Durango semi-weekly herald., 1907-08-26
PIE


The last stronghold of culinary
civilization is attacked and we are
threatened with loss of our hest
loved luxury. DIR. Wiley. chief gov
ernment chemist, steely of eye. lard
OF heart. unyieldlng of purpose. has
been looking into pie and circum.
stan';Ii seport is that his verdict Is
adverse. Not that the doctor doesn't
Ike pie; heaven forbid, He fairly
hotes on ii, rs becomes a true Ameri
can citizens, but what Is meant Is that
In peeping under the crust he found
| something suspicious. something that
should not be found in any well-reg-
ulated pie. Chemistry is great dis
illusionizer. When the chemist brings
his miscroscope to bear and sets his
analyzing machii to WORK, nder-
ful things greet .he astonished eye.
A mere atom becomes a world peo-
pied by n menagerie that surpasscs
the animal show of Hagenbeck. One
squirming reptiles, writhing mlcf J5es,
warning bacilli What to the naked
eye looks like mere speck. becomes
serpent more monstrous than the
one which tested the strength of Her
cules. What We fondly supposed to
be innocent and altogether lovely, is
turned into CHASTITY spider. with legs
two feet long and pincers that stretch
out In every direction like the tent
acles of an octopus. Thus pie, the
darling of the darllngs and the de-
light OF the whole human race, when
examined as to its prandial proper
ties. was found to furnish one more
alarming testimonial to the menace
o. commercializing tendencies.
Time was when pie was as honest
as our mothers knew how to make
it, wholesome, toothsome and appe-
tizing 1t appealed to the palate with
out offense to the integuments of the
alimentary tract. Then, alas, pie be-
came commercialized. 1t was trusti-
field financed, exploited. degraded.
Machines were invented to manufac-
ture 1t and 1t was turned out by the
millions. In this age of greed that
has grabbed everything else, It was
perhaps asking too much that pie
should escape. A serpent creeps
even into Eden. Angels fell from
the innermost sanctuary OF heaven.
There is a thorn on every rose. a
worm in every bud. black sheep in
every flock, curse with every bless
ing. Pie, OF course, had It's enemies
too. but it escaped fairly well until
a doctor by peeping and penetrating
made the discovery that they were
"benzoating" H. That was the feather
that broke the camers back: that was
the fly In the ointment; the insect
indurated in the amber.
There was n suspicion among res
turant customers that something
was wrong with the ingredients and
that all was not right with the crust
The pieces became smaller and small
err the berries fewer and fewer, the
sugar scarcer and the cookery more
abomniable. But the lean and lanl
boarder winked at all this, Thankful
that the crust was not made of cot
ton and the insldes OF sawdust. Bu
he fell back and tainted when th'
sad announcement come that th'
"benzoated pie" had actually mate
rialIzed. It amounts almost to a sen
tence of banisbment upon the NeS
Englanders chief breakfast dish an
the indlnsensable windup to ever
other Americans dinner We nigh
= risk a few flies. make a grimace a
the sogginess OF the covering and tn
distressing quality OF the innardi
: But benzoate OF soda, "Insatiate moi
ster. would not one suffice?" Their
Is but one hope In this sad hour {
! culture as our salvation here as |
SO many other respects. The farmer
3 wives can still gather their own fru
+ In their own orchard. pull their ow
e rhubarb In their own gardens. pluc
b the luscious berry from its bush an
e have the pies ready for their unfo
e tunate city friends II they are SO ha
S py as to get to the country in tin
e for dinner. The pies are all rIgl
y there at any rate and fellow dos
not have TO put up with sixth C