St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-12-29
FAMOUS MEN AND THEIR DRINK
Yarns About Lord LOrne, Mark
Twain, Florence, the Actor, and
Other Notable Persons.

New York Mail and Express.
Happening to wander into the bar of one
of the fashionable uptown restaurants a
few nights ago reporter met the proprie-
tor and shook hands with him. Mr.
is man who has risen from the ranks.
He has been bell boy, bartender and pro-
prietor in turn; has kept billiard-tables,
restaurants and hotels, all of the frst-class,
and has seen the great men of the country
pass in review before him. Apart from
his natural intelligence and the very fair
education he received for start, his coll
tact with statesmen, Journalists, authors,
actors and public men generally has devel-
oped in him the penetration and powers of
observation so necessary to a successful
business man in his line.
You are looking for news. eh, and can't
find any? If l had leisure could furnish
you with a column of matter"
''Take leisure. then, and tell me what
the favorite drinks are of some of the
prominent men of the country. You have
seen them ALP"
Most OF them. Well, suppose we COM
mence with Mark Twain. He is undOubt-
eddy prominent man. 1 understand Mr..
Clemens poses as strict temperance man
in the domestic circle. Nevertheless, if l
had dollar for every whisky straight he
has swallowed at my bar L might retire
from business. Old rye used to be his
weakness. When | was bartender at
the Manhattan Club 1 saw most of the
humOrists and lterati of the day. Petro-
leum V. Nashby used to affect neat whisky.
1t seemed to inspire him, though didn't
think he needed much inspiration. Flor
ence, the actor, took ponies of brandy, and
Barney Williams oysters and ale. To my
mind beer is not Christian drink. 1t con-
duces to melancholy. and have no doubt
those occasional articles in the Times and
Evening Post predicting blue ruin to the
country are written by unhappy mOrtals
under the influence of beer.
You have heard of Chris Buckley, the
San Francisco politician? He is a great
man. 1t is he who taught me to make a
drink fit for the gods out of port wine and
a few other ingredients. He calls them
sangarees, and none drink them with more
relish than he. Dave Higgins, another
Pacific-Slope man. takes mixture of vile
compounds. of which brandy is the chief.
l don't like brandy. Artemus Ward? l
remember him well. 1t was glorious to
hear him talk when in the humor, though
he used to play some annoying practical
Jokes at times. He took his whisky like an
honest man. Artemus rushed into the bar
one night in state of wild disorder.
"'Quick, Quiekp he cried, in apparent
agony. "A bottle of your strongest whisky;
I've been bitten by rattlesnake.'
1.-THE terrified bartender handed him a
quart bottle of Guinness stout.
- Run, now, and bring me bottle of
rum and jar of CIDER
when the bartender returned with the
rum and cider, he saw Artemus take an
empty bottle from mis- mouth, seemingly
after draining it. He then took hold of
the rum and cider, placing them in a bas-
ket, and crying, I'm off for DOCTOR ran
out as rapidly and as wildly as he had en-
tered.
.'Of course he paid for them next day.
He and few congenial spirits were having
a jolifcation at one of their rooms, and that
was Wards way of contributing. James
Redpath is partial to hot Irish. sometimes
Scotch, but the former is his favorite beyer.
age. The deeper he drinks the more serious
and philosophical he grows. In this respect
he resembles many of our literary men.
Hubert o. Thompson was addicted to sour