The Brownsville daily herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1897-1910, 1903-07-21
Story of a Pumpkin.
1t First Grew in Louisiana, Then
Was Resurrected in Southwest
Texas.

has the most fit mind for the
termination of marvellous romances,
having characteristics of a CASTRO
nomic nature, that the deponent
hereof hath any knowledge of with
in an acquaintance embracing near
ly every man, woman and child in
the vast State of Texas. If there be
one thing that Mac loves to do bet
ter than to talk it is to eat. And he
he is not an epicure strictly, for it
is a safe wager that he will relish
turnip green's and corn dodgers
with fat jowl as heartily as he
would get on the outside of the
most sumptuous repast of French
cookery ever served at Delmonico's.
The fertility of Macs mind for
conceiving wonderful possibilities
in the way of things goods to eat
may be partially estimated by the
following story of a pumpkin,
published in the last issue of his
newspaper, the Monitor. The writer
hereof is prepared to defend the We
racity of the statements that follow,
solely on Macs word, for my per-
sonal acquaintance with him leads
me to value his integrity and
truthfulness very highly.
Mac testifes as follows:
A man once told us a story about
large pumpkin that he saw. He
said that while he was in Louisiana
that friend took him down in his
pumpkin patch to show him how
large the pumpkins grew. He said
that the man walked up to a large
shell and said as he kicked it:
This is the largest one l had, but
she is about dried up now" Just as
this was said there was a rumbling
sound heard and large sow and
seven shoats came out of the old
shell. The man thought the hogs
had been lost for several weeks, but
they had been living in the pumpkin.
Now, when we heard this story
we thought that it beat all the fish
or bear tales that we had ever
heard, and we did not realize that
a pumpkin could grow so large
until we visited Mr. and Mrs. z. S.
Parker last Saturday evening. They
showed us a pumpkin that meas
ured six feet and three inches in
circumference and weighed 80 or
100 pounds. We do not know
whether this pumpkin is related TO
the one in Louisiana, but MIR. and
Mrs. Parker us-d to live there. and
perhaps they got one of the seed
and brought it to Texas.
1t is the same pumpkin, Mac
| remember about it too. You ought
to have made closer inquiry into
that pumpkins history. Mr. Parker
told the writer that when he re-
moved from Louisiana to Texas
he compressed that pumpkin shell
that the swine bc,lded ia for several
weeks and brought it with him, as
he thought it might come in handily |
some way When be reached Atlas
coSa county and located he took |
out his pumpkin shell and laid it
aside on the earth until he could |
arrange other matters.
Now the soil of AtascoSa county /
is unusually rich-almost as fertile
as Macs mind and'ofte grows
things nearly as big as Macs APP
petite-so when that pumpkin shell
was placed on Atascosa dirt it be-
gan at once to turn greenwich
is another popularity of Atascosa
lroduct.-and very soon It's life
Was renewed and it began to swell
and develop into something of its
first proportions.
When | left Atascosa county in
May that pumpkin was Just five
feet in circumference. 1t has added
another foot and three inches since
and if let alone l have no doubt
Out that it Will grow TO several