The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1903-03-26

[AKCH 70, 1908.
await the call to dinner, and of course
fell to talking about crops, etc. After
awhile I said: "Mr. Benson, why do
You keep so many dogsp" swell, I'll
tell you. I reckon you won't find many
folks round yere, with less. You see,
they come in handy for hunting in the
fall, and then no one who is anyone
ever lives without plenty of hounds.
They kinder make man feel more in
dependent too and keeps us from get
ting too lonesome. Why, it's often
months when we don't get to see q
stranger and a new man jest gets
naturally tired to death of looking at
coons all the time. They're great COM
fortv h.
"But," said I, ,"don't you find it pretty
expensive to keep such a big lot of
them ?"
"Lord, man, they don't cost nothing to
keep. Why, what them dogs eat don't
amount to shucks; some of 'em don't
eat for days at time, that ever. see,"
he continued. Which was no doubt
true.
Shortly after IL o'clock, young col
Ored girl came out and said: "Dinner's
all ready, sah." Su, in we went, and
after being introduced to Mrs. Benson,
several Miss Bensons, quite few young
Bensons, and bestowing kind look on
Baby Benson in crib nearby, we
commenced dinner. "Does you all like
chicken ?" asked fat colored woman
who was cook and waitress combined.
eyes" L Ianswered, 81 just love chicken"
i had had chicken for the past "a meals,
but ate chicken for the 35th meal and
then some! This colored auntie had
stewed the chickens and added pota-
toes and dumptings to them so that it
was a different style at least from my
other chicken meals.
1t is remarkable what liars men will
become when they fear they will hurt
some friends feelings. ate that chick
en- as tho relished it, while in my
heart was bewailing the fact that
chicken is the Southern substitute for
beef. Hot cornbread, better than any
I've eaten before or since, was on the
bill Of fare and the way I devoured it
was scandalous. Sweet milk, cold as
ice, came along; green peas, stewed in
cream, and new potatoes, the first OF
the season, were there. Sliced tomatoes,
completed the menu.
l noticed that the cornbread all
through the south was made from
aChite corn meal and fried mush is al
ways from white meal. I asked the
colored auntie why this was and said
that we in the North generally used
yellow corn meal. "Laws, honey, dat
yailer meal aint fitten for no corn pone.
No indeedy, dis yere white meal is only
6tten to eat. We all gibs de yaller meal
to de chickens; it's toe strong in de taste
for we all"
The agent seemed to be quite me-
chanical genius. He had rugged up q
swinging fan made of cloth and had
suspended It above the table where we
sat. The motive power of this novel
fan was the little darkey who put away
the horse. He pulled at rope and
at every pull the swinging fan
would 60 to and fro. Sometimes in
his anticipation Of dinner he would be-
come so interested in watching the
food disappearing that he would forget
to pull the rope and at every forgstful
moment his mother, the cook, would
exclaim, You, Sam, you better pull dat
rope" Sam would "come to" and for
few moments pull very energetically,
but seeing one of the young Bensons
devouring chicken his mind would be-
come SO fixed on his coming meal that
the fan would gradually lessen in speed,
until it came to full stop. Then
"You Samw
The dogs, or at least some of them,
would wander into the room at inter-
walls to the great amusement of the
younger Bensons, one of whom took
great delight in secretly feeding them
under the table. The cook would chase
the dogs out and after awhile one would
come sneaking back to where young
Benson sat. Mr.. Benson finally caught
his hopeful son in the act Of slipping
bone to the hound and boy and hound
were summarily elected.
"Mr. Blank, have some more chicken,
doY