Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1894-06-22
WHERE THE BEER KEGS GO.
une of the Important Items of Loss in tb.
 Brewery Busfness

One of the Important Items of Loss in il,
 Brewery Business.
 Quite story can be told in cnnna, ton with beer keg. Apparently if only very substantial and long-live, article It takes long while for an to wear out. It has d tough constitT ton, and is protected from internal de cay by coat of very pure and hart pltch. The pitch used on the moderI keg IS much superior to that formerly used. 1t IS clear, tasteless and touch hn empty beer keg will stand great many knocks before the pitch scales OH. 1.-The kegs wear out, when they dc wear, externally. They are wet and dry alternately, and this promotes de- cay. Then they get great deal of unnecessary banging around between the time they leave the brewery and are brought back again. Fyerybodv rom the driver and railroad and stnano- boat hands down to the barl1eeper, seems to think the kegs are inda. struct1ble. whole car load of arnntv kegs Is frequently thrown from the ear down to the ground A single emntv keg IS often thrown fifteen feet.
 let It IS rare for l1eg to become orsaazsa or lose hoop under such cir +1,1- :.. t:-"ourse. such rough essary to- to make the kegs 's1y sd iana.tt iiant nee far as the keeping of the beer IS con eerned They began by being made heavy in the old days. The brewers then deemed it absolutely requisite to make them that way in order to with stand the pressure of the beer. The very fact that they were made heavy and clumsy subjected them to rough handling. Now they have to be made heavy, and extra ma teria1 has to be put into the heads and slaves, simply because of this handling and not from any danger on account of the internal pressure of the beer.
 But the other features that make up romance of the beer-keg can best be told in the language of brewer in recent interview He said:
 Ut is not the breakage or decay of the kegs that bothers the brewers. 1t is the frequent and entirely unneces- sary loss of the kegs You would be surprised to hear the number of kegs and half-barrels big brewery will lose
 
 times No ordinary precautions can check the loss. Charging for the kegs and giving a rebate for the return would accomplish something in that direction, but there is too much lively Competition in the business for any one to dare such an experiment.. don't think there are many brewers in this country who would stoop low enough to erase brands and use another brewers kegs. A quarter barrel is worth about two dollars and fifty cents. and it doesn't look to me that it would pay man to < steal such petty thing as that. What becomes of the beer kegs then2 Just try and think and tell me if you have ever been at boating or yachting re- sort in this country where you did not see one or two or perhaps a score of beer kegs bobbing on the waves as buoys to mark & course. or as moorings for boats That means thousands Of beer kegs, only a few of which have been bought from the brewers. They bob upon the waves for a year or two and then become water-logged and sink. to be replaced by fresh kERS. II Il A1d1A WdhtS ClhPby plA barrels for float or buoy he buys them for about one dollar apiece. Ii he wants beer keg or two he bor- rows them from friendly saloon keeper, who, perhaps, says: Look aroand the yard, and if you see any that suita you, why just take them. Don't let me sec you do it..
 That there were other uses for beer kegs than holding lager I realized when l was up in New York state. They were tapping maple trees on a mountain near where was stopping, and I went out to see them do it. The hotei-keeper was filing beer kegs with the sap and earting it down to his place, where it was being converted in- to maple syrup in big, open farmers boiler He had half dozen beer halves and several quarters in use. They came in pretty handy. he remarked. He had been saving them since last summer for this purpose. They be longed to two brewers in Paterson, one in New York and one in New ark The New York kegs were taken into the woods by a Sunday picnic crowd, and the hotel-keeper was asked to ship the empties home next day. He didn't do it, and it is not at all like. ly that he will see those kegs again. I've got a suspicion that the Italians are to blame for the disappearance o1 many of our kegs They have trick of making cheap strong beer at home, and I believe they use beer kegs for the purpose. Then occasionally, in the summer, we sometimes hear of larger beer kegs being used for making home brews with root beer extracts. This is an illegitimate use of the kegs, and I'm puzzled to understand how any body that would make or drink root beer could ever get hold of beer keg except by swiping it from a saloon al lev at night St Louis Globe-D Demo crat.
 As Life Unfolds.