Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-06-16
DRINKING SODA WATER
The hot Weather Made q Rush on the
Drug Stores
What the Man who Deals out the
Ftssing Liquid says About
Hls Customers.

Everybody In Washington "a drinkIno
soda water nowadays" said q down town
druggist to q Star man the other day. I'VE
are having a good run on our fountains
and as long as the hot weather continues
wen keep up our winning streak all right
The season so far" the druggist went on.
has not been q very profitable one for the
soda water men, but all we want to keep
things on the go Ia q boiling sun and Q soar
ing thermometer"
is there much money made out OF . soda
Fountain" asked The Star man.
We'll. that depends largely on the weather
and the kind OF soda the people are given.
There lis a profit OF from three cents to q
half cent a glass on soda water. In many
cases where a fountain is doing a big busi-
ness the people tumble to it that It is COIN
ing money. while in point OF fact It may bs
netting very little to its owner. A large
fountain requires the constant attention OF
several persons In one capicity or another
and IL often eats its profits UP pretty close
ly. A fountain in itself costs all the way
from 500 to $1,000. Nevertheless there IN
usually something to be made out OF them.
although il Is much smaller than is prob
ably generally supposed. In the last year
there has been a great increase In the selling
OF Ice cream soda for five cents. This In
many cases is a very watery sort of ice
cream. but at some places very good ice
cream is given at that price, although in
small amounts. There the margin OF profit
is shaved down TO something pretty narrow
and the owners OF the fountains look to
make their money from the large amounts
sold"
What are the most popular drinks7"
Some of them go with the men and some
with the women. Women by the way are
coming to drink soda water more than
formerly. Strawberry is the most popular
flavor with them I should say, while choco-
late is q close second. They invariably take
IL with cream or ice cream and are partic-
ularly fond of the sweet sirups. Pineapple
is good seller with them too. Men drink
more lemon than anything else and use
phosphate freely. Men have a monopoly on
drinking mineral waters. Many OF them
take them or say they do for their health,
but doubt IL IT is really Of any value un-
less taken regularly. vichy has the largest
sale among the mineral waters.
Are there any new drinks this Year,
None that have got any go so far. Each
season usually brings with IT some new
drink. which usually has its run and is for
gotten. For example. champagne mist.
which you recollect was the rage a couple
of years ago. Is no longer heard of. Last
year crushed ice and crushed fruits were
made a great deal Of"
What do you think Is the most cooling
drink
THAT is a pretty tough question TO an
swer definitely. OF course something sour 10
drink for the time being. but its after effect
Is probably not more cooling than anything
else. Ice cream is, Of course, heating. and
milk shake is especially so. Milk shake has
something OF a nutritive value also. Such
drinks claret and sherbet are not par
ucularly cooling either, although they only
have small proportion Of claret or sher-
bet In them. only a mere fraction to give
a little sting"
do you consider soda water healthy"
II don't think IL is either healthy or I'M
healthy IL taken moderately. Some doctors
think IL injurious II taken In too large
one generally admitted fact, and that is
that phosphate. II INDUCED In constantly, is
bad for one. The acid wears out the lining
Of the stomach, and in the end is likely TO
bring on dyspepsia Soda water, as you
know, Is not made OF soda at all. but h
merely water-usually distilled-charged
with carbonic acid gas. Some folks talk
about its being made OF marble dust, as II
that was a terrible charge 10 bring against
IL. AS a matter OF fact the gas is made just
that way-by the chemical change produced
by a combination of marble dust and acid,
but the gas which is formed is neither mar
which supplies many of the smaller foun-
tains with gas, besides bottling a great deal
of soda for out of town and country use
TIE larger fountains. however, get their
soda gas In most cases from firm in Phil
adelphia. Ii is shipped in strong and thick
Cylindrical iron tubes about five feet long
and q foot in diameter. The pressure IN
these is something enormous and would
cause high havoc IL one Of them should ex-
plode. But folks look out that this doesn't
happen have something before you go?''