The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1885-07-25

Tom Holmes. IN 81. Paul Herald.

The art of cider making is not gen.
orally understood by those people who
love to drink it and put it in their
mince pies. 1t is for the enlighten-
ment of these people that this article
is written. The apples from which the
cider is made are picked off the ground
in an advanced state of decomposition.
They are generally picked mp with a
coal shovel, and anything that happens
to be lying around on the ground is
picked up just the same as if it were an
apple and thrown into the cart as first
class cider material. This gives tone
to the cider and causes it to work.
When the apples and other ingredients
are ground up and ready for the ardent
hug of the cider press, the composition
is called pomace and looks good deal
like sauerkraut in brown study. The
juice squeezed out of this composition
is called cider.
developed very large appetite for
cider at the first engagement l played
with cider mill. l opened with eat
ing apples, gave matinee by filling up
with pomace, and closed the perfor-
nance by absorbing cider from barrel
through three-inch bung-hole pune
tured with straw. When | went to
bed at night was SO pulled up with pride
and pomace that had to postpone my
evening prayer until after the swelling
went down.
No matter where you locate sweet
cider, it is bound to ferment. 1t is
sure to foam and sizzle. From extern
sive research in ancient history, l find
this is caused by the alcohol the cider
contains, which is not visible to the
naked eye, but is there just the same
Somehow | forgot this when l sucked
so much juice into myself and retired
without thought of the disaster which
was likely to follow. l awoke about
1914 a. m. with well emphasized
feeling of unrest equi-distant from the
two poles. thought was madden
ed crowd, as my friend Shakespeare
once remarked. l got the impression
that | was torchlight procession at a
political demonstration. l felt like a
bowling mob. | was satisfied that l
was full and complete election returns.
The cider had begun to ferment, and
as [ was on the outside of it l felt an
irresistible desire to celebrate the event.
l arose and with dollar and quarter
umbrella over my shoulder marched up
and down the floor with firm and meas
ured tread, while my voice rose clearly
on the still night air as l put the imag-
mary hosts following me through mill
tary tactics. The cider continued to
ferment. imagined that was ter
rible holocaust. Making a trumpet
out of water pitcher, in stentorian
tones ordered the fremen to turn the
hose on me. The cider still fermented.
l thought l was riot, and getting up
on a rocking chair, I ordered peace
loving citizens to put me down. Just
then l stepped on the edge of the rock
er and my order was promptly obeyed.
l came down on my nose. More fer
ment. l got the impression that was
a terrible runaway, and appealed to the
policemen to catch me before did any
more damage. While was tearing at
breakneck speed up and down the room,
crushing the furniture beneath my proud
and angry hoofs, the door was sudden
ly burst in and my father entered with
his hair looking up to the blue dome of
heaven and hog walnut wifletree in
his right hand. The wiff1etree caught
me just as l passed him on my way up
to the other end of the room for the
purpose of mangling the wash-stand.
This attracted my attention, and 1 was
on the point of rearing in the air and
paving him to death with my forward
feet when he lassooed me with the back
of a chair, and l laid on the bed while
the entire family came in and took re-
served seats on me until the cider had
ceased to ferment, and 1 dropped off
into slumber that was childlike and
bland. Ever after this episode be-
came guarded in the manner in which l
corraled pomace and newly-born cider.