The Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1893-1901, 1894-06-12
Tuesday, June Il. 1894.
UNCLE SANS WINE CELLAR.
IL DoesL't Drink, but He Has Lots Of Rars
Wines on Hand.

- DoNs- . "ut ~ AAoS ASohS
Wines on Hand.
400 silence pervades the place.
ID1D H. ~ G1cnce of the tomb. The
ouS11D WugA sssms already centuries
away. Te air is cool and soothing,
and three fiaring gas jets cast an intri-
cate combination Of shadows upon the
0assive maso ~ of the arches. says a
writer in the Boston Herald, in describ-
Eng 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 archeologist will dig down
through the accumulated dust of GEN.
turtles and find those hewn arches stand
ing as they stand now.
And yet the whole substantial struc-
ture is like the foolish mans house.
founded upon the sand and mud of Bos.
ton harbor. Three Thousand tall pine
trees. stripped Of their limbs, were
driven down close together in the black
o to form a foundation for the build
ing. These piles would last but a few
short years in the outer air, but sunk
IN the harbor mud they are believed to
b as indestructible as the earth itself.
When it was built. the custu... house
va 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
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 were to be
. protection against heat and cold, fire
end 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
hers, inches, crypts and passages.
When the visitor enters the basement
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
SAaaA T. liz bolllFh NlufS. luc
eases, 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 5000 and 4, 1000 cases, or over
40, 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 to
brandy, is landed from a foreign vessel
the government orders it to be sent to
the custom house cellar. 1t no owner
appears to ".iim it, it is kept for a year
and then 5 sold at auction to pay tie
duties and w~arehousing 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 duties and keep his stock
stored in the government vaults until
he wishes to withdraw it. The govern.
ment charges him storages 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 in bond deep under
the granite dome. In such cases il is
sold in bond, and the owner, instead of
the importer, pays the duties and makes
the final entry of the merchandise.