Evening star., 1932-08-21


know. Their provisions were
scanty; there must have been many
days when food was entirely question
of craftsmanship with antiquated rifles.
and a cup of cornmeal constituted
banquet. Hunger and thirst were more
terrifying than the resentful redskins.
The overland trail is smoother now. Its
concrete highways and abstract detours
are lined with aids for automobile argo-
nauts Refreshment booths crowd close
on the path where weary prospectors
once trudged in vain search for
water hole, and Clusters Last Stand Sug-
gests orange drinks to the modern mind.
If the forty-niners emigrated westward
today they would be menaced not by the
grim specter of starvation, but by the
equally grim specter of indigestion. Their.
buffalo steak may have. been tough and
unpalatable; their jackrabbit stew may
have been thin and vegetarian. But
the little food they had was wholesome,
nourishing and suitable to their Spartan
regimen. Can you picture patriarchal
frontiersman blazing trail through the
wilderness with a broadax in one hand
and an ice cream cone in the other?
Could Lewis and Clark have made their
memorable expedition on a diet of lolli-
pops? And can you imagine Fremont
pushing westward to the Rockies with
his canteen full of sarsaArilla?
The perils which beset the modern
pioneer. are astronomical not geo
graphical Though his vehicle is high
powered car with all the latest mechanl-
cal aids to locomotion, he still travels
on his stomach like an old-fashioned
army.
In the early days of the automobile it
was necessary to take along provisions
whenever you set out on drive of more
than 10 miles, for a breakdown might
mean a wait of hours on a country road
far from telephones and traffic. The
shoe-box lunch was as much part OF
every motorists equipment as his goggles
and linen duSter.
And cumbersome though it was, the
shoe-box lunch had it's advantages. 1t
may have been easier to put up than
to get down, but it was substantial and
full of vitamins. Also, you knew what
you had, even. without opening the box.
The large grease spot ON the bottom in
dicated fried chicken within; the loose
salt sitting from the corners meant that
hard-boiled eggs would be on the menu,
and, a munied clink Of glass proclaimed
the presence of homemade preserves.
But in this age of high speed efficiency
there is no time for putting up lunches
to be eaten at leisure in a shady lane.
When people plan q long motor trip
today the thought Of food never enters
their minds until they get on their way.
And thereafter they can think of little
else, for food and persuasive advertise
ments Of food beckon to them at every
turn.
Last Sunday accompanied MIR. and
Mrs Milfret and Junior on a drive to
Exclamation Point and back, distance
of some 200 miles. Mrs. Milfret, being
an old-fashioned housewife, wanted to
put up some sandwiches, but her hus-
band assured her that it wouldn't be
necessary There's a dandy little road
house about 20 miles this side of the
Point he said, where you can get the
best barbecue steak you ever tasted.
Well just hit it in time for lunch ii we
hurry"
So we set out, as light-hearted and un-
incumbered as the birds of the air. But
before we were five miles out Of town
Junior spied synthetic igloo by the
side of the road. 1t was surmounted by
a stuffed polar bear and sign identi-
flying it as ''The Home Of Sugar-Krust
Snowballs-10c Each" Junior announced
that he wanted one.
Mr.. Milfret said that it was too early