Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-03-21

A Saloon Keepers Proof of Hard Times
. Among His Customers.

A Saloon Keepers Proof of Hard Times
4. Among His Customers.
VISIT TO A WASHINGTON BEER cEILAR-rHE
POPULAR ENGLISH "'ALF Axp ALE" AND WHAT
IT CONSISTS of-sonE TRICKS OF THE TRADE
AT 70 O'CLOCK LAST NIGHT A STAR
4 n reporter sat by the side Of well-known
Washington saloon keeper. who had Just taken
the days receipts from his handsome nickel
plated cash register.
See here" he said. showing a handful Of
coppers. Il have been twenty years in the bust
ness and that ALWAYS means hard times. II il q
sign that never fails"
How do you account for that" asked the
reporter.
Il cannot account for il from personal knowl-
edge can only suppose. think il may be
this way: When man is doing well he gives
his coppers TO the little ones. Again. il he has
several dimes in his pocket he just pays for his
drink with one Of them. but il he has only 4
nickel and several coppers he puts down =
nickel and five red cents. II he has silver in
his pocket a sense Of shame prevents him pay
ing out the coppers. IL looks as il" said the
interviewee with smile. when person paws
out coppers he had been robbing church CON
tribution box. which for the most part. con-
sists OF pennies slyly slipped in. The fact il
that the extensive Use Of copper coinage always
shows low wages or scarce work or restricted
circulation. In European countries where
wages are lower than here small coinage PLAYS
greater part in business all the time than il
does IN his country. Thus in Germany the
pfennig. representing the fourth part of a cent.
Is in good use. and In England the farthing.
representing about half a cent. plays quite a
conspicuous figure in the finances of the poor.
No in this country the cent i- beginning 20 be-
come prominent Another sign OF the close
times is the number of men smoking pipes
IL thought the Mckinley bill is said 90 have
had something to do with that" the reporter
modestly interposed.
PIPES AND CIGARS
Nothing of Tic Kind. The cause is Just the
same. man in this country nearly ALWAYS
prefers cigar to pipe. Although the En-
glish are said to be great pipe smokers they
IKE good cigar as well as we do. and on high
days and holidays. il they can afford it, will keep
their pipes in their pockets and buy cigars. L
have done business in London as well as in
Germany and know what am talking about
Inc faNorite cigar in London Z well as here
bears the name of Henry Clay. They have q
brand in great request which sells as low as
pc nee OF cents. Ny business here is very
different to the same business IN Europe. Come
with me-"
IN THE BEER CELLAR
We descended into the cellar
"You see. we have only one or two kegs Of
beer here. The brewers deliver us the beer
about as we want it, but in London. doing nv
present business, would have to have this
place filled with sixty. thirty and fifteen gallon
casks. These would have TO be connected with
pipes to beer engine above. placed on the
counter OF the bar. The London saloon keeper
almost always Hdulterates his beer. That is he
takes out, perhaps. a fifteenth part Of the beer
IN each barrel OF the poorer qualities and fills
.ne space thus created with sugar and water.
This IL well known to the authorities and there
is heavy fine inflicted IL the inspector should
fnd sugar in the beer cellar. They are careful
however. not to let il stay there and IL may be
year or more before the inspector enters the
cellar. Porter there Is worth half the price Of
stout and the cellarman takes half the stout
out Of barrel and fills il up with porter In
like manner mild ale is half the price Of old
ale, so half the old ale is taken from the cask.
which IN then filed up with mild ale. One Of
the most singular lodges ever heard Of was to
put large piece Of whiting in a barrel of por.
ter to produce head OF white froth on the top
OF the dark lquiG.'
AIR AND PORTER.
What is 'awf and 'awf that we hear 80 much
about
That is simply a mixture Of the common ale
ehu pottef- by tue way. L saw q lake worked
In London in connection with this same LIQUOR
which was ingenious. Underneath the beer
pump Is always a large pewter sink. The
wastage that went into the sink was caught i'm
barrel below and pumped up by a separate
pump. 1t WAS served for half and half. be-
cause IT was too dark for ale and too light for
porter. There are quite a number of mixed
malt drinks in London. Dogs nose is a
mixture OF porter and gin. Cooper is half
porter and half stout, though we have seen
that the customer gets very little stout six
ale Is mixture OF mild ale and old ale IL is
called SO because the old ale costs 4 renee &
quart and the mild ale pence. the differen-
tialprice for the mixture then il sixpence. There
Is very insidious stuff sold in London called
barley wine at cents a glass, which is mild of
taste but very heady. The customer can com
mand to have his bee- in pewter measures bear
ing an official stamp. Now. in this country. il
beer IL q little desrer, you know you have il as
1t comes from the brewery. Although Keep
my Kegs IN the cellar, where coolers are kept
In the bar you actually see the kegs placed in
position and know that they have not been
tempered with. have here an apparatus that
pumps the beer up" At the end Of the cellar
opposite the key was glAss vase into which
water was slowly trickling. When q certain
weight OF water had got into the vase il de-
scended. tilted and emptied iteelf and then
arose to receive more water This action forced
air into the keg at the other end of the cellar,
which forced the beer right up to the fswcet
In the bar. Before il reached there. however
1t had to pass through a long coil Of pipes COW
cred with melting ice.