The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1890-01-31
How whisky Was discovered.

/
| Some quaint characters can be found
in odd places Of this great cosmopolitan
city now and then. 1 met one of them
driving a street, car on the Eighth Ave-
nue. Line last night. He is Welshman
named Evan Jopes-little Iron gray old
man, with keen black eyes and highly
roseste 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
| cheerfullness which characterizss old
| drivers. old printers and old night
watchmen.
~ learned a new thing about whiskey
| last night he said to me yesterday, as
l stepped on the front platform of his
car.
What was it ?'' / asked.
"Why, how II WAS made first, " he re
piled. as be pulled his old waterproof
through the guardrail in front and bit
| off a piece Of plug. at WAS a monk
who first invented it. He lived all alone
in little hole in the rocks. For years
he had lived there. He waa a man of
piety and learning. could read the
stars and foretell eclipses and storms
and hard winters. He knew every herb
and flower in the fields and could cons
cOct some powerful cordisls and medi-
cines. He could set broken bones and
cure diseases aud he was as kind heart>
as child, ard never harmed as much
as fed 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 sides
against his hut or else stone his old
shaggy dog. M one ever said a kind
and no one would have been near him.
Tben he invented whisky. Frs, the
people smeIled it, and they used to hang
around 10 see what 1t was and one day
the monk found poor fellow sick and
cold and gave him a drink, and then
hLtle hssk to carry away. Ia a week
the monk had more friends than al al
derman with pull. Tbs people almost
took his arm of sbsking hauds. They
built him fine little stone house and
he could have founded a monastsrv
and grown rich, but he wouldn't, bui
kept on making the whisky until be
died.
Where did 1 learn that s' said the
old man, after he hsd paused to say
somethiLg sarcastic about a woman who
wanted the car TO stop on the wrong
side OF the crossing. why. there
were two cid ducks got on the car late
last night, and both where pretty full
One was an Eoglishmgn and the
other an lrishman, and II was
the Englishman who told the story
about the monk and he wound up with
And tkis happened In Ireland, an the
monk was an Euglishman., an the only
time al IrIshman is ever friend to an
Euglishman Is when the Eoglishnan
has he bottle
All said the Irishman, 'Ee off
wild ye The first time Irish men ever
saw whisky was at the oRttle of B ally
macleugh, where the S4xOns put up a
bad JOB on 'sm. It was but a short
time after the days of ST. Patrick ar
five thousand Irishmen cams down
upon the English aud would have ate
'em hut for their thricks: The EGG
lish filed the trenches wild buckets of
whisky, and the Irishmen drink it an
got TO fighting among themselves. and
that is the way The Engishman frs
bate US and brought throuble on Ire
land
Yes said the Euglishman. you
give an Irishmsn drink an he'll fight
his own father
An If an Eng!ishmsn offers q
man a drink look out for him. be wants
To do'lp. moiHd that, said the Irish
man.
An that's the way they kept it up
all the way down the street, said the
driver.
They were both good nat ured and
when they got off it Was TO take a drink
aud wait for the next car"