AUNT JEMIMY'S TOAST HONEY, you ax me fuh a toas'. Jes wait now, lemme look; I oughtuh have some receipes fuh toas'es, bein' cook. Beus Richmond. TO OL' FERGINNY EATIN' DE quality's a-sendin' f'um over all de lan' Deir toas'es fer ol' Jeamestown, dress up in wu'ds so gran'; Dey's toas'ed Ol' Ferginny an' Young Ferginny, too, An' sweet Ferginny Ladiz, lak ev'ybody do, An' Ol' Ferginny Gemmen an' Young Ferginny Beaux Esseptin' w'at I'se gwinter toas', a-speakin' out in meetin' W'en li'l Miss Pokyhuntas she toted all dat food Right den an' dyar she stablish w'ats lasted full an' free, Go up de yearf, go down de yearf, you ain' gwine find no treatin' To ekal w'at dey gin you 'long wid Ol' Ferginny Eatin'. Law, law! dem Blue Pint Eysters an' Planked Potomac Shad, Fish Muddle, Brunswick Stew, um-ph! dey sholy mek you glad! Hoe Cake, Egg Braid, Cawn Dodgers, Cawn Pone an' Sally Lun, Oh Shucks! I ain' got bref enuff to name 'em ev'y one. An' lawsy! w'en hit comes ter drinks, Mint Julep, Apple Jack, An sich, f'um ev'y part de lan' you hear de moufs go smack; In fac', de Ol' Ferginny Drinks has never yit bin beatin' By anything, onless hit is de Ol' Ferginny Eatin'. Virginia Calbertion. TOBACCO To your friends you are as redolent as the perfume of Araby; to your enemies, as noxiously malodorous as the fumes of Tartarus. To those who love you, you are the balsam of life, a universal comforter, an inspiration and a joy forever. To those who hate you, you are a badge of stultitude, a menace to the peace and dignity of the commonwealth, a curse to humanity. In the kingdom of matrimony, you are a perpetual source of discord, and yet in the glowing calumet of the aborigines you were a symbol of peace, and the incense that rose around your ashes served to stay the hand that raised the tomahawk. Through centuries you have floated down to us, and today you know no flag save that which waves over the common brotherhood of man. Sir Walter Raleigh sought to prove that your smoke has avoirdupois, but no mortal can weigh the part you have played in the affairs of mankind. You have been the "divine afflatus" of the poet, the good genius of the artisan, the comforter of the sorely distressed-the pet aversion of wives. When first we meet you, you make us sick, but once we know you, we are sick only when we dislike you. In short, you are a paradox of paradoxes, and, though designated as the "weed," you are the king of plants. He who "hits" his pipe, hits his best friend. โวจะ The Idle HIS MARK Reporters TO THE NAMELESS UNFORGOTTEN O VIRGINIA, with thy story Of thy wars and meed of glory— Who have passed beyond thy portals, Linger spirits that are nameless in the record of thy fame: Old black "Mammy"—and the maiden Fair as any in that Aiden; There's the horses and the chases And there's all the kinds of graces [name. That can charm the mellow fancy of the hosts that love thy But the knight who sniffed the hint [game, Which skidoo'd the finest nectar from its prestige in the Wears a crown that's ever green, And afresh it blooms serene At each returning springtime, in the season for the same. EDWIN A. HERNDON. Lynchburg. |