The southerners, a story of the Civil War (1917) (14782576053)

Identifier: southernersstory00brad (find matches)
Title: The southerners, a story of the Civil War
Year: 1917 (1910s)
Authors: Brady, Cyrus Townsend, 1861-1920
Subjects:
Publisher: New York, Scribner
Contributing Library: Internet Archive
Digitizing Sponsor: Internet Archive



Text Appearing Before Image:
se a little after three i\ I oclock in the afternoon in accordanceA A I with the invariable Southern custom,the shutters were closed, the blindswere drawn beneath the heavy lambre-quins, and the darkened dining roomwas lighted by numbers of wax can-dles in old-fashioned gilt candelabra,from whose branching arms dependedmany glass prisms, which tinkled soft-ly in the vibration caused by the serv-ing of the dinner. The table was loaded with massiveplate which had come down from co-lonial days and even antecedent years in older coun-tries, and it groaned with that profusion of viandswhich was characteristic of Southern hospitality. At the head of the board, opposite Judge Annan,the host, a huge turkey stuffed with chestnuts anddone to a turn, reared itself loftily upon its vantageground of a capacious silver platter which in formerdays and older countries had often carried the lordlyboars head of the Christmas tide. At the other endof the table, opposite Madam Peyton, who, displacing III
Text Appearing After Image:
THE SOUTHERNERS Mary to the girls great relief, played hostess for theoccasion, on another charger stood a small fat pig,roasted whole, a bright red apple within its mouth,its brown and crusty sides dotted with specks ofclover and pepper, the tiny globules giving forth aspicy aroma as appetizing as it was fragrant. Cer-tainly the princess among cooks was the old Southernmammy—semi-barbaric race bringing forth the natu-ral chef, last product of modern civilization! These pieces de resistance of the menu were flankedby dishes of rice so deftly cooked that each particularkernel preserved its identity in the mass, bowls ofcandied yams swimming in delicious golden syrup, andother vegetables indigenous to the South. The Northcontributed the crisp celery, while from ships in theport, golden macaroni was the offering of Italy to theprofusion and luxuriance of the board. In tall olddecanters wine of rare vintage and rich bouquet stoodconvenient at every hand. The liveried black ser-vants fli