The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-03-23
BIsMARoK's ENORMOUS CAPACITY
Not in the Way of sta tesmanship, But
for Beer and Tobac
81,

for Beer and Tobsc
From the NeiC York Sun.
In the course OF dinner party at his
house in Naples recently, Minister Crispi
gave his guests a little sketch OF the first
evening of his last visit in Frieirichsruhe.
'At the beginning OF our conversation, -
he. said, IBIS narck had two immense
mugs Of beer brought to US He took
one of them and showed the other over
to me. l remarked that l drank only
wator. He looked at me in silence. curl
ously and almost suspiciously, for a minute,
aud then proceeded with the subject under
discussion. The more interested he be-
came in our conversation the more fire.
queutly and copiously be drank. After
finishing his own mug he Appropriated
mine without word, aud put down its
contents in three or four tremendous
draughts. Then he had a servant fetch and
till two enormous pipes. When he offered
me one of them l explained that l never
smoked. 'Whatp he cried, neither drink
nor smoke? What kind of a supernatural
man are you, anywayP 1t was mercy to
both OF us, however, that L did
not accept the pipe, for Bismarck smoked
so iucessantly that within fifteen min
utes the room was dense. After he had
finished his own pipe he helped himself to
cut with astounding energy. When l rose
at the end of the evening from the table at
which we were sitting, the smoke was so
thick that could hardly see the chancel-
lor's face"
The publication of Crispi's story by the
German dailies has caused the ppearance
of new crop of anecdotes concerning
Bismarck's proverbal ability to consume
vast quantities Of liquor and tobacco. Bis
mlrck ont his eUncAtiOn n DRINKING mud
snoking when corps student il Gottingen.
"GOttlngen fashion" has always been his
favorite phrase in describing any particu-
larly artistic feat at the punch bowl or beer
keg. In relating how he once dedicated a
new drinking cup for the cuirassiers at
Brande aberg, he said:
Il was to drink out of it first and then
send it around. 1t held about a quart
held my breath, drank out to the very last
| drop and then set the cup down empty
They were greatly surprised, for they did
not expect such feats from men of letters
But it was Gottingen fashion.
Il remember, toon said the chancellor at
another time, chow at the Letzlingen hunt
with Frederick William ". puzzle bottle
was emptied by mo at O draught. The bot
tie was made SO that the drinker could not
put it to his mouth and yet was not allowed
to spill single drop. 1t contained almost
a quart of very dry champagne. | emptie1
1t without spilling a drop on my white
| waistcoat. Everybody stared when l said
another The king said, No. YOU have had
| enough and so got no more"
While Bismarck was representing Prussia
at the Frankfort Diet his ability to drink
great quantities of wine without losing his
head, contributed not a little to his diplo-
matte successes. AT the dinners of the Ger
man and Austrian ambassadors wine flowed
like water, and every diplomat was Obliged
to swallow an enormous quantity of it for
the sake of his reputation as Teuton aud a
representative of Teutonic sovereign.
They drank the weak-headed oaes
under the table" Bismarck subsequently
wrote, asked them all kinds of questions,
aud forced them to make all kinds of con.
cessions which they were not authorized to
make. Then they made the poor fellows
sign their names. The next day, when the
| weak-headed ones got sober again, they
could not imagine how their signatures had
got on paper"
Curiously enough Bismarck is a rather
Door friend of the great German national
drink. ''The prevailing use of beer" he
once said ''is deplorable. Beer drinking
makes men stupid, lazy, and worthless. Ii
is the cause Of all the democratic pot-house
politics men talk over it. Good corn brandy
would be better"
This saying of an old Prussian general is
often quoted by Bismarck among his
| friends: "Red wine for children, cham
payne for men, schnapps for generals"
Bismarck's capacity for tobacco is fully
as wonderful, though not SO celebrated as
his capacity for wine, beer, and brandy.
Ever since his university days he has been
known as ''chain smoker" (kettenraucher),
That is, smoker who connects his breakfast
and his dinner with an endless chain of
cigars, each lighted from the stump of the
last one. "Happy mani" Gambetta once
said him, happy man! Beer aud smoke
agree with him."