The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1893-07-05
Whiskey In War Times.

In view of the frightful whiskey
drought which may prevail next month
in those South Carolina towns and coun-
ties which refuse to have q dispenssry
the following sorrowful tale of war times,
sent by 8 correspondent to the
Richmond Dispatch, will be timely read
ing:
Whiskey was in great demand during
the war, and it brought what would now
seem to us fabulous prices. All ante
war Richmonders knew "Our House."
situated on 18th street, between Main
and Gary streets, and they knew Charlie
Hunt, its genial, whole'souled proprie-
tor. Charlie was first lieutenant in Capt.
Dabney's Heavy Artillery Company,
whose "Long Tom" would send cannon
balls with precision mile away into the
enemy's camp. Charlie came back to
Richmond in 1864, where be met many of
his army comrades, and it cost him over
three thousand dollars in a single day in
treating them at bis bar. Whiskey then
sold for 1926 per gallcn and at $40 per
drink. French brandy sold for 1924 per
gallon and at SIS per drink. An ordi-
NARY breakfast, consisting of cofe, bread,
butter, and beefsteak, with a mint iu-
lep, would cost SIS at the restaurants,
and later in the war, when Confederate
money more rapidly deprecated, the cost
of the whiskey and meals we're very much
higher.
1 have known Gen. Humphrew Mar.
shall, of Kentucky, to pay at least $500
for breakfast, and whatever may be
said about Confederate money, and how.
ever much below gold value it may have
deprecated, while it was in existence 1t
could purchase whatever was on the mar
ket.
There was plenty of it and it was be-
lieved In by many people, even after the
surrender at Appomattox. The last that
1 expended was to give 500 for glass of
lemonade in tynchbutg the day after that
surrender. Even now, although it has
lost its value SIS currency, it has value
as a souvenir of the "Lost Cause" and
not long since friend of mine sold an
assortment of Confederate notes, taste.
fully arranged in picture frame, for
$500, and they are still sold as relics of the
war.
The Southern people are proverbial
for their love of whiskey. In the good
old days "befo' de war" there was not a
home in Virginia of any pretensions
where there were not decauters of it upon
the sideboard in the dining room, and
every morning before breakfast and be-
fore dinner the hospi!able ownef of the
mansion would invite his guests down to
the dining room to take toddy or q ju-
lep as an appetizer. Standing around
the sideboard, engaged in pleasant con.
versation, they would loiter over the con-
coction of their drinks as if it was plea
SAINT occupation. The children would
come around and papa would give them
a sip or two out of his own glass, and the
ladies themselves would participate to q
limited extent. This WAS an almost uni
versal custom. 1t is alluded to in Capt
Philip Slaughter's account of Gen. La
fayette's visit to Culpepper ii 1875, which
was published in the Richmond Enqui-
rer of that yer.
he says: "We reached Greenwood
(the seat of Judge Green,) within mile
of Culpepper Court House, at l o'clock.
Our guests went into the house and par.
took of some refreshments attended by
Mrs. Green, Mrs. Patton, Mrs. Slaughter
aud others. Col. Gibson's troops paraded,
all dismountci and arrayed them
selves at their horses heads, and Gen.
Lafayette, at his own request, was intro
duced to each man individually, and
Judge Green treated all hands with tod.
dy." I do not thinb the practice of
drinking was more universal then than
it is now, but its effect upon the individ-
nal was different. Then it would make
you drunk, but it would not make you
sick. Now it will intoxicate you and
also destroy your stomach. Then the
whiskey was home made and Was the
pure essence of corn or rye. Now it has
foreign ingredients in it; it is medicated
in order to give it better flavor and to
make it sell, but the result is that it is
death after awhile if the habit is persist
ed in. have known a man to be drunk
every day for forty years off of old.time
wbiskey and live to be 80 years Of age.
Where is the man who can drink this
modern medicated whiskey 80 long and
live?
These remarks are not exactly apropos
to my subject, but l could not help inter.
jecting them, because / know there are
many old gentlemen in all parts of Vir.
ginia whose lips will smack with re-
newed gusto at the memoirs they will re
call.
The Confederate Government required
large quantities of whiskey for the use OF