Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-04-09
BRANDY MANUFACTURE.
The Principal Industry of the Town
 of Cognac, France.

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 Originally Uaed a Medicine, Brandy
 Soon Becarae the Tippler's Favorite
 Bevcrago-Destructionw Worked by
 the Ever-Busy Phylloxera.
 In Cognac every thing and every body are associated directly or indirectly with bran- dy, says the English Illustrated Magazine. If you come upon grand pile of buildings you may be assured that they are brandy warehouses; if you see an unusually fine house 1t is certain to be the residence of a brandy merchant; the very atmosphere is saturated with it. Its deposits have inn parted new aspect to every bit of masonry its fumes can reach, and 1t Is impossible to give description of Cognac without some account of that commerce upon which it's very eXlstence-depends.
 Although distillation was understood by the Arabian alchemists centuries before French physician and alchemist, Arnauld de Villeneuve, who died in 1860, appears to have been the first who distilled the famous aqua vitae, which the discoverer proclaimed to be panacea for every i'll that flesh is heir to. This water of life,n he wrote, ''is the water of immortality, since it lengthens our days, dissipates un- healthy humors, cheers the heart, and prolongs youth." Such praises
  in that age, and the extraordinary virtues of aqua vita were universally believed; it was used, however, rather as a medicine or cordial than a beverage. In 156O it was given out to the Hungarian miners as remedy again nst the cold, unwholesome air of the mines, and twenty years afterward the English army in Flanders was provided with it as protective against the damp of the climate. That it was used ln this coun- try in Shakespeare's time IS proved by the nurse in "Romeo and Jullet" exclaiming: "Give me some aqua vite!" Nantes seems to have been the earliest seat of the trade; thence it was smuggled across the bay of Biscay to our southern coast. In old plays brandy is frequently spoken of as "Nantes.' As early as 1850, however, there were five or six brandy firms estab- hshed in the little town on the banks of the Charentc, and one of these, the house of Angler Freres, still exists. In the reign of Louis XVI the eau-de-vie of Cognac was considered to be the best, but even in 1779 it's merchants numbered only ten and Tn 1920 they did not exceed sixteen. During the next twenty years, however, the total leaped to 104, and Tn 1877 it further rose to 134; since then there has been decreasein consequence of tho repeated failures of the vintages.
 Very little brandy is distilled in Cognac, the operation being chiefly conducted on the brandy farms in the district where the grape is grown. The brandy grape, which very much resembles the champagne, is small, white berry, the juice of which previous to distillation tastes like very bad, sour cider. The farmers, as rule, keep the spirit sev- eral years before offering it for sale; it is then purchased by the Cognac merchants. When brought into the warehouses it's strength is about twenty over proof; this IS reduced by adding certain proportion of distilled water. Different vintages are mingled in huge vats, which sometimes stand in an upper part of the building, and are kept constantly stirred to blend the fla vors and preparation of burned sugar is added for coloring. It is then filtered through a peculiar 2iud of paper pulp and flows into vats on lower level, in which it remains from five to twenty and even thirty years to mature. From these receptacles it is drawn off into casks for bottling or for exportation.
 The premises of some of the principal brandy merchants are of enormous extent, the largest and most elaborate being fitted with all the newest appliances, which cover several acres of ground The operations of the trade require large space To give some idea of these we may state that the blend ing department, once the crypt of the mon- astry, contains eighty vats, each of the ca paclty of sixty hogsheads, and in the four ishing days of the trade this house has sent out i'll a single year as many as 6, GOO GOO bot ties, besides casks. When we consider that there Is another firm in the town whose busi- ness is equally large, and several that very | nearly approach it, to say nothing of a hun dred others which have more or less eXten- sive transactions. some conception may be formed of the importance and enormous al o,pharlya6 in, fhjS hronnh If merce.
 But brandy is rapidly becoming thing of the past, thanks to a tiny insect whose ravages have been as terrible to this part of the country as was the plague of locusts to Egypt. 1t was in 1865 that the phyl loxera first appeared In France in the val ley of the Rhone; by the close of 1874 it had extended throughout the south, south | east and southwest, from Lyons to Bor- deaux. Only eleven years ago the cognao district had about 6O, GOO acres planted with | vines; of these nearly 5000 have been | utterly destroyed, and over 20, 900 seriously 1 iniured; since then three-fourths of the | area have been, desolated and the remain der much affected, and the opinion of the l leading merchants is that the chances are | that in another generation the true eau-de- vie will be liquor introuvable. Some at | tempt is being made at replanting the vineyards, though, Ill most cases, the pest reappears upon the young shoots, and here 1 and there experiments are being made with 1 American vines, which are said to be phyl- loxera proof, tAat the prospects of cognac can scarcely be said to be improved to any great extent.
 In the meantime, the effect of this state 1 of affairs is everywhere visible. The pre- 1 cincts of the ancient convent, in which a l famed firm of brandy-makers have taken | up their quarters for the last hundred l years and more, are as quiet and drowsy as | though they were still the home of the fol l lowers of St. Francis.
 l He Took His Rank.
 Piron, the poet, went only occasionally to 1 grand dinners and large entertainments. ] He knew very well it was his wit which was invited; as he said, ''They hire me on