The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1917-06-09

- -PeOpTt OF CtHITuI EUROPE, but thai
VIII come unless America puts forth all her ener
Igies to supply them.
But 1t is most essential to feed America first
Even now a large class of our people are feeling
the weight of food shortage. Food riots and par
ltal famine are threatened by crop failure in the
united states. So 1t is up to the American farmer
to do his best.
Many conditions have contributed to bring about
the situation In which there are hunger riots in q
land so rich naturally. Much of the shortage of
1000 is primarily due to costly habits of eating
T"hich Tor many decades have been holding all
classes In their clutch. The time is at hand when
the nation Will appreciate the many valuable ar.
Ttcles which before Columbus came the Indians
were developing. There are many food products
native to the Western world which have been mac.
c%ountably neglected.
The most striking examples of unused value in
FOODS Is the corn crop. Every other nation in the
world Is eager for American corn, and vet tbis
cheap and highly nutritious cereal is neglected In
the land which is its main source Of supply. What
wheat was to the armies of old, corn could be TO
the forces Of the United States.
Inc legions of Hannibal and of Caesar SUBJ
sisted on the whole wheat; Gaul's conuueror in his
"Commentaries" tells how soldiers chewed fru-
mentum as they marched. To this day Roman and
Punic skeletons are unearthed on the old battle
fields of Europe and the skulls are firm and hard
because of the valuable salts and BODYBUILDING
constituents which came from the wheaton diet of
the ancient soldiery.
Corn is no less valuable as q builder of brave
and sturdy men. The favorite ration of Dayy
crockett was parched and ground corn, which he
carried with him into the depths of the forest. II
was a saying of his that if a man had q gun and
ten pounds of parched corn he could easily live a
year. His diet was a trick learned from the In
ulans, who were able to withstand the fatigues of
Fwarpath and hunting trail because of this simple
and quickly assimilated food. The corn, rich in
starch and protein, parched until it was made
quickly digesttble, was mixed with water. A cup
ful OF this most imple of all the elixirs had the
effect of almost instantly Strengthening the tired
body.
The government Of the United States urges upon
the people of this country that at least one-fourth
part of cornmeal be added TO wheaton flour in the
making of bread. AS a matter of fact, corn has
been used in the form of a fine flour for centuries
by various tribes of Indians, and when well enough
ground 1t is fully as ~palatable as the wheaton
product.
The coarse cornmeal bears little resemblance to
the impalpable powder of corn which the primitive
races of this continent made by grinding between
stones and that by hand. The outer covering of
the kernels is scraped off after soaking them in
hot water to which a little I've has been added.
This flour Is mixed with water at times. and the
white liquid resulting is quaffed with much relish.
1T is an emergency ration of the highest food value.
Whittier has sung the praises Of the dish of
samp and milk by homespun beauty poured. The
hominy block in the time of Daniel Boone was an
adjunct of the cabin of every settler. It stood ar
the edge of clearlngs as a mark of the diet to-
which those steel-thewed pioneers looked for
strength.
The johnnycake and the corn pone of the
hardy mountaineers of the South bear abundant
testimony to the bodybuilding qualities of the
staple from which they are derived.
Corn enters into the composition of patent bresk-