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

[Trustees for Granville W. Hough]

Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2009 07:15:38 -0800
From: Granville W Hough <gwhough at oakapple.net>
Subject: Mark Twain and the Preacher-27 Jan 2009

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.

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.

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.


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.