Arizona weekly citizen., 1882-01-01
JERSEY LIGHTNING.
Whisky Ina: ssizes q l,ar with Ls Clip or a Gs.iila.
Philadelphia rimes.l

Philadelphia rimes.l
 ! DECKERsTOwN, N. J., November B. ' Sussex county produces more apple
 whisky to the square mile than any one ! county Tn the United States Just now the manufacture of appleiacS is in full | blast all through this section, and although this k an of year, the amount of this fiery beverage produced in Sus- sex county this i'll will not be much short of 2U,UOO gallons. The even years are the ones m which apple trees bear [ the best, and last year being an even one tEe yield of appleiack was not far from lO0,OJ1 gallons. Orange county, New York, formerly produced immense quantities Uf apple whisky, but the hquor originated in Sussex county, and was first made at small town called Montague.
 The process of diluting apple whisky Ss exceedingly primitive At various conyenient points throughout the county, generally near the largest orchards, are small mills containing the mill and press. These tw) mills are always located ca hillside Tine ar.l- -. ground uD iincs. l AIeasnar ries aI ~ en Tis:lna. ia-5 oetwteu tS0 huge wood da'l neels by horse power, and the pum- ace runs down a trough to the press, where great weights are placed upon 1t and the juice which is thus extracted ru.s through another pipe into large ,..t-, where it remains until 1t reaches a certain stage of fermentation, which Is called getting ripe" l. requires skill and years of experience for the distlller to know just when the cider Is ripe, for any delay in removing the alcohol by distillatiOn after it IS ripe would be fatal tO the yield of appleiack, and a stock of vinegar would be the result In house near by is generally located the still, which Is an immense copper kettle, per fectly air-tight, surmUunted by a coil of pipe that passes through pail of cold water. A good hot fire Is kept constantly under the kettle, so that an even tenn perature is maintained. The cideris let into the kettle from the vats, the heat turns 1t at once into vapOr, which passes through the coil of cold pipe above, which condenses it and it Is discharged into the kegs, pure applejack.
 So strong, however, k the whisky when first made that 1t even deties She wrought-iron stomach of the Sussex Granger. Frequently, by increasing the heat under the kettle, the appie-Jack made is 50 reduced to the proper strength and then laid away tO mellow with age. It IS never considered tit to drink till it Is at least year old. Apple whisky improves and mellOws with age, taking on after few years a pale yellow hue. Of course, distillers have all kinds of tricks for producing this color and palming off new apple-iack for an old and superior article. Burned peach pits added to the liquor give 1t all appear ance of old age, even thOugn 1t has just come from the still, and brown sugar skillfully burned Las the same effect. Nothing, however, will take the genuine sting ont of the liquor except age.
 The cost of apple whisky to the p.o- ducer is not large, yet the liquor IS worth two dollars gallon at the still, and becomes more expensive the older II grows. There Is some apple-iack stored away in the cellars about here worth all the way from SlO to S2J a gallon. Tn bearing years apples bring about ten cents bushel at the still, but to off years, like this, they are worth double that price. For every gallon of this favorite beverage produced the distiller has to pay the government ninety cents. The annual revenue to the United States
 
 from appleiack alone Is in the neigibor hood of SJ0O00 a year, and about two thirds of that comes from Sussex county.
 A man never wants to get drunk on apple whisky more than once. A small drink of the liquor will climb to the head of a man who isn't used to 1t in less than ten seconds. His face gets red and feels sunburned; when he closes his eyes he sees nlne tOrchlight processioHs charging at him ten abreast, and if he took two drinks he could be induced to vote for high-priced street raj roads or machine nominees, or to aGy thing else disgraceiul. Finally he falls asleep, but it is q peculiarity of the liquor that when he awakes he will find himself drunker than when he laid down, and for three days his head will sound as if swarm of bees had hived there.