Newspaper Page Text
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IIEARST’S SUNDAY AMERICAN, ATLANTA, OA.. SUNDAY, MAY 25, 1P13.
S
T
Variants of Many Old Highland
Songs Are Retained by the
0
Mountain Folk.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, May 24.—
Dr. C. Alphonso Smith, professor of
English at the University of Virginia,
is systematically searching for bal
lads in the South. He believes that
the mountain fastnesses oil Virginia
and North Carolina especial* furnish
the greatest unexplored field for this
work in America.
His chief aim now is to interest
students in the normal schools, par
ticularly those young men and wo
men who are going out into the far
corners of the State to teach. They
will come into contact with the na
tives of the mountains more intimate
ly than any one else will be able to
do. and to them he is looking for
help in running down the ballads
./ which he is convinced are being sung -
to-day by the illiterate descendants
of the earliest English settlers of this
region.
Such ballads as may be found, of
course, will be variants of the stand
ard English and Scotch ballads, be
cause ballad making, except to some
extent among the negroes, is no doubt
a dead art.
Important Find.
Tremendous impetus was given
Professor Smith’s ballad hunting a
few weeks ago when one of his stu
dents—W. E. Gilbert, of Russell
County, Ya.—produced a variant of
the famous ballad called “Barbara Al
len.” Mr. Gilbert heard it sung by
an illiterate old woman in the moun
tains of Buchanan County, Va., near
a point in the extreme southwestern
part of the State where it hits against
Kentucky and West Virginia. Pepys
speaks of this ballad in his diary, and
Goldsmith, too, refers to it in several
places. 4
After making a number of visits to
the old woman’s cabin, and after re
peated failures, Mr. Gilbert at last
succeeded in getting her to sing the
ballad as it had been sung to her by
her mother and grandmother and as
she had sung it to her children and
grandchildren.
This variant has proved to be, in
the opinion of Professor Smith, a not
able discovery indeed. Other vari
ants of ‘ Barbara Allen,” one of the
most famous ballads in the world, by
the way, have been found in New’
England. All of them, how’ever, are
obviously incomplete in one particu
lar.
1 Notable Difference.
In the ballad as it has been handed
down from generation to generation
— that is, in the form in which it is
generally known to-day—Barbara Al
len is made to be deeply grieved at
the death of her lover, but in none of
the known versions is any explana
tion made of the cause of her grief.
The verses in point are as follows:
r "Do you remember the other day
' When we were at the tavern drink
ing?
You drank a health to the ladies all
And you slighted Barbara Ellen.”
“Yes, I remember the other day
When we were at the tavern drink
ing;
I drank a health to the ladies all
And three to Barbara Ellen.”
“Do you remember the other night
When we were at the ballroom danc
ing?
You gave your hand to the ladies all
And slighted Barbara Ellen.”
“Yes. 1 remember the other night
When we were at the ballroom danc
ing;
1 gave my hand to the ladies all
And my heart to Barbara Ellen.”
New Truer Version.
The-e four additional verses. Dr.
Smith is i onvinced. tend to show that
beyond question this new variant is a
truer version of the original ballad
than any other known one because
they make the story complete by giv
ing a motive for the poignant grief of
Barbara over the death of her lover.
In all other versions the reason for
Barbara’s grief is in the dark. In
them she accuses her lover as in this
new one, but he makes no defense as
he does here.
The new variant furthermore is
called “Barbara Ellen,” not “Allen.”
Dr. Smith thinks this is another evi
dence that Mr. Gilbert’s discovery is
nearer the original than previously
^discovered variants because Ellen
fthroughout the ballad makes better
rhyme than does Allen.
Speaking of this phase of the ques
tion to-day, he said:
’ Professor Child, the greatest ballad
collector of the English-speaking
world—the greatest collector who
ever lived, in fact—refers frequently
to ballad variants found in New Eng
land and rarely to variants found in
the. South. There is so little refer
ence to the interesting variants in the
I South chiefly because the South has
never realized the richness of the
field.
North Carolina Ballad.
“Prpfessor Child does give one va
riant found in the mountains of
North Carolina. It is the ballad of
‘.The Wife of Usher’s Well.’ The va
riant in question was sent him from
Polk County, North Carolina, where
it is still sung by men and women
who can not read or write and whose
forefathers could not read or write.
This is an example of what may be
done if one should go at the search
with vigor.
“I believe that in many parts of
the South may be found most inter
esting variants of the 305 standard
English and Scotch ballads which
Professor Child has collected.’’
Still another undeveloped field for
the future collector is to be found
among the Southern negroes. A for
mer student of the University of Vir
ginia, George P. Waller, Jr., recently
sent Professor Smith a negro version
of one of the most famous pure Eng
lish ballads, "Sir Hugh, or the Jew’s
Daughter.’’
Learned From Negro Mammy.
It was learned from a negro •‘mam
my” near Montgomery. Ala. Profes
sor Smith says this is the first ex
ample, so far as he knows, of a negro
variant of one of the 305 ballads rec
ognized by Professor Child. It is be
lieved that there must be many of
these variants scattered among the
colored people of the South. To
if round them up would add not only to
the world’s knowledge of ballad sur
vivals on American soil, but also, says
Professor Smith, to the knowledge of
primitive syntax and vocabulary in
the attempt to reproduce European
traditions.
Real Southern Shortcake Rare and Toothsome Morsel
•!•••;• •!•«•!• v • +•+ •!•••!•
Atlanta Women Chronicle a Fast Disappearing Art
Delicious Recipes Used by Prominent House-
keepers That Are Promised to Give Per
fect Results and Please Any Epicure.
Ml
RS. GEORGE FORRESTER hard at work making one of
>r justly famous shortcakes. If you want one just as
good follow her recipe and enjoy the result as you never have
any other dessert.
By MIGNON HALL.
When you were a little girl and
wore red shoes with a black tassel,
your old negro mammy used to make
strawberry short-cake for you, didn’t
she?
It was the delicious, pie-crusty Port
with the inside filled up with crushed
strawberries that would melt in your
mouth, wasn't it?. It would have two
or three layers and plenty of juice,
and oceans of whipped cream all over
it? And your infant soul would ex
pand as you sat up on your high stool
in the kitchen and watched the in
finitely slow process* of its making
to the point when you were allowed
to use a spoon?
If you have tears to shed, prepare
to shed them now.
The old-fashioned Southern short
cake Is going by the board—and it
has almost got by.
That’s the sad word that was
broken to me to-day by Mrs. George
Forrester and a number of other so
ciety matrons in Atlanta, as well as
the chefs of the Atlanta Athletic
Club and the Piedmont Hotel.
Old-Fashioned Kind Rare.
They said that occasionally you
see the old-fashioned short-cake, but
it’s as rare as the poet’s June day.
It has ceased to be a prominent figure
at places where parties are going on
Home dinners and luncheons or other
meals see it no more, and it has
bade adieux to the hotels.
The ancient pfr crust variety has
ben supplanted by the kind of short
cake that is made with cake. In other
words, instead of spreading crushed
strawberries between layers of pie
crust, folks nowadays put It on cake
and eat it that way.
For strawberry connoisseurs here
are some recipes made out by several
Atlanta matrons and other folks fa
mous for their short-cake.
To get Mrs. George Forrester’s reci
pe. I took the car to her home, on
Peachtree Road, and when 1 got there
I found Mrs. Forrester preparing to
make a short-cake.
“Come right in.” laughed the host
ess. over a big kitchen apron, “you’re
just in time.
“The main thing to remember about
this cake is the sifting.” smiled M'TS.
Forrester. “You sift both the flour
and the sugar separately nine times
each.
Mrs. Forrester's Cake.
“You need 1 cup of flour, 1 1-2
cups of sugar. 14 eggs( whites only)
1 heaping teaspoon cream of tartar,
1-2 teaspoon vanilla and a pinch e/
salt. After sifting the flour and sugar
you must beat the eggs very stiff—”
she turned the platter upside down to
illustrate that she had followed the
advice she was giving—the eggs not
falling out—“and add your cream of
tartar—only add it as soon ap the
eggs begin to foam well, as I have
already done.”
She poured the eggs into a mixing
pan.
‘‘Now’, you fold in very lightly the
sugar first, then the flour, vanilla
and salt, taking care to fold—not beat
—for it makes a difference in the
lightness of the cake—and bake in an
angel food pan in a gas oven with
the lights turned very low. It re
quires about 45 minutes to bake.”
The servant put the cake in the
stove while Mrs*. Forrester got ready
to make the custard to go with it.
She measured out a pint of sweet
milk, 3-4 cup of sugar and took the
yolks of 4 eggs
"First, scald the milk, then add the
sugar and eggs,” she declared, mak
ing good, “and put the mixture in a
double boiler. Cook it until rather
thick and add a little corn starch, if
needed, stirring occasionally.
Berries Must Be Ready.
"Have your berries ready to go on
as soon as the cake is done. Prepare
them two hours before you make the
cake by splitting them and sweeten
ing them and allowing them to stand
till the sugar soaks into them.”
In preparing the cake after it was
done Mrs. Forrester took a sharp
knife, split it in half, put on a layer
of the berries and covered It with
custard. Over this she laid the top
layer of cake, more berries and cus
tard, and covered the top with rich
whipped cream, ornamented here and
there with whole berries. (It was
at this juncture that I also came into
my ow"n. It was good, too.)
Here’s the much-talked-about old-
fashioned way of making short-cakes.
Mrs. Thornbury Stovall furnished me
the recipe. Mrs. Stovall's fame has
gone abroad as a perfect specimen of
an ideal short-cake maker.
Cut a quart of strawberries and
sweeten with 3 tablespoons of sugar.
Make a pastry with 1 heaping table
spoonful of butter and 3 of lard. 1-2
cup of ice water and 1-2 teaspoon
of salt. Roll the pastry thin and rid
fh three pieces the size of a break
fast plate.
‘‘Don’t forget to crimp that pastry
on the edge.” Mrs. Stovall cautioned
here, laughing.
Baked a Light Brown.
Bake the dough a light brown and
when very hot. butter generously with
fresh butter. Put berries* between the
layers and cover top with stiff whip
ped cream, slightly sweetened and
flavored with sherry. Garnish with
whole berries.
Mrs Carrie Robinson Stewart, also
known for her short-cake, gave me
this recipe and hoped that I would
be as successful with it as .“he had
been. (I’ve been told there are
mighty few folks in Atlanta can beat
her making short-cake.)
Half a cup of butter and 2 eggs;
1-2 cup sweet milk and 4 evel tea
spoons baking powder; 1 cup of sugar
and 1 cup of flour. Bake in two lay
ers in aluminum pans. Use 1 quart of
berries and whip 1 pint or 1 quart
of rich cream, which must be beaten
very stiff, to go on top of *ake. Put
c*piit, sweetened berries between lay
ers.
Mrs. Luther Rosser was reluctant to
gl\e her recipe as she said she wasn’t
any cook to speak of. but somebody
liked her strawberry shorl-cake so
well they had asked for it. But it
took persuasion to it.
Take 1 l 1-2 cups of sugar, 2
cups of flour. 2 teaspoons of belting
powder, 1 cur ol sweet milk and 1-2
teaspoon of vanilla extract and mix.
Roll out dough, bake and cut into
two layers. Let* crushed strawber
ries-stand in sugar for two hours r
more and put between layers. Also
spread whipped cream between, and
bank top layer with it.
Mrs. Floyd McRae gave these di
rections for the way she prepares
short-cake:
She makes a good rich sponge »f
light proportions, and bakes it in 3
or 4 layers. She Strikes a different
key-note in preparing her strawber
ries by stewing them in sugar until
they are soft. She pours the juic^
over the short-cake,‘and covers with
whipped cream. Sometimes she
makes the old-fashioned kind, but
not frequently.
Here is Mrs. Philip Alston’s way
of making short-cake, whipped cream
being used on top.
To 1 egg, 1-2 cup of sugar, and 2
cups of flour add 1 teaspoon of bak
ing powder and 1 tablespoon of but
ter. Mix well and bake in two lay
ers or in one and cut it in half.
Spread crushed berries between.
Likes Old-Fashioned Variety.
Mrs. Alex Smith. Jr., is a patriotic
follow’er of the old-fashioned short
cake method: She said;
“I make a very crisp pie crust
dough, roll It very thin and bake.
When done. I add cut. sweet berries
which have soaked in sugar and put
between the layers, I also cover with
bits of butter. I leave the top bare,
and bank the aiders only with whipped
cream.” ■
Mrs. Nellie Peters Black gave me
these short-cake -• eciflcatlons:
Make a pie crust—three layers—
typical Southern style, and add the
crushed sweet berries, leaving top
white with whipped cream.
Mrs. Charles H. Sisson also likes
the old-fashioned short-cake, she
said. She seasons her pie crust
dough with butter and rolls it thin
enough to make three layers, adding
strawberries In the usual way.
John Gonder, pastry chef of the
Piedmont, was up to his eyes in work
when after being ushered through the
large underground kitchen by Edward
Fischel, the steward. I finally found
him. Rut he stopped long enough to
give me the Southern way of making
short-cake as he comprehended it. as
well as the Piedmont way. He said
he could vouch for both. Here they
are:
Southern Style.
To 2 cups of soft wheat flour add
2 teaspoons baking powder, and sift
well. Rub in 4 1-2 teaspoons butter,
the same as for pie dough and add 4
tablespoons granulated sugar. Add
2 eggs stirred in with the sugar and
sufficient milk to make a firm dough.
Roll out about 1-4 inch thick
sweetened strawberries
This is thq Piedmont style, which is
very rich:
Take 6 whole ^egs and 6 yolks and
add 1-4 teat up sugar. Beat over a
fire in double boiler until warm anu
THE PASSING OF
THE SHORTCAKE
E. L. Thornton, steward of the
Atlanta Athletic Club, recommends
a city bureau of strawberry short
cake and pie, with inspectors to
preserve these typical southern
institutions.
Mr. Thornton says, "Cooking is
fast becoming a lost art. It is im
possible to find berry or cherry
pie that is not adulterated, and
strawberry shortcake worthy of
the name is as extinct as the buf
falo in Atlanta.
His statement inspired a youth
ful poet to the following effort;
The herds of romping buffalo,
That trampled o'er th< plain.
Arc gone, before*the railroad and
the town.
So more, the gelling red man,
('tinging to his mustang's mane.
With an arrow brings his noble
quarry down.
The good old daps are passing
fast,
They slip away and die; •
Rut some things they must never,
never take—
With our heart's blood ire'll
defend them;
They must leave the good old
pie,
And we'll never give up straw
berry shortcake!
chef and typical Southern darkey
came beamingly down in white
linen.
He said he had looked upon the
faces of four Presidents and cooked
for them— Cleveland, Roosevelt, Taft,
and McKinley.
For old Virginia short-cake he said,
make pastry like pie crust—1 pound
of lard and 1 pound of flour mixed
into a dough with water, a pinch of
salt being added. Roll thin and
bake, putting crushed strawberries on
top s and between. Use 11-2 pounds
of sugar to 2 quarts of strawberries
(unstemmed.)
The way he makes short-cake at
the club is with sponge cake:
Take 6 cups of flour, 1 pound but
ter, 12 eggs. 1 1-2 cups of milk, 1-2
teaspoon vanilla. Mix with 11-2
cups sugar and a teaspoon of baking
powder. Prepare and put strawber
ries between layers in usual way, and
cut into squares for serving.
thoroughly mixed and continue to beat !
when you tak<- off until mixture is]
again cold. Then add 2 cups hard |
wheat flour to beaten eggs. Add a |
fraction less than 1-2 cup warm melt
ed butter, mixed in lightly, and 1-2
teaspoon vanilla. Bake in .pan cov-
hake. Fill center with crushed and" Vied with greased paper. Cut int >
two layers. Cover first with whole
strawberries, sprinkled with enough
sugar to sweeten, the tor* layer being
set on and decorated with whipped
cream.
At the Athletic Club Leonard Brazel
Quickest Relief Known
For all Sore Feet
The following is absolutely the sur-
' est and quickest cure known to
! science for all foot ailmonts: ‘‘Dis-
• solve two tablespoonfuls of Calocide
’ compound in a basin of warm water.
' Soak the feet in this for full fifteen
, minutes, gently rub-
hing the sore parts.”
4W* The effect is really
jjPssk4 wonderful. All sore-
HSI ness goes instantly;
fittg the feet feel so good
y.%£r ‘■wSi you could sing for joy.
TfS". * Corns and callouses
ijh S\. wi can be peeled right off.
1 'M It gives immediate re-
.S3 lief for sore bunions,
sweaty, smelly and
aching feet. A twenty-
jrQn*'7 five cent box of Calo-
^eide is said to be suf
ficient to cure the worst
| feet Tt works through the pores and
i removes the cause of the trouble.
Don't waste time on uncertain rente-
[ dies. Any druggist has Calocide
i compound In stock or lie can get It
in a few hours from his wholesale
house It is not a patnet medicine.
I hut is an ethical preparation.
E
I
Too Much Politics and Petty
Intrigue Connected With
Place, She Declares.
SAN FRANCISCO, May 24.—Miss
Clara Jess, the first woman ever ap
pointed to a Judicial position in Cal
ifornia, has resigned after a year
in office.
Her resignation as City Recorder of
Daly City, which position in cities of
the sixth class is equivalent to the
office of Justice of the Peace, was
given to the town trustees Monday
night.
Miss Jess is uncertain whether or
not women are fundamentally unfit
ted for the duties of judges, but she
is very certain that "under present
conditions" most of them are not.
It seems to be the “conditions'
which caused most of the trouble.
Miss Jess found ramifications of poli
tics, petty Intrigue, conspiracies to de
feat justice and clashes of selfish in
terests, which she never had sus
pected.
“I didn’t know what I was get
ting into,” she said.
Miss Jess sent only one man to
jail, and he w’as sentenced for only
one day. but he was the town mar
shal. and he brought suit against her
for $25,000 for false imprisonment.
This, she admitted to-day, was the
direct cause of her resignation, al
though her formal withdrawal said
she was leaving the office to give
more time to other matters.
Joseph P. Pankerwicz was town
marshal of Daly City. Miss Jess is
sued a warrant against Louis Rhine
lander. the village baker, in which he
was charged with having obtained
$100 -.by false pretenses. Pankerwicz
refused to serve the warrant, and Miss
Jobs sentenced him to one day in
jail for contempt.
Broken Heart Worth
$35,000 Man Charges
Jilted by Woman He Loved and
Gave Many Presents, J. H. Fort
Sues.
LA PORTE, INI).. May 24. -Aver
ring that his heart has been torn
asunder and that he can never recov
er from the humiliation which has
come to him, John H. Fort of this city’,
has begun suit against Mrs. Bowers
Williams for $32,850 damages for
breach of promise.
Fort avers that under the name of
Mrs. Bow’ers. the latter’obtained his
name through the medium of mat
rimonial agency; that she pretended
to fall desperately in love with him:
that he spent $850 for presents for
her, and that a few r weeks before
their final engagement she met Aus
tin Williams, of Cleveland, Ohio, and
that they were married In Richmond,
Ind., she having been previously di
vorced from a man named Warren at
Lebanon, Ind., receiving $4,000 ali
mony. Fort wants judgment for
$850. the value of his gifts, and $35,-
000 for a broken heart.
Mrs. Williams is credited with be
ing wealthy. She recently came to
this city from Cleveland.
Ex-Soldier Tries Fast
Cure for Tuberculosis
Invalid Has Taken Nothing but
Water for Thirty-four Days
Already.
SAN FRANCISCO. May 24.—Fast
ing as a cure for tuberculosis is be
ing practiced by Nis Indrisen. a dis
charged soldier of the United States
Army, who has established a camp
near Fish Ranch, in Contra Costa
County. He has fasted thirty-four
daj^s and expects to fast as many’
more. He has taken nothing except
water, and declares he is certain of a
cur^
Daily clinical notes of the condi
tion of the patient are being taken,
and at the end of the experiment will
be submitted to the medical societies
and medical magazines for general
discussion.
r
Man Used as Ad by Theater
Made to Take Off Service
Clothes by U. S. Sailor.
SAN FRANCISCO, May 24. ft. ».
Crothers, able-bodied seaman on
duty at the naval training station,
lost the delight of the greater part
of his shore leave last night, but he
enforced a respect for the navy uni
form and he is satisfied.
Crothers came over from Goat
Island, where he trains ambitious
sailor recruits In the proper man
ner of upholding the honor of the
navy. He has served five years on
board ship and is a loyal Jack tar.
As he strolled up Market Street b j
saw a crowd standing in front of a,
moving picture theater and he in
vestigated. Then his fighting spirit
was aroused. Walking back and forth
in front of the place advertising a
stirring sea drama was an unkempt
specimen of sailor, carrying a bundle
of clothes .cad smoking a 'broken
clay pipe. What peeved Crothers,
however, was that he was dressed
in regulation naval uniform.
Crothers ifhmediately objected. The
manager refused to take the sailor^
from the front of his place. Croth-*
ers. knowing there was a FederaL
law against using the uniform for:
advertising purposes, appealed to the
Police Department, and a sergeant
and a plain-clothes man were senti
from the Southern station to inves- ’
tigate. In the meantime he hunted ,
up the patrolman on the beat and,
again Interviewed the manager, and’1
threatened to call in Federal aid it-
the make-believe sailor was not re
moved-
The manager, discovering that he
was running counter to a Federal
law, agreed to do away with -Ms fle-i
titious sailor, and Crothers departed,
smiling, in the consciousness of a
duty well done.
The Great Tenor Solo from“Rigoletto”
*‘La Donna e Mobile”
Drives Out the Inferno of the World
when Played by Instinct
Experiences with the New Instinctive Playing. No. 6 of Series
“¥AST night I came home from business, weary of worry, aggra-
f vation, dust, grime and noise—the cruel eternal clangor of
traffic.
“As I closed my front door, it seemed that I was shutting out
an Inferno. Yet I could not shut it out completely, for the Lcho
still reverberated jarringly upon my soul. I craved relief as a
parched throat craves water. & <
“Without turning on the lights, I sat down at my VirtuoloPlayer
Piano. The back-log in the fireplace behind me cast a fitful glow
upon the ceiling. I began to play ‘La Donna e Mobile,’ the great
tenor solo from ‘Rigoletto.’ I shut my eyes; I opened my feelings.
I played by Instinct.
“On the wings of music and imagination my mind flew to Naples.
I was in the great Teatro Sap Carlo again. I heard the golden
voice of Caruso as I first heard it there, years ago, in those open
ing words:
‘“Woman is as changeable as a feather in the wind.'
“The exquisite grace, the eternal beauty of the music came, like
an angel with a flaming sword, and drove from my soul the echo
of the Inferno of the world.
“What a superb sensation—what a relief—this playing of the
Virtuolo by Instinct!”
hallet & Davis
VIRTUOLO
THE INSTINCTIVE PLAYER PIANO
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A Virtuolo is very easy to own. Prices
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HALLET & DAVIS PIANO COMPANY
A-11
(Established 1839)
50 N. Pryor St., Atlanta, Ga.