The Yellowstone journal., 1894-07-13
Fri ay, July l3. 1894.
UNCLE SANS WINE CELLAR.


q. ines On Hand.
4 aAset!y - once pervades the place.
-sAA .its the s1ltnce of the tomb. The
ou,16s wor.l sc Ins already centuries
away. y, ;ir is cool and soothing,
and three ing gas jets cast an intri-
cate combination of shadows upon ths
massive nIsu of the arches. says a
writer in the Boston Herald. in desrrib-
-3hg the wine vaults under the Boston
c1stom house.
* After hundreds of years. when BCs-
ton is only a hole III the ground like the
ancient cities i'll the Mediterranean,
? some archnologist will dix down
through the accumulated dls, Of cen
tnries and find those heSn arches stand
ing as they stand now.
And yet tine whole substantial struc-
ture is like the foolish man ; house,
founded upon the sand and mud of Bos.
ton harbor. Three thousand tail pine
trees stripped of their limbs were
driven down close Together in the black
oozs TO form toundaTion for the build
ing. These piles would last but few
short years IL the outer air, but sunk
in the harbor mud they are believed to
be as iNlestrUctible as the earth Itself.
When it was built the Gust - house
was upon the water front, and even now
the cellar is below high water mark.
yet there is no drier cellar on Beacon
hill The builders seemed TO have been
ne builders of pyramids and cata-
combs reincarnate, and the work was
0one to stand after the builders them
selves were long forgotten. Upon the
heads of the piles, in the form of
Maltese cross, was laid a Gaping of
granite in hydraulic cement Around
II were built the massive walls of solid
granite & feet thick. which were 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 maze of low rooted cham
bers, inches, crypts and passages.
When the visitor enters the basemec.
and storehouse. which is on the street
level. he feels instinctively conscious ct
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
Yiled in regular tiers as high as the cell
ing, and under the main entrance they
ere packed in solidly. There are usually
between 5000 and 4. 900 cases, or over
20, 900 bottles. which if popped all at
once would make the granits dome
eremble and might drown tne attend. !
ants in foaming flood !
When consignment Of rum. which I
means anything from champagne te
Srandy, is landed from foreign vessel /
the government orders it TO be sent L,
the custom house cellar. Ii no owner
appears to c-iim it, it is kept for a year
and then IS sold al auction to pay the
duties and warehousing charges.
II the owner appears, ne can pay the
duties and withdraw his liquor tor i'm
mediate consumption. or he can give
bonds for the duties and keep his stock
stored in the government vaults until
he wishes TO withdraw it, The govern. I
ment charges him storages according to
ehe capacity of packages and allows
him to take 1t away by deGrees as he
needs IT, p22.,ng duty only on the
amount Withdrawn.
Very often an importation of wine
and spirits may change hands several
hines while IT lies in bond deep under
he granite DOME In such cases it is
Dold in bond, and the owner, instead of
he importer, pays the duties and makes
he final entry of the merchandise.