! making buckets. The house completed,
| it can be decorated with fans and with
cups artistically carved from the nuts
AS regards food, he can sustain life
on monotonous, but dainty fare. A
| pint of liquor can be procured from
| each young cocoanut and the creamy
| ielly can be eaten with a spoon. Other
food, fish for instance, may be fried in
cocoanut oil, and from that oil cocoa
butter. soap and candles may be manu-
featured.
The man placed in these suppOsiti-
tious circumstances need not worry
about the London fashions. He can
clothe himself in a coarse textile fabric
wrought from the sheath at the base
of the leaf.
Once upon time and this is his
tory, although it begins like fairy
tale-immense double cocoanuts were
found floating on the tropical seas.
None knew whence they came, and they
were regarded by the child-like natives
of those southern lands and credulous
sailors as gifts of the god who dwelt
on distant Elysian islands.
These double nuts were held in su-
perstitious awe and were carried home
to grim northern kings, who bound the
cups with gold and jewels and guarded
them more than all other treasures,
for the cups were gifted with magical
properties. Whoever drank from them
should know neither sickness, nor sor-
row, nor age, but should live from CEN
fury to century, perhaps in another
guise. but ever successful in love and
fortune, ever victorious in war.
The tabled fountain of youth was
never sought more eagerly than were
these magic nuts by stern Vikings and
daring sailors, whose descendants
were centuries later to be known as
the invincible "Beggars of the Sea"
81 am afraid have talked you to
death on my hobby" exclaimed the
man from California at last, "but find
there is something very alluring about
palms, especially to those who live in
cities. Heine crystallized this senti-
nent in his poem The Pine and the
Palm
Therein, you remember, he de-
scribes the lonely pine standing on
bleak northern heights, where the air
is blown crystal clear, and dreaming
of the palm which knows only the eter-
nal sunlight"
ChiId's Comment
A vary little GIRL was aroused from