The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1894-02-14
UNCLE SANS WINE CELLAR.
us Doesn't DRINK. hut lie Has Lots of Hare
wines On Hand.

He Doesn't DRINK, hut Iic Has Lots of Rare
wines On Hand.
A ghostly silence pervades tho place.
10 IL like tho silence Of tho tomb. The
outside world seems already centuries
away. Tho mir IL cool and soothing,
and three nariug gas Jets cast an intri-
cato combination of shadows upon tho
massive masonry of the arches, says II
ing the wine vaults under the Boston
custom house.
Aftor hundreds Of years, when Bos-
ton Ia only n hole ia tho ground like tho
ancient cities In tho Mediterranean,
some archuologist will dig down
through the accumulated dust of cou-
turies and find those hewn arches stand
ing as they stand now.
And yet the whole substantial struc-
turo il like tho foolish mans house.
founded upon the sand aud mud of Bos-
ton harbor. Three Thousand tall pine
trees stripped Of their limbs, were
driven down close together in tho black
ooze TO form foundation for the build
ing. These piles would last but few
short years in the outer mir, hut sunk
I'm the harbor mud they are believed to
bo ns indestructiblc as the earth itself.
When IL was built, tho custom house
was upon tho water front, and even now
the cellar Is below high water mark,
yet there il no drier cellar on Beacon
hill. The builders seemed to have been
tho builders of pyramids and cata-
mi ,a rat IA Lao.
done to stand after the builders them
selves were long forgotten. Upon the
heads of the piles in Tho form of n
Maltese cross, was laid capping of
granite in hydraulic cement. Around
1t were built tho massive walls of solid
granite O feet thick, which were TO be
a protection against heat and cold, fire
and water and all the elements. With
In these walls rose tho puzzling scheme
OF sturdy pillars and arches which made
tho cellar mazo of low rooted cham
bers, inches, crypts and passages.
When the visitor enters tho basement
and storehousc, which is on the street
level. no feels inst;rctively conscious of
tho 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, arc
piled in regular tiers as high as tho cell
ing, and under tho main entrance they
are packed in solidly. There are usually
between 5000 and 1900 cases, or over
10000 bottles, which If popped all at
once would make tho granite dome
tremble and might drown the attend
ants in "A foamiDg flood.
When consignment of rum, which
means anything from champagne to
brandy, is landed from foreign vessel,
the government orders it to bo sent to
the custom house cellar. II no owner
appears to claim it, il is kept for n year
and then is sold Mt auction TO pay the
duties and warchousng charges.
If the owner appears, he can pay the
duties and withdraw his liquor for inn
mediate consumption, or he can give
bonds for tho duties and keep his stock
stored in tho government vaults until
he wishes To withdraw it, The govern
ment charges him storagcs according to
the capacity of packages and allows
him to take 1t away by degrees as ho
needs it, paying duty only on the
amount withdrawn.
Very often an importation CT wine
and spirits may change hands several
times while it lies in bond deep under
tho granite dome. In such cases il is
sold in bond, and the owner, instead of
the importer, pays tho duties and makes
tho final entry of the merchandise.