Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1911-06-24
THE GEORGIA MELON = KING BY
THE GRACE OF GOD.

The true Southern watermelon is a
boon apart, and not to be mentioned
with commoner things. 1t is chief OF
this worlds Injuries, king by the
grace of God over all the fruits Of
the earth. When one has tasted it
he knows what the angels eat. IL
was not a Southern watermelon that
Eve took; We know it because she re-
pented-Pudd'nhea Wilson's Calen-
dar
In the guise of Pudd'nhead Wilson
our old friend Mark Twain gave vent
to some very choice bits Of philosophy.
But in none of the titbits Of wisdom
that garnish the heads of chapters
in that ilustrious work did the gifted
author give expression to a greater
and more generally accepted truth
than in these few lines about the
watermelon.
OF course Pudd'nhead Wilson had
the Georgia watermelon in mind, and
probably one raised in the fields If
Southwest Georgia, where they attain
the highes. pitch of perfection In
some of his wanderings Mark must
have reached a melon patch in the
vicinity of Americas, been tempted,
as Mother Eve was, laid aside his fac
scruples as to honesty, and departed
with the field minus a melon and
Twain the richer forever for the ex-
perienee. Either that, or in his later
days of prosperity he learned to love
the luscious fruit, fresh from a we'll
iced car frozen to the heart, laying
mint juleps and all other subtle sum
mer drinks in the shade as to refresh
ing qualities, and creating warnings
that only another melon could satisfy.
Yes, the Southern watermelon is
king of all the fruits of the earth.
The peach is good enough in its place
the fig has its virtues, the pomegran-
ate is delicious in it's crimson mix
ture of sweetness and acidity, the
various berries of the field do well
as filters, but only the watermelon,
as Mark Twain tells us. really gives
us an inkling as to the food we will
live upon in that state of bliss to
which we, are all going. And the
knowledge that it is upon Georgia
melons that the angels live almost
makes one yearn for the day of trans
lation to speedily come
If it really was a watermelon, the
ancestor of the melons now ripening
in the fields of old Sumter, we are
glad Eve fell If by that fall the
watermelon became the inheritance of
all her children the penalty
of labor has thereby lost much of its
pangs. Who would not be willing to
live by the sweat of the brow rather
than be deprived of the watermelon?
Even Cuffy, inclined to all day sizes
tas as he is, can be brought to work
by the encouraging thought of a mel
on as the price of his toll. The devil
surely had little else to do to tempt
Eve if he merely split a melon open
on a convenient stump in Eden and
there, under the shade of a thick
leaved tree, on the cool dew-laden
grass, left it where Ewes eyes must
fall upon it. Who could resist such
temptation as that? No wonder
Adam was eager for a slice. But We
can rest assured that none of the real
heart of the melon ever came to him
on that eventful morning in the dawn
of mankind's life upon this planet.
Eve never hunted up her mate until
that centre of delicious sweetness had
passed beneath her kimona.
Thank providence the watermelon
is always with us! Trusts may take
everything else we have, but as long
as they leave the melon with us we
will struggle on. But once a combine
seeks to control that precious gift
every true man will rush to arms and
fight more desperately to preserve
that boon than ancient Roman ever
did for the "ashes of his fathers and
the temples of his gods"