The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1885-08-13
Maxine Gin GO: Ale.

''The demand for ginger ale" said
prominent manufacturer OF that article,
"increases very rapidly. When |
started in it years ago there were not
more than twenty in the business. The
most OF my business now is manufact-
urirg the extract for others to put into
potable form, and these others have
grown from thirty to about five hun
dred. In the main, all the makers use
the same formula and method. They
mix the extract with pure sugar sirup,
dilute with water until an ordinary
bottle contains about fifteen drops
of ginger, and then put this into bottles
with q carhonic acid machine. Two
qualities are made, one, the better, for
private use and frst-class hotels and
saloons, and second for the general
bar-room trade. The difference is al
most entirely in the quality of the ex-
tract employed With the first, we
make ginger ale which sells for 81 or
81. 20 per case of twenty-four bottles;
the second runs from 30 to 70 cents a
case. 1t may surprise you to know
that three-fourths of the so-called i'm
ported article is made here. The
bottles belonging to favorite brands
are carefully kept and sent to Us regu-
larly to be filled. We leave the labels
intact or paste on fac-similes, and put
in new corks and metal capsules or
tags. There is not one person in a
thousand who can tell the difference.
In one tirst-class hotel | have been fill
ing and reiilling the same old bottles
now for seven years, and L think 1t Will
keep on as long as | live"
''Is there no bad ginger ale in the
market?n
Yes; there are two bad kinds, and
both SO bad that the board of health
should stop their manufacture. They
are made in large quantities here in
New York and Brooklyn. and sold
chiefly to beer-saloons and ice-cream
stores One kind is made from cheap
ginger, and is doctored with the ex-
tract of red pepper and other chemi-
Gals to give it body and bite. The men
who make it claim that red pepper is
good for the stomach, but they never
refer to the other chemicals. The other
and worst kind is made by few Ger
man establishments. Instead of using
pure extract, they buy up, wherever
they can, condemned and spoiled gin
ger root Some of them make their
own extract from this, and reinforce it
with cayenne. Others grind it up and
brew vile ale from it, which they
finish with cayenne and glucose You
can easily tell this last class by letting
it stand after being opened. The
yeast continues to work and the ale
turns sour, and then putrid. Drinking
it is Just as bad as drinking sour beer.
Its cheapness recommends it, however,
to unscrupulous saloon-keepers. 1t
never costs more than fifty cents
case, and frequently goes as low as 80
cents case. Retailed at 10 cents it
yields a larger profit than any article
sold across bar.
"It's a nice business, but has its
drawbacks. Despite every precaution
and safeguard the bottles every now
and then explode and do damage. Last
winter while watching the bother at
work, the head of large Brooklyn es-
tablishment was struck by the frar-
ments of bottle that burst, and had
his left eye cut in half as clean as if
done with a knife. In fact, you'll
hardly meet man in the business who
can not show you scars similarly OBJ
tanned. IN !. San.