Morning journal and courier., 1886-02-19
DruHke in France.

l
 l Drunkenness used not to be French vice:
 but what win the destruction of the vines by the phyloxe1a, the manufacture of bran dy out of bet root and potatoes, the beer de-
 void of malt and hops which floods the cafes, | and the drugged wine, the race is going to | the doe in the towns. That ability which | makes the Frenehman great artist renders 1 him unable to resists the noxious effects of
 alcolol on the nervous system When the | artisan earning good wages goes to dine at galgcte he begins with nip of vermouth or alsinthe, which is at once an irrit"-' ano u stimulant. Then he dri-As half I1tre of
 :!rnonr factnredn wine, in which there is not
 . dro, of oraee juice. After his coffee he
 fakes a 1sdsse cafe of beet root or potato
 brnr1.y, On which he pours a chase cafe,
 a-d finally a rincette. The rincette is all that remains in the carafon brandy de- canter of the liquor, which is thrown into the coffee cup to rinse out the sugar remain ing at the bottom. At gala dinners half 8 dozen different kinds of wine served; and there is not a minister or leading deputy or Senator who does not dine out four or five times week. Formerly there used to be small genuine wine to be drank with water, and then Bordeaux and Burgundy, which had had time to grow mild in the cellar. ''Nous avons change tout cela." The ordin- aire is a rough, strong beverage from Li- bourne. It is followed at soup by a fiery vintage of the sherry or Madeira type, which is twice offered. This is because the Or leans Princes have been trying to make that dreadful zucco of the Due d'Aumale the fash
 ion chablis is served y yith t5haeeessivsly Aa lIed with Bordeau5, Burgundy, hook cha;;oSr oSrsgne asnes out of 20, is heady vouvfay. Californian hampagne-alsa very heady-ls making us way at Parisian duners. Gambetta useo 10 leave no drinking ceremony out when he
 1ined en vile untilhis health broke down,
 when he confined himself to old Bordeaux,
 and took very little of that l have often
 sat opposlte young ministers and observed
 that they, too, Tan the gauntlet of all the seven
 or eight wine glasses that f1anked their plates.
 They were not apparently anything the worse
 for it on leaving the tabla and nobody would
 have thought of charging them with intem-
 perance because they drank of all the vim tages offered them. But it must have told on mind and health in the ldng run, and per
 haps would account for their laxity in keep
 ing electoral promises. Frelchwomen are
 not often guilty of the sin of, inebriety. ]
 never saw one drunk or tipsy, <r in any way
 the worse for wine although at grand din- ners they do as ample justice to tae vintages
 set before them as any rising statesman. The old French statesman is generally sober. Gle menceau is water dr:nker, which, perhaps, is why he has never yet broken faith with his electors. I hear it said that the , o'clock teas do not promote temperance. Liqueurs are served at them, and at o'clock there is mild liquoring-up by ladies who attend them at fashionable confectionery, and not ably at the cake shop in the Rue de Rivoi facing the Bodega. The fair drinkers of nips, I should in justice add are more often for eign than native. One of the British Duch- esses. who often follows the swallows, pa. tronizes this cake shop. Orientals who affect
 to revere the prophet transgress here his
 order not to drink fermented liquors.