Bridget_--"Yis, mum, but oi sint it back. Every won av thim leetle
stims wuz impty."

Some years since, a great railroad corporation in the West, having
occasion to change the gauge of its road throughout a distance of
some five hundred miles, employed a force of 3,000 workmen upon the
job, who worked from very early in the morning until late at night.
Alcoholic drinks were strictly prohibited, but a thin gruel made of
oatmeal and water was kept on hand and freely partaken of by the men
to quench their thirst. The results were admirable; not a single
workmen gave out under the severe strain, and not one lost a day
from sickness. Thus this large body of men were kept well and in
perfect strength and spirits, and the work was done in considerably
less time than that counted on for its completion.

In Scotch households oatmeal porridge is as inevitable as breakfast
itself, except perhaps on Sundays, as this anecdote will illustrate.
A mother and child were passing along a street in Glasgow, when this
conversation was overheard:--

"What day is the morn, mither?"

"Sabbath, laddie."

"An' will wi hae tea to breakfast, mither?"

"Aye, laddie, gin we're spared."

"An' gin we're no spared, will we hae parrich?"

BREADSTUFFS AND BREADMAKING

Although the grains form most nutritious and palatable dishes when
cooked in their unground state, this is not always the most convenient
way of making; use of them. Mankind from earliest antiquity has sought
to give these wonderful products of nature a more portable and
convenient form by converting them into what is termed bread, a word
derived from the verb _bray_, to pound, beat, or grind small, indicative
of the ancient manner of preparing the grain for making bread. Probably
the earliest form of bread was simply the whole grain moistened and then
exposed to heat. Afterward, the grains were roasted and ground, or
pounded between stones, and unleavened bread was made by mixing this
crude flour with water, and baking in the form of cakes. Among the many
ingenious arrangements used by the ancients for baking this bread, was a
sort of portable oven in shape something like a pitcher, in the inside
of which a fire was made. When the oven was well heated, a paste made of
meal and water was applied to the outside. Such bread was baked very
quickly and taken off in small, thin sheets like wafers.