St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-08-08
chicago Herald.

SIOWler | S g0Ouly Gree, rooted III anti
guilty and Towering perennially in the
| grateful sunshine of popular favor. The
growler still endures and will continue to
cast an unreproachful shadow on the
graves of its detractOrs.
There be those that delight in quibbling;
there may be those who, in vain and mug
atory spirit, will start the query, What is
the growler, anyway? All such-if such
there be-must confess themselves the
sghtless children of ignorance or rest under
the more injurious imputation of deceitfully
concealing the light there is in them. For,
in these degenerate days, the GROWER is
known of all classes and conditions of men.
Not the institution itself, but its underlying
principle. had its origin in that more OF less
historic scene between Mahomet and the
mountain. The prophet, it will be remem-
bered, had invited in few friends to be
present while he exercised his peculiar gifts
upon the Pixies peak of the neighborhood.
At given signal the mountain was to
abandon its ancient foundations and amble
gracefully over to its bearded master. 1t
will be remembered also that the mountain,
being presumably in i'll humor or out of
condition, heard the signal expressed in
loud and unmistakable terms, but refused
to amble. Of this churlishness was begat
pOsterity in the terse words of the prophet:
Since, then the mountain comes not near,
Mahomet must himself approach the noun
tain.
Mahomet did not drink beer, being barred
from the practice by the rules and regula-
tons of his society: but to the beer drink
ers OF all subsequent ages he has furnished
the philosophical saw which sustains the
GROWER. AS thus: Put a thirsty man in
the prophets place, and, for the mountain,
substitute beer saloon or other repository
of the straw -colored beverage. The beer
drinker, to compass his desires, is driven to
the adoption of the same sort of cOmprom-
Use and forced to make terms with his noun
tain much after the manner of the bearded
Mahomet And it is in the achievement of
this compromise and the successful solution
of this problem that the GROWER plays its
part
For the matter of mere definition, the
grOwler is any receptacle designed for the
conveyance of malt liquor from the place of
its manufacture or sale into the hands of an
absent customer. DR.. johnson did not
compass the word in his lexicon, but even
his learning could not cavil at the definition.
While ranging through all forms, from
porcelain pitcher to an old hat, the growler
is generally made of tin, and in the form of
pail or can. Indeed, in some of its ele-
mentary forms, it is sometimes known as a
can, but the term is low and colloouial at
the best. Beyond this its nomenclature is
pervaded with delightful mystery. There
is nothing in the object itself to suggest the
name. nor in the name to describe the OBJ
ject. Yet though the GROWER does not
growl. there is an obvious, though indie
scribable. fitness in the term. Nothing else
describes it. It is case bevond the ken of
logic or scientific Technology.
The growler is best and most favorably
known as social factor. 1t has no part
in the fashionable gatherings of the rich; it
does not affiliate with the claw-hammer
coat, nor are its devotees commonly cut en-
train. But in those informal gatherings of
the moderately poor, where hospitality is
dispensed and received for itself alone, it
plays an important part. At this heated
season of the year no front doorstep COM
pany in the humble streets CT the city is
complete without its presence. Tired labor
may, and does, taste its refresnment with
out being exposed to the contamination of
the bar room, 1t diffuseS spirit of mOder-
ate generosity in the heart of the topper
who, by its use, is enabled to share his en-
jOyments with his wife and family. Con-
sidered in this light the, grower is not with
out friends among the apostles of temper
ance and clearly living, none of whom is
prepared to deny that domestic drinking.
with all its evils, is better than boozing at
bar.