The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-07-03
From the Washington Post.

1 HE death of Henry D. Perky the \0 champion of vegetarianism. re-
 calls the terrible indictment inc brought against pie as a disturber of the harmony that should prevail in our midst. His indictment is thus succinctly stated by a contemporary
 When the New York Vegetarian soci- ety celebrated Thanksgiving Day in 1900 MT. Perky made an address, in which he said that the diet of the Pilgrim Fathers was so poor that 1t made them and their descendants stingy that they lived for generations on pie. doughnuts and cake, sold their slaves because slaveholding was not profitable in the pie belt and then, out of pure meanness, caused by pie diet did not want the residents of the southern states to have slaves. Hence the war"
 It must not be forgotten that this ar raignment of pie was made by man who made a great fortune in the manu- facture of breakfast foods. There mas not been time enough since the introduction or these foods to estimate accurately their effect upon the conscience of the Ameri- can people, but 1t must be admitted that damaging allegations have been made against them. Eaters of pie, curiousiy enough, are usually the most bitter ac- cusers of breakfast foods The Post, with proper conservatism, refuses to take sides in this controversy until 1t has ascertained the whole truth. An irrepressible conhict is at hand, and we don't propose to be
 
 on the wrong side if We can help It.
 Tn the pursuit of info''. ton on this topic a somewhat extendi study was made during the past session of the diet of senators and representatives, which may shed some light upon obscure feat ures of recent famous episodes It was discovered that a most tenacious and bel ligerent senator kept the fires Of his wrath burning with vegetable fuel exclu- s.vely and that another senator noted for his explosive temper lunched entirely upon hot hucl1leberry pie. This would appear at first blush to be case Of tweedledum and tweedledee; but 1t IS far from it. Both foods were vegetable compounds, after all. So that if a man is controlled by the food he eats, 1t is fairly we'll pTONeu tldt NtSVeopiS P'oNHS~S e>S responsible for much of the excitement that has prevailed In the Senate during this session.
 Studies in the House of Representatives led to the same assumption. Take 'Uncle Joe' Cannon, for illustration. At the very beginning of the meat panic he announced that he was eating his regular portion of xx,,%t ft1 three times a day. And where Is there more benevolent mild-mannered, optimistic American than Uncle Joe?" In addition to his meat rations. Uncle Joe has With faithful devotion consumed at luncheoh siah or wedge. or "piece" of pie thus responding to those mysterious hereditary influences which engrossed the miho oi Hawthorne. Yet Uncle Joe has no trace of stinginess or meanness. Until he has been converted to vegetarianism this cult will always have lion in its pathway
 Within the past few days a little more ,iybt has been cast upon this baffling sub feet by revelations of the character of food consumed at the White House. Here again the theory that pie contributes to combativeness and aggressiveness Is not established. Pie is not mentioned in the Presidents list of what he eats, and yet his contests with Congress were waged with unusual vigor as the whole world knows. The belligerent nature of break fast food may have made itself felt there. as in the Senate; but here hard-boiled eggs appear in the equation and specula- tion staggers and is lost
 If the department of agriculture is not too busy with other vital matters. it should make . series of investigations