The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1909-06-12
HOW To MAKE
GOPHER SOUP
SOME INTERESTING AS WELL AS
TRUE FACTS REGARDING WHAT
is NECESSARY TO OBTAIN THE
LUXURY.

fannie Mcqueen In Gainesville Sun
The legislature of Florida, moved
by the pathetic appeals of an elo-
quent member of that body, has pass
ed bill to protect that esteemed
member of the tortoise family term
ed in Cracker parlance Gopher" AS
the writea once had the pleasure to
assist in making Gopher soup, now
legally declared the state dish of
Florida she takes pleasure in giving
the recipe 10 an appreciative public.
FiTst-and too much stress cannot
be placed upon this-catch your
Gopher! Go out in the piney woods,
which is its native habitat, and
wander around till you come across
a Gopher hole. Then dig Keep dig
ging straight down, for a mile, more
or less, till you reach the end You'll
probably find the Gopher won't be at
home, but his room mate, the rattle
Sntake, viii very likely be in and you
can leave your regrets with him, and
seek an0t- domicile where the head
of the family is not out calling. If
none of the members of the Gopher
family are in, they are certainly out
so you wander around some more,
and, in the course of time, you'll like
~ meet a pedestrian Gopher, strolling
home after hard days work in
=
its easy. as his gait is even slower
than that of the Cracker of his ma
tive state-take him home, and call
a committee of ways and means for
the easiest way of killing Gophers-
being Christian you can't boil II
alive, as they do Maryland terrapin-
in the COOk-books. With the aid Of
the family, the servants and the
neighbors. you can probably succeed
in pulling the head-the only vulner-
able part of the GopheT-far enough
out of its shell to deCapitate it. l
simply will not describe the process!
have no desire to get into diff
Guilty with the Society for the Pre-
vention of Cruelty to Animals.
When the head is-eT-remoyed,
the Gopher is supposed to be defunct-
deceased, dead and incapacitated.
BY way of warning let me adjure you
not to let him, by any chance, get
your finger in his mouth. for. though
/ have never seen such an occurrence
myself, / am informed by truthful |
witnesses that a Gopher always holds |
on till it thunders.
The Gopher being rendered harm |
less. another committee is called to /
decide on the best and safest way of |
removing the Gopher proper from the
Gopher shell. This is Of necessity a /
ieisurely task requiring unlimited |
time, practice and manual labor on
the part of the chief operator. In /
plain Latin, the modus operandi is
this: Place the Gopher in a position
where he cannot bounce too far to
be recovered, then aim blow at the
shell with heavy ak. Pick il up, at
ter the act Of bouncing, and place it
In position once more-and chop
some more-and some more still, till
ter which it is best 20 summon
parts Of the animal is edible. You
will find that the concensus of opln-
ion has it that the legs only can be
being the only meat Wis
bile in the anatomy Of the Gopher.
Secure the legs-don't ask me how!
do not believe in unnecessary grue
some details. Pour boiling water
over them for a very long time, when
he skin will at last some of; 1t
.akes a man of muscle to do this
Dart-a baseball player who has had
practice at the bat will answer very
we'll, if he is handy. This task at
asst accomplished, you will find that
you have left some weird fragments,
small, which furnishes
he name for the soup. In making
his, use a sufficient quantity of boil
ng water, some pepper mustard,
sauce. sherry, Drowned
lower, bacon, butter, onions. crackers
md anything else you have around
handy. Usually the Gopher is added
but you canFuse your own judgment