Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1911-02-10
THE MEDICATION OF CORN BREAD

There is rejoicing throughout the
Southern states, where, since "befO' de
war, the corn pone and hoe-cake have
been recognized not merely as food
but as an institution. The cause Of
iubilation is the yindication of corn
bread from the slurs cast upon it by
scientists, who once upon a time We're
so brazen as to attribute pellagra TO
hurtful germs distributed by the hum
bic pone.
1t was when the pellagra scare
spread over the Southland-mainly m
the ewspapers-that the corn pOne,
upon which Southern statesmen, poets
and diplomats have waxed great from
the time when the memory of man run
meth not to the contrary, seemed %
be doomed to abandonment and oblit-
ion. Newspaper scare heads and scien-
/ tific dissertations on the direful pei
Ilagra caused many faint-hearted indi-
viduals to forsake corn bread, While
many others felt exceedingly squeam-
ish about continuing the use Of this
substantial and venerable article Of
diet
There were many, however, who
paid no attention to the charge that
indian corn or maize from which some
thoughtful and benevolent aborigine
first moulded the toothsome pone and
hoe-cake and handed down the secret
to his white friends, formed under Ger
tain conditions the breeding ground for
the germs Of pellagra These loyal dis
ciples Of the aforementioned aborigine
went on serenely masticating corn
bread with as much satisfaction as #
its homely name had never been be-
smirched. Had it not been for them.
the pickannies and other youngsters Of
the future in the Southland might have
grown up in ignorance of the staff Of
life upon which their fathers and FORE
fathers had been nourished and had
WaXed strong. Wise people they were.
as subsequent events tend to prove.
The charge against corn bread
which had been advanced at first with
such scientific positiveness and direc4-
ness, gradually came to be doubted by
Southern Investigators and others. Tan
deserters from the ranks of Johnny
Constant began fio"king back to his
standard. The feeling of satisfaction
with which one buttered a slice of hot
hoe-cake before the threat of pelIagra
was ever noised abroad by the press.
returned once more. Now the Illinois
Pellagra Commission adds its approval
to the finding Of Southern investigators
and completely dissipates the charges
against corn bread The report of the
commission, which is now ready for
presentation to the legislature of that
state, contains the statement that corn
IN none of its conditions is the cause of
pellagra. The Illinois scientists threat
en- to investigate the buffalo gnat rs
the instrument that disseminates the
pellagra germ.
In the meantime the lover of the
corn pone and the hoe-cake is rejoicing
IN his favorite bread and is exceeding
~ glad. The lowering clouds that hung
above the horizon have disappeared
NO more shall the gaunt specters of
pellagra victims loom up before tbe
diner at his midday meal. One Of
the treasured traditions of the South
mas been rescued from threatening
dissolution, The corn pone and the
hoe-cake shall long endure to be the
stan OF life for those who delight in
the lore of Uncle Remus and the diet of
ante-bellum days.