The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1890-03-22
ORIGIN OF WHISKY
1t Is Said to Have Been Discovered by
English Monk.

1t Is Said to Have Been Discovered by an
English Monk.
Some quaint characters can be found
in the odd places of this great cosmopoli-
tan city now and then. / met one OF
them driving street car on the Eighth
avenue line. He is Welshman named
Evan Jones-littie iron-grey old man,
with keen black eyes and highly
roseate nose. He was school-teacher
in his own country, a revenue officer in
Ireland, an accountant in Bombay in an
English shipping house, and now drives
his car with the profane and cynical
cheerfulness which characterizes old
drivers, old printers and old night
watchman.
81 learned new thing about whisky
last night" he said to me yesterday, as
/ stepped on the front platform of his
car.
"What was it?" l asked.
"Why, how it was made first" he re-
piled, as he pulled his old waterproof
coat through the guardrail in front and
bit off piece Of plug. SIT was a monk
who first invented it. He lived all alone
in a little hole in the rocks. For years
he had lived there. He was man of
great piety and learning. He could read
the stars and foretell eclipses and storms
and winters. He knew every herb and
flower in the fields and could concoct
some powerful cordials and medicines.
He could set broken bones and cure dis
eases, and he was as kind-hearted as a
child, and never harmed as much as
field-mouse. All the same the people
would have nothing TO do with him.
They avoided him, except now and then,
when some mischievous lad would roll
rock down the mountain side against
his hut or else stone his old shaggy dog.
No one said kind word to him, and he
might have died and no one would have
been near him. Then he invented whis-
ky. First the people smelled it, and
they used to hang around to see what 1t
was, and one day the monk found poor
fellow sick and cold, and gave him a
drink, and then little flask to carry
away. In q week the monk had more |
friends than an alderman with pull. |
The people almost took his arm Off shak- |
ing hands, They built him fine little !
stone house, and he could have founded |
a monastery and grown rich, but he |
wouldn't, but kept on making the whis-
ky until he died.
Where did / learn that?" said the !
old man, after he had paused a minute !
to say something sarcastic about u
who wanted the car to stop ON
the wrong side of the crossing. "Why,
there was two old ducks got on the car
la tie last night, and both we're pretty
full. One was an Englishman and the
other an Irishman, and it was the En-
ylishman who told tho story about tho
monk, and he wound up with And this
happened in Ireland, an the monk was
IN Englishman, an tho only time an
Irishman is ever friend to an English
man is when the Englishman has the
bottle
"'Ah, said the Irishman, be off wild
re. The first time Irishmen ever saw
whisky was at the battle of Ballyma-
leugh, where the Saxons put up a bad
oh on 'em. 1t was but short time after
he days of st. Patrick, an five thousand
rishmen came down upon the English
md would have ate 'em up but for their
hricks. The English filled the trenches
pid buckets of whisky, and the Irish
nen drank it an got to fighting among
and that is the way the En-
lishmen first bate us and brought
rouble on Ireland
"'Yes, said the Englishman you give
n Irishman driuk and hell fight his
wn father
"'An' If an Englishman offers man
drink look out for him, he wants to
o I'm, moind that said the Irishman.
"And that's the way they kept 1t up
II the way down from Fifty eighth
treet to Abingdon square," said the
river. "They were both good-Matured,
nd when they got off it was to take a
rink and wait for the next car."-NY
tar.