Cleveland daily leader. [volume] ([Cleveland, Ohio]) 1865-1873, 1865-10-27
TIPPING: AMERICAN AND EN-
GLISH.

1t mas been ascertalned that n pint O
average claret carries ten grains of iron
also that of all wines claret is the most in
operative in "making blood" l do MOI
know that any curious person has evel
calculated the AMOUNT of iron carried By
a pint Of the average whisky dealt out il
the drinking W of New York; but il
it is to be figured up in the form of cut.
lery, l imagine that the quantity of metal
proper to that measure of the noxious fluid
in question might be represented by a long
bladed knife and pistol with six barrels.
As for making blood" the claret is alb
solutely nowhere in comparison with the
pint of whisky. 1t is true that the blood
created by the latter Is exclusively bad
blood; and it is equally undeniable that
the quantity of gore shed under its in
fiuence is beyond the calculation of arith-
metic in its mOss algebraical condition.
A good many reasons have been assigned
for the undoubted frequency of inebriate
frenzy in this country as compared with
the countries of Europe, which alcoholic
beverages are also used to a considerable
extent. Some writers on the subject
assert that the American drinker is more
liable to detiTiUB t~reBtefS than the Eng
fish, because his nervous fibre, either from
the effect of climate or from some other
cause, is of a finer organization thar that
of the burly British topper. A few invest
igatOrs have traced this melancholy result
20 the reckless indulgence in stimulating
drinks which appears to be the besetting
vice all yer this continent; and there are
persons to be found who are even bold
enough to attribute it TO the noxious quail
tiles of the national liquors. Whatever
the cause may be, however, the fact re-
mains in~controvertible, that the rightful
form of mental alienation known as
snakes in the boots is peculiarly Amer
lean.
L have once Ortwice had an opportunity
of examining a drop of vinegar through a
powerful microscope, and wa rather put
out OF conceit with the article, as a condi-
ment, when the shoals of immense dragons
and basilisks residing in it sailed into my
ken. Imagine the frightful antediluvian
spectacle that must be presented by drop
of Baxter Street Bourbon submitted to a
similar test! What wonder, then, that
the herpetOlogy of a mans boots after
drinking Il quart or so Of that abominable
stuff, should be of a character to unstring
his mind for the pursuit of peaceful
avocations? 1 am not of a very s~anguinarv
disposition, myself but 1 feel certain that
the conviction of my boots being let out
in lodgings for such scaly monstrosities,
would befollowed by the murder of several
innocent children in four street" and a
subsequent suicide by this right hand.
Foreigners, on their first arrival in this
country, are apt to express surprise at the
variety of American mixed drinks, as well
as the perpendicular position in which
those refreshments are generally imbibed.
They reprobate the whole system of drink
ing in this country, as an illustration of re-
fined barbarianism. By-and-by they are
persuaded to try a mint iulep, or some such
light and seductive tipple proper to the
soil; and, the Rubicon thus PASSED, it is
to observe how soon they become
to the delusive combination. /
was once acquainted with a newly-arrived
Frenchman-a man of immense girth, not
w~ithstanding he had been brought up on
he thin wines of his beloved native land.
stones were nothing to the
broken English in which this Falstaff of
Gaul used to enveigh against the drinks of
this country and the drinking thereof.
He disappeared for awhile, but 1 met
AAAA again o4NNA a ldlSt VI NtuIs, anu IT.
owmuch he was reduced in size.
This we attributed to a habit contracted
by him Of drinking thirteen whiskey
cocktails before breakfast every morning,
which had made him a little dyspeptic, he
thought. L learned, subsequently, that he
had also had delirium tremens several
and had consequently established a
favorable reputation for himself in the
Western town wither he had gone to re-
ide, where no person was considered of
# any account until he had experienced
snakes in his boots" at least once or
vice.
There is a certain glitter about the
Thinking bars of America, and a ceremo-
ny in the manipulation of the drinks, bv
which the senses are apt to be fascinated.
1t cannot be denied, either, that the gent
lllty of the American custom at the bar
has its charms. But there may be too
much, even, of a good thing, and the uni
versatility of this custom is open to objec-
ion. A man, for example, may enter a
with the intention of taking but
me drink-all that he requires for the
of quenching his thirst. There
he meets with some acquaintance, who in
lists upon creating" him. Reciprocity
n these matters is an understood thing.
The liquoring process has to be repeated.
Fen to n but other acquaintance drop
n, and the drinker who only wanted to
luench his thirst soon finds that he has a
rood deal more liquor about him than he
an well carry, while his pocket has been
in proportion to his head. The
labit of drinking on an empty stomach is
carried to greater extent in America
han in any other country. The bar svs-
EN-, with its repertoire of fancy drinks, is
lnswerable for this injurious practice-a
to which there can be little or no
loubt the prevalence of dyspepsia is
due. !
In English taverns the bar is by no
means the "%institution" that it is in this
The insular fancy does not run
lot on the subject of mixed drinks. The
nsular idea of comfort is opposed to the 1
of standing up at a counter and alb
complicated beverages through the
of straw. No swell bar-keeper-
IN artist in drinks, with a diamond pin in
lis bosom-greets you at the small bar of !
he English hostelery; but you will some !
lines find a buxom bar-maid there with !
,herry cheeks and lips, and cherry-colored 5
ACOO " up OAdhAhA UCCI lS HcI
Orte. Artless, or otherwise, as she NAV !
De, there is certainly no art in her compli- !
which are confined to the mixture {
# hot spirits-and-water, or the production
If a simple pewter of "arf-and-arf.p
everybody who comes into an
tap-room pays for his own drink.
md the custom of standing about the bar
5 almost unknown. Compared with
- - e
lie liquor drunk in the morning in Eng
and.
The habit is confined, almost, to the
'oughest of the hard-working class, the
,oal-heavers and such like. These men
their "purl' at daybrerk, Just be-
proceeding to their work. 1t is a vii
compound enough, is that apurl,"
consisting, if l remember rightly, of the
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