[Granville-Hough] 27 Jan 2009 - Mark Twain and the Preacher

[Trustees and Executors for Granville W. Hough]

The best illustration of the value of brief speech reckoned
in dollars was given by Mark Twain.

His story was that when he had listened for five minutes to
the preacher telling of the plight of the heathen, he wept, and was going
to contribute fifty dollars... after ten minutes more of
the sermon, he reduced the amount of his prospective con-
tribution to twenty-five dollars... after half an hour more
of eloquence, he cut the sum to five dollars.

When the collection plate was finally passed at the end of an hour of 
oratory on the same subject,he stole two dollars.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nephew Jack Neville noted that the procrit I get for Hemoglobin is the
same substance used by bicyclists to gain an upper hand in endurance and
perseverance in long races.  I'm just pleased I can walk around the block.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

In further study of the honey locust, I find that it is a close relative
of the carob tree which grows in the Middle East and which is grown
commercially to harvest the seeds which are ground into carob, a
substitute for chocolate.  I buy carob beverages from Trader Joe's.  It
gives almost the same taste, but it does not have certain chemicals of
chocolate which are not good for some people. I was mistaken when I
suggested honey locust beans were a source of carob, but it is possible
they could be.  Carob beans do figure in the Bible, being mentioned once
as the pods the Prodigal Son was feeding the swine in a foreign land.
Yes, the Prodigal Son could have survived on those pods.  They were
legumes, from the larger pea family.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Niece Carol Linger asked if sheep showers (a wild food)is that member of
the oxalis (wood sorrel) family which has clover-like leaves and yellow
flowers.  Yes indeed! that is it.  I always ate the leaf and the stems,
so I cannot say which gives the sour taste.  It grew in bunches along
the ground like clover, so I am sure it would have been prudent to wash
a handful before eating it; but I never did that.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Granville,

That's interesting about sheep showers.   When I was a kid we called it
sheep shears. I remember the pleasure of tasting it but I don't think I
swallowed it. I looked  in the Dictionary of American Regional English
(p. 895) and they give  it these two names as well as sheep sour. The
two species mentioned are Oxalis Acetosella and Oxalis corniculata.  I'm
sending you a drawing of O. corniculata from my Golden Guide book called
"Weeds." My book, Hortus Third, says there are over 850 species of the
genus Oxalis, and lists several dozen, including Oxalis Acetosella, aka
Irish Shamrock.

Harold

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You might want to add an addendum to your info about oxalis  - To share with
all your readers: it has some quite bad side effects:

" The leaves contain oxalic acid, which gives them their sharp flavour.
Perfectly all right in small quantities, the leaves should not be eaten in
large amounts since oxalic acid can bind up the body's supply of calcium
leading to nutritional deficiency. The quantity of oxalic acid will be
reduced if the leaves are cooked. People with a tendency to rheumatism,
arthritis, gout, kidney stones or hyperacidity should take especial caution
if including this plant in their diet since it can aggravate their
condition"     from the Medline Database.

It wouldn't be good for folks with gout or arthritis or kidney stones to eat
it...

Teri Lynn