The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1891-06-05
REMARkAeLs wlng.Tasrea.


1t was at the club. saws the N. r.
Ece,si,sg Sun. They had been talking
of wine connoisseurs. Old Ante Bellum
had heard them out patiently. When
| they had all finished he raised his hand
in his well-known way. This meant
| that he was going to add his experience
to the others. and as usual they gath
cred around him.
We'll, gentlemen" he said slowly,
those are good stories and do show
remarkable ability in detecting various
vintages of wine. / once knew a man
who possessed the power himself in a
most remarkable way. The story
shall tell you occurred in Charleston
way back in the SOS. You know that
Charleston was famous then for its
Madeiras. There is not much of that
wine drunk nowadays. but then every
gourmet pridsd himself on his collec-
tion of fine old Madeira vintages.
''Old Mr.. Ashley had not only fine
cellar. but he used to say that he could
make no mistake in the matter of
vintage. importation. or owner. even.
Some of the young men determined
to test the old gentleman's ability in
this direction.
So one day, when the conversation
drifted to This subject, one of the young
fellows offered to wager a large sum,
IS, 600 l think it was. that Mr.. Ashley
could not sit at the table and pass on
as many Madeiras as be could bring
up.
MIR. Ashley promptly accepted the
wager, and the test was appointed for
the next afternoon at o'clock.
AT that time Ashley walked in and
seated himself at q table along which
stood eight or ten glasses of Madeira,
each from the cellar of a different
owner.
He started at the glass at the left.
That said he, is the vintage of '37,
and is from the cellar of Mr.. Cooper.
The next is of the date of '2S, and
comes from my own collection"
''And SO he passed down the row till
only one glass was left.
The gentleman who had made the
bet was perfectly unconcerned, and
smiled grimly when old Ashley took
up the last glass.
The old gentleman lifted it to his
lips and instead of merely tasting it as
he had done the others. he emptied the
glass and put it down with a sigh of
regret.
That sherry he exclaimed. is
the best yet, and there is none finer
1t was imported before we began to
take records. L should say about 1875,
or thereabouts- It is from the cellar
of old Mr.. Butler
The gentlemen present gave a roar
OF laughter at this. and young Lane.
who had made the bet, said, Why,
Ashley, we sent down to the corner
grocery for that. and it cost so cents a
bottle. You've lost, old man.
mot SO fast answered Ashley. II
will double the bet. if you wish. that
am right. Where was it bought?,'
They got the name of the store
keeper and appointed several gentle
men COMMITTEES to look the matter up
The grocer admitted to these gentle
men that he had bought the wine from
sailor. and further inquiry developed
the fact that Mr.. Buffers cellar had
been robbed some time before. the
wine was compared with his. and ac-
knowledged by all to be the same.
Young Lane acknowledged his de-
feat and paid the bet.
No more attempts were made to
trip the old gentleman up. either"
A silence fell on the group when
Ante Bellum finished this story, and
was unbroken till some one suggested
an adjournment to the cafe to test some
new whisky the club had received.
The motion was carried.