Los Angeles herald., 1905-05-04
SAN BERNARD|NO
FULL OF RHUBARB
MAIN ARTICLE OF DIET SINCE
PARLIAMENT CONVENED
CRIMSON VARIETY DISPLAYED
Club Women Hear Of the Wonderful
Properties of Plant From Mrs.
Shepherd, Who, With Bur-
bank, Developed Species
Special to The Herald.


Special to The Herald.
SAN BERNARDINO, May 3.-San
Bernardino men are having the time
of their lives eating crimson winter
rhubarb pie, at least the husbands
Of club women are, and 1t is all due to
the meeting of the woman's Parlia-
ment in that city. Judge Bledsoe, In
a happy little speech Of welcome to
the parliament delegates Tuesday
evening, confessed that he had found
two big juicy rhubarb pies in the fam
lily pantry that day and he thought an
institution that promoted the making
of good pies ought to be encouraged.
At the luncheons served Tuesday and
Wednesday by the women Of the Bap-
tist church ever-bearing crimson win
ter rhubarb sauce and pie were two
of the main features of the feast and
the delegates, so cordially welcomed
and entertained in the hospitable
homes of the pretty tree-embowered
and shaded city, were served as dessert
WlLn pie IIldue VI lIllS llulllllOuo e1AAd
healthful plant.
The pie epidemic, or Renaissance"
all came about through Mrs. Theo-
dosia Shepherd, the we'll known woman
florist of Ventura, who presented a
paper Wednesday morning on the
bearing Crimson Winter Rhu-
barb
Grown by Burbank
This plant in its new form, as every
body knows, was propagated by that
wizard of the field and garden, the
noted Luther Burbank, at Santa Rosa.
For some time Mrs. Shepherd, in her
Ventura gardens, has been interested
in furthering Mr.. Burbank's efforts in
the cultivation of this new plant as a
factor of value to the food products
of the state. The practical idea
popped into her head to ship to the
club women of San Bernardino a lot
of rhubarb as a sort of advance agent
that her hearers might know from ex-
perience the virtues of the plant she
was to talk about. That is why San
Bernardino is eating pie. 1t is a re-
minder of old New England, where
this time-honored dish is served in in
finite variety three times day. Even
Emerson's mystic philosophy was in
spired by a quarter section of pie and
two large cups of coffee at breakfast
every morning during the year.
Morninu Session
Mrs. Gibbs, the president, called the
morning session Wednesday to order
promptly at 9:45 o'clock. The opening
number on the program was a well
rendered vocal solo by Mrs. Dickey.
After a number of reports of delegates
from local clubs, national and state
officers from larger organizations were
heard Mrs. Josiah Evans Cowles
from the general federation and the
California Federation of Women
Clubs; Mrs. W. w. Murphy, vice presi
dent of the national congress and
president of the California Congress
of Mothers and Child Study circles;
Mrs. Leila S. Whitlock for the Women
of Woodcraft and Mrs. H. c. Reynolds,
vice president of the national Humane
society. Mrs. Reynolds gave a brief
but interesting account of her expert
ences in humane work in foreign coun-
tries. She also made some pertinent
suggestions concerning the training of
children and in the treatment of ami
mails.
1t has been found, she stated. that
eighty per cent of the criminals in
prisons We're cruel in childhood and he
gan their careers in crime by abusing
animals. In the instruction of chill
dren in school on humane work, she
would teach them that in the scheme
of creation both boy and dog are in
the world without choice, and that
man, who has power and reason,
should be the protector of animals.
Mrs. Shepherd Speaks
Mrs. Shepherd. on the Ever bearing
Crimson Winter Rhubarb," was the
next speaker announced by the presi-
dent. Instantly every woman in the
large audience that filled the church
was alert and attentive, and with
smiling, expectant countenances waited
TO hear of this now quite absorbing
edible. Mrs. Shepherd stated that
among many other things for which
the world is indebted to Luther Bur
bank is this new variety of rhubarb,
which is destined TO become one OF
the most valuable products that Cali
fornia has ever grown, 1t came out
about the same time as the Shasta
daisy Mr.. Burbank having improved
on the original stock which came from
Australia.
Numerous experiments have been
made with varieties of the rhubarb
plant by horticulturists in the effort
to propagate a variety that would
come into market earlier in the season.
Heretofore it has been considered but
a makeshift as a sauce for early
spring use before deciduous fruits are