The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-11-24

LONpONs NSle VAULTS
Caoicc Liquors Preserved In the Cellars Of
the Metropolls-Grspe Juice and Brandy.

|
the London docks is n million super
fetal feet. and in this space $1,000
pipes Of wine can easily be stored, and
then room found for IS, 600 casks Of
brandy. The various vaults are built
in the form Of a crypt The largest Of
thcse-the cast vault covers four
acres of ground, and ns we take our
light, a small oil lamp fixed to the end
Of q piece Of wood some eighteen
inches long, our guide informs US that
] there are in this cellar alone twenty
one miles of scantling wire, or NINA
turc railway lines, over which the bar
rels arc rolled.
Tire roof for yards and yards is COW
cred with beautiful species of fungus,
the growth of which is due to the
fumes of the wine, popularity which
is all the more noticeable, as where no
barrels find temporary resting place
no fungus grows aloft. 1t is as light
as feathers, and takes the most elab-
crate and artistic. forms Small hill
locks, gigantic punches of grapes, long
ropes, which puff of the breath will
snap in two while such delicate de-
signs arc to be found here as to make
the lover of lace envy the patterns.
In the midst of all this mushrooms
grow, and in the season a good crop is
always secured.
II bc Drawing Room" covers nearly
an acre. This is private vault, scru-
pulously clean, the sawdust carpet
unspottcd 1t is reated from the com
pany by a well known firm Of wine
| merchants. and as we examine a cask
marked The Duke" We learn how
testing is managed The bung of a
barrel is never removed for testing
purposes. but the attendant has TO bore
n small hole in the cask. and the wine
flows into the dock glass. The
faster having satisfied himself as TO
strength, the flow is stopped by the
Insertion of a small stick of wood.
Every hole has to be accounted for,
and the total must correspond with the
number of testing orders issued
from the owners Office Sometimes a
whole barrel runs away in tasting
The brandy cellar covers about seven
acres of ground and some u, 600 casks
are resting there just now but during
the Franco-Gorman war the author
tiles contriyed TO provide accommodate
ton for ~, 900 casks. All the brandy
was driven out Of France; its value
was SIS, GOO, 900. and an official who
helped to receive the barrels at the
time has made the interesting calcula-
ton that if they had been placed in a
line they would have stretched for
thirty-four miles. There arc casks Of
brandy hcrc-profusely decorated
with cobwcbs-Ovcr twenty years old.
One Of the gangways is nearly Il quar-
ter of q mile long, and in the midst of
this huge cellar runs the SNOW tank,
into which all the sluicc, snow and
mud o: winteri is poured.
The waiting floor" where brandy
is improved by mixing one quality
with another, contains some Of the
largest spirit rcccptacles in the world,
| gigantic yellow tubs symmctrlcally
made. on each Of which is painted lis
! holding capabilities. Here IS one which
requires II, coo gallons of liquor 10 fill
it. another takes 5000, others 2,140,
l.4jO, / 800 and $50, something ike "A
thousand GALLONS of brandy running
through the taps every day
The mixing process has ceased ut the
moment Of our visit, but 1t IS wins
pcred that in another corner Of the
docks a large quantity Of gin IS about
to be converted into 'sWcctcnCd. Tic
"swcctening" barrel, holding tho mod
est quantity of 500 gallons - into
which the gin i'll its unsweetcned state
il to be poprel-is on one floor. Above
il. Immediately over its huge mouth,
Is an opening some yards i'll length
and four inches deep by nine inches
wide. and into this rvulct OF gin Il
flowing from the interior. OF five large
casks which ere emptying themselves
into the barrel below. As soon as these
are empty others take their place, end
the vat" filled, the SUGAR in a liquid
state Is added the whole mixed to
qctlcr. and shortly af-crWard 1T Is
| bottled. sent abroad and approved OF
as the choicest Cream OF the Valley.
4 word about the bottling depart.
ment As fast Us the wine is put INTO
bottle it goes out for export, the
average number of dozens, scaled,
labeled, capsuled and packed IN cases
every day being 400. A good picker
can case a hundred dozen bottles be
tween s and II o'clock in the morning.
( In the cellar below the bottling room
where by-thc-bye, Coo dozen bottles
can be placed SIDE BY SIDE Of the floor
the barrels are kept and although the
cellar is lighted with gas, iifty-four
! lamps are needed for dark days, nine
OF thcsc being Days" Here in one
( corner arc the wax pans, the merchant;
not only having toProvide their own
/ bottles and labels. but wax into the
/ bargain. 1t takes five minutes TO melt
a pan Of wax. It l. placed IN a copper
pan. heated over q gus stove, and when
melted Is placed in 4 receptacle con
tanning a small spirit lamp, which
Keeps the wax in Z liquid state, and
finally the case is locked.-London
lid Bits.
The Many Climates of Japan.