Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-07-31
present Of His Portuguese. Majesty King
Johannes-V to King Frederick William I.

Nearby Is small, heavily barred feces
labeled, "Souvenirs taken from the SAM
Souci cellars after the death of KIM
Frederick the Great"
jet and revealed six shelves, loaded down
with bottles of all sizes. There were Cognac
Of the year 176O, Madeiras, Malagas ant
Burgundy Of still greater age, but no German
wines of any kind.
On little corner shelf observed half /,
dozen small TASKS, bearing the royal mono
gram composed of the letters ''F. R." anc
containing yellowish liquid They looked
more like medicine bottles than anything
else.
"These are the last of the great king,
stores of the real Tokay wine" explained
the cellar master, preserved in the original
TASKS as old Fritz used to have them or
his table. They hold scarcely half a pint
but their contents were most precious. Ac
cording to the rules of the Berlin court OF
to-day no bottles or dishes of any kind are
allowed on the tables-the food and drinka-
bles are served to the participants of the
royal feast by the pages or lackeys on plates
and in glasses. The wine is handled in the
original bottles, not in crystal carafes, as is
customary in some courts; the bottles are
not labeled, but neatly wrapped in a nap
kin.
Duties OF the Emperor's Cunbearer.
'Tt is my duty to provide the various
wines and liquors from the cellars accord
ing to the menu. Each kind receives q
number and is served in the order given.
But few of the lackeys know which sort
they are dispensing"
"Is the Office of mundschenk or cupbearer
still actually exercised by grand officer of
the court?" 1 asked.
''The quaint old custom hiss long been
abandoned, and the once highly priced duty
to serve the sovereign with wine and spirits
resolved upon the humble cellarmaster, "
answered nv friend. II wait personally
on their majesties and their royal guests,
and follow in the suite of the Kaiser wher-
ever he travels Of all the royal castles
those of Berlin and Potsdam alone possess a
well-stocked wine cellar If His Majesty
visits Hanover, Cassel, Breslau or Kiel,
where he has official residences, precede
him with the full complement of drink
ables that may be required"
We had now proceeded to the end of the
main cellar and turned to the right into the
where 12O casks filled with the stuff that
cheers and also inebriates were reclining on
oaken horses, gray with age and cobwebs
Like the iron-grated doors, each barrel was
fully ticketed, and some of them bore birth
certificates from the time of the "Wars of
Liberation" at the beginning of this CEN
tury.
Fine Wine Paid for In Blood.
dozen casks of Burgundy wines and clarets,
procured BY order Of Frederick the Great,
in stool" said the cellarmaster. "Only
last week we finished bottling the last of
these old timers The wine has wonder
ful aroma. You ask what is it worth bot
tie. Who can tell? Frederick paid for it
in blood during the Seven Years War, un-
derstand. 1t was exacted as tribute some-
where on Saxon territory-at Auerbach's
Keller, in Leipsic, perhaps. The compound
interest on its original value that has been
accruing all these years must represent an
enormous fortune"
In sort of side wing to the Bordeaux
cellar the Rhine and Moselle wines of the
royal house are stored in the wood. There
are only three large barrels, labelled re-
specttully ''60, 900 marks, $50, 900 marks"
and '45, 900 Marks" which indicate the
prices paid for them. They will not be
named until fully matured.
SIS it true that the Kaiser partakes only
Of German champagne?"
q
huge door leading to another extensive hole
in the wall, as he replied: "There are 5000
bottles of Heidsieck royal here and 10000
of the same kind are always kept in store
FOR the ROYAL cellars by the firm manufactur-
ng it. It is special brand of superb
luality and the wholesale price is marks
/ bottle. The Kaiser prefers it to all other
,hampagnes and it is always put on His
Iajesty's table. German champagne is
,nly served at the beginning of dinner, with
he soup and oysters, but never at dessert.
Muller Moussenx's is the German brand We
Use; the story that the Kaiser favors it to
he exclusion of French champagne and
orces his guests to drink it is absurd"
Will Become Dead Soldiers.
The noble army of 5000 bottles was built
lp high against the wall, and as the gas
light fell on their shiny neck. and bodies
hey looked like so many huge Ink bottles,
,eing unlabled and unsealed, "ready for the
ce," as the cellarmaster put it.
The royal liquor department is, of course,
veil stocked with all the known brands of
ognacs, brandies and whiskies, among them
shelf full of American whisky furnished to
he Kaiser at the rate of 50 per bottle. ia
naica rum seems to have been favorite
ipple of many of the earlier Hohenzollerns,
or there are dozens of shelves containing
OTIS of dusty and cobwebbed bottles ticketed
rom the middle of the last and the begin
ling of the present century.
''The Kaiser drinks American whisky oc-
explained the cellarmaster,
but of all spirits favors cherry brandy.
His Majesty never tastes of liquors, though,
s you see, we are we'll provided with sam
les of all original brands" and MI.
Veigand opened another iron door that
disclosed an alluring prospective of many
helves stocked with Chartreuses, Benedict
mes, etc.
'rThis is our Persian department" said
he cellar master, pointing to number Of
ig- bellied glass jugs with small, snout-like
ecks. "The Shah presented them to His
Iajesty last year. They are said to con-
ain some excellent Teheran wine, but have
OF yet been opened There was no call for
hem, so far.
Wines From California Vineyards
"Here we have our Catawba wine and red
'alifornia wines" he continued, ''also pres
nts to His Majesty, and there. last but not
east, is a cask of wine that has lately ar
ived from Jerusalem-Palestine burgundy,
S they call it sacrilegiously."
After we got through inspecting the Gel |
lrs Mr.. Weigand conducted me through the |
ooms where the table glassware for use at
oyal banquets is kept. There are u diff |
.rent kinds of wine and champagne glasses, |
ach set containing 1000 pieces. In the |
upboards along the walls samples of the |
able glassware in use at the royal castles
/ the provinces are kept. Some of them
re of the very quaint patterns in vogue
uring the latter half Of the eighteenth |
sntury.
The Coblentz castle, where the late |
impress Augusta resided for so many years,
as by far the most beautiful collection.
he glass Is of blush tint and extreme
linness.