The Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1893-1901, 1894-03-16
Friday, March 16. 1894.
UNCLE SANS WINE CELLAR.
he DsesL't Drink. but He Has Lots of Rars
Wines on Hand.

wines ON bduu.
AahApky silence pervades the place.
Ian Ike the ni.nce of the tomb. The
ous51s work. seems already centuries
away. THe air is cool and soothing,
and three iaring gas jets cast an intri-
cate combination of shadows upon the
massive maso ~ of the arches. says a
writer in the Boston Herald, in describ-
ing the wine vaults under the Boston
custom house.
After hundreds of years, when Bos-
ton is only a hole in the ground like the
ancient cities in the Mediterranean,
some archaologist will dig down
through the accumulated dust of GEN.
turtles and find those hewn arches stand
ing as they stand now.
And vet the whole substantial struc-
ture is like the foolish mans house,
founded upon the and and mud of Bos-
ton harbor. Thrae thousand tall pine
trees. stripped # their limbs, were
driven down Close together in the black
ooze to form a foundation for the build
ing. These pi'ss would last but a few
short years IL the outer air, but sunk
in the harbor aud they are believed to
be as indestrr ctible as the earth itself.
When it W 5 built, the custoD4 house
was upon the water front, and even now
the cellar Is below high water mark,
yet there j. no drier cellar on Beacon
hill. The builders seemed to have been
the builders of pyramids and cata-
combs reincarnate. and the work was
done to stand after the builders them
selves We're long forgotten. Upon the
heads of the piles, in the form of a
Maltese cross, was laid a Gaping of
granite in hydraulic cement. Around
IL were built the massive walls of solid
granite G feet thick, which We're to be
. protection against heat and cold, fire
and water and all the elements. With
in these walls rose the puzzling scheme
Of sturdy pillars and arches which made
the cellar a maze of low rooted cham
bers, inches, crypts and passages.
When the visitor enters the basement
and storehouse, which is on the street
level. he feels instinctively conscious of
the huge pile of granite over his head.
This floor, within the surrounding row
of offices, is used for the storage of
champagne and bottled wines. The
cases. which hold two dozen bottles, are
piled in regular tiers as high as the cell,
ing, and under the main entrance they
are packed in solidly. There are usually
between 3, 900 and 1000 cases, or over
20, 900 bottles, which if popped all at
once would make the granite dome
tremble and might drown tine attend
ants in a foaming flood.
When a consignment of rum, which
means anything from champagne IL
brandy, is landed from a foreign vessel
the government orders it TO be sent to
the custom house cellar. If no owner
appears to claim it, it is kept for a year
and then is sold at auction to pay the
duties and warehousing charges.
If the owner appears, he can pay the
duties and withdraw his liquor for i'm
mediate consumption. or he can give
bonds for the dutie. and keep his stock
stored in the government vaults until
he wishes TO withdraw it, The govern
ment charges him stUrages according to
the capacity Of packages and allows
him TO take 1t away by degrees as he
needs it, paying duty only on the
amount withdrawn.
Very often an importation of wine
and spirits may change hands several
times while 1t lies III bond deep under
the granite dome. In such cases it is
sold in bond. anI the owner, instead of
the importer, pays the duties and makes
the final entry of the merchandise.