Estancia news-herald. [volume] (Estancia, Torrance County, N.M.) 1912-19??, 1916-05-04
GET BOB'S
COOK BOOK


common knowledge that Mr..
Robert P. Ervien, Commissioner
of Public Lands, is a man of un-
usual versatility, but it is not SO
generally known that he is an
adept in the culinary art if one
may judge from the evidence at
hand in the form of a most at
tractive booklet recently issued
by the State Land Office under
the title of New Mexico Cook
ery.'
The cover design is a character
istic scene of New Mexico, show
ing an adobe house adorned with
long strings of red chile drying
in the warm, autumn sunshine,
with stately Lombardy poplars
in the background.
In this booklet are to be found
many receipts that are published
for the first time, more especial
ly those that concern the prepar-
alton of dishes in which chile
forms a principal ingredient. At
first glance it might appear that
a cook book is a rather round
about way in which to advertise
the resources of New Mexico,
but in an interview with a rep
resentative of this paper Mr..
Ervien stated that this special
cook book has a mission in the
field of literature very similar to
that of the hymn books which
advertised a certain brand of
patent medicine. He said that
in a little country village, in the
effete East, once upon a time, as
the story runs, a struggling
church was most anxious to Sc
a supply of hymn books. but not
having the funds necessary to
purchase them, the minister of
the church was on the alert for a
generous donor Of the books.
One day travelling agent for
patent medicine was in the viii
lage and hearing of the minis
ter's perplexity the agent called
upon him and offered to present
the church the desired number
of hymn books, providing the
minister would consent to hav-
ing advertisements of the patent
medicine which the agent repre-
sented printed in the books.
The minister was 10th to accept
the books on those terms, for it
seemed almost a desecration to
him, but he certainly wanted
those hymn books, and after con-
sulting with his trustees, he fl
nally concluded that it would be
excusable under the circum-
stances to take the gift so oppor-
tunely offered. and the agent
was so notified.
The day before Christmas the
hymn books arrived, and after a
hasty glance through the books
it was with feelings of JOY and
gratitude that the minister failed
to detect any indications of an
advertisement, and came to the
conclusion that the agent had re-
pented of the commercial char
acter of his gift, and in the gen.
erosity of his better nature had
sent the books without the OBJ
jectionable advertisements.
Christmas morning found q
new hymn book in every pew,
and with a beaming face the
minister arose and rquested the
congregation to sing Hymn
Number a." Imagine his con-
sternation when these words
greeted his ear:
"Hark the herald angels sing,
Take Punk's pills for anything
Peace on earth and mercy mild,
Two for a man and one for a
child"
That's like Bob's cook book.
Reading between the lines of
every receipt is the biggest kind
of an advertisement for New
Mexico, telling the story of a
wonderfully fertile land and CIV
ing the manner of cooking the
products of the soil as Those to
the manor born" have been &C.
customed to prepare them for
generations, giving publicity to
a personal knowledge of this
special kind of cookery acquired
only after many years of patient
endeavor.
This little brochure on New