Morning journal and courier., 1890-07-11
FAMOUS CORDIAL.
The Delicious Drink Distilled by Car.
 thusian Monks.

thusiau Monks.
 From the New York world.l
 Men have experimental with elixirs of life | for centuri,s and toyed with perpetual mo- tion since the time of Noah without achiev- ing remarkable success. Neither has any body discovered the secret by which the Chartreuse monks compound cordial over which millions of lips close In bliss every year.
 1t was said not long ago that the pope de- termined to have the secret and that London bankers offered s16 ,0O0.0 for it, but chsrtreuse is not yet manufzctusa>gch chemi- cal companies out of old boots and discarded tomato cans. The monk still have a monopoly of the process, and they mipgle their mountain gathered herbs in the propor- tions which many generations have affirmed 10 be perfecF.
 The French government, which receives k250, 900 yearly from the Carthusian monks, has always protected the monastery al Gren- | oble, although religions houses have fallen | in every other part of the country. The profits of the business are devoted 10 | charity, aud there is no evidence that the | brothers share iu the products of their eel | lars.
 Founded in 1OS4 by Ss. Bruno. the order II lief that manual labor is more profitable than meditation has grown the world famous in- II dustry of the monastery. The monks do not eat meat and rarely taste fish; two days in \ the week their fare is eggs and cheese; on | three others they eat pulse and boiled herbs,
 and On Wednesdays and Fridays they are re- | stricted to diet os bread and water. One
 meal a day is the rule. The monks sleep on
 beds without sheets, wear rough hair shirts next their bodies, and are awakened twice
 every night to perform their devoiions.
 They wander over the hills collecting the
 fifty ingredients from which their liquor is
 supposed to be made, and most of them are
 said to die of old sge.
 | A traveller who recently visited the mon-
 astery describes his experiences ss follows:
 ''I was at once conducted to the reception
 room, when a brother took me in charge and
 told me that was welcome, but that the
 duration of strangers visits was always lini- ted to forth-eight hours. He then led the way to my cell, which was e very comfort able, though uncarpeted, bedroom. Looking
 round 1t as I washed my hands before going
 down to supper found that it contained . good bedstead, a large table and an ample
 cupboard. inside which the lay brother who
 escorted me showed me some plates contain ing biscuits, apples and raisins, together
 with bottles of yellow and green chartreuse,
 which, he added, 'are at your disposal should you feel faint during the night One thing the bedroom did not contain, this be-
 ing a looking glass, and found that none ]. of them are to be seen in the monastery. be : causs they are supposed to minister toward ] vanity.
 ''I was of course aware tha. animal food or meat. to use the more colloquial expres. , sion, was not provided. even for strangers but there must be something wrong with thu appetite of the man who cannot make , hearty and satisfying meal of the fare pro l vided for him at the Ggande Charsreuse Eggs, tinned lobster, rice, vegetables anS
 fruit of various kinds might become mo f notonous by repetition, nnt the keen mount r ain air gives them a wonderful relish, whil 8 there is plenty of table wine aud st the enl t of the meal chartreuse at discretion. Tn a meal was served in one ot the several refec . tories set apart for strangers. 1t was no i much more than o'clock when our suppe ] was over, and the lay brother offered [ e show us back to our rooms, though. as h Y wss careful to explain, we were not expects
 | to go to bed at ones unless we wished to d
 so. As I told him at once, one of the mai 5 reasons which had attracted me to th n Grande Ghartreuse was my desire, protestan
 though was, to-attend the service of whic
 had read so often. and he then informe n me that it wenld begin at II o'clock, and i
 case I should fall asleep and not hear fh '- chapel bell I should be warned half an hou g beforehand.
 "The service is very striking. Catholic n themselves, having no books to guide them ,. | and unable to hear more than c word her 1t and there of the voices lifted in prayer an !. praise, are unable to follow the service. bu 6 the ecene is a very impressive one, for on e can only just discern in the dim light of th @ choir athwart the interstices of the heav l. screen which separates it from the nave tn n outlines of the white robes worn by tn if monks, there being only one lamp to ever e three lectsrns. upon which the books C # chant are placed. This service lasts for tw ,- and half or even three hours, summer an E winter alike. The cold must be piercing 1t the winter months, for even in the latte 1t part of April, which was the date of my fin i- visit, it seemed to rise up from the stor T. pavement and pierce the very marrow d one's bones.
 10 "Yet the fathers are in this chapel till l. in the morning, day after day, week aft g. week, yenr after year; and they have to T ts cite few prayers to the Virgin upon retur i'd ing to their celle, and be in the chapel f D. what in the English church would be call, S. tearly celebration at o'clock. In othe w- words, the only sleep they can get is from he to about 10 in the evening and from sbo n- 2:30 to 5:30 in the morning, the rigor of th Id being increased by the fact that they do nc ne except when ill, undress, sleeping in ths ed clothes all the year round.
 3y "I felt the cold SO much that returned at my room before the services were over, al he slept as soundly ss Q boy just home fro nt school until o'clock, at which hour the | r's brother who had been told of to attend .
 came in with some coffee and milk and bre' nQ and buttsr, and put upon tho table the tl ey bottlsa Of ehaxtreu9e."