The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-05-18
PROFIT IN MAKING DRINKS.
$GOO,OOO IN BREWERIES. ICE FACTO-
RIEs AND BOTTLING WORKS.

10 oAMtE
Centers Kept at Home-SIOO. 900 in
Wages Paid out, and Yet the En-
terprises Return More Than Bank
Rates of Interest.
Within the last ten years Savannah has
established an extensive and prosperous
manufacturing trade in ice, beer brewing
and in the bottling Of mineral waters
An aggregate capital Of 100000 is invested
in these enterprises, which give employ
ment to 10 or 200 hands. Upward OF $780,
600 was formerly sent out of Savannah
every year for ice and beer. which are
now produced here. This money is now
kept at home, and $4,000 in wages paid
annually. The whole business has been
successful, and the capacity for produc-
ton is ample
The Savannah Brewing Company has a
capital Of $277OO0 invested and has earned
more than bank rates of interest. If the
betterments and permanent improvements
are taken into account. The successful
operation of just such plants demonstrates
that local Disadvantages can be overcome
by the progress made by science. ANY
objection there may be to the quality of
the water available is overcome by dis
ulllng every particle of it used in brew
ing and ice making, so that practically
none but chemically pure water is EN-
ployed The Disadvantages of a warm eli
mate are also thoroughly over
come by artificial refrigeration.
Mr.. w. w. Starr under whose manage
ment the business has thrved, and has
rapidly increased. says: THE greatest
trouble has been the Savannah public it.
self, and it has taken time to convince it
that as good if not better article can be
produced in Savannah than elsewhere
without leaving any doubt as to the per
feet purity Of the beer consumed. Thou
sands of people have been and
are being shown through the
brewery, and see for themselves
what the company is doing. There
is no article OF consumption that is so cas-
lily capable of adulteration as beer one
pound of pierre acid, which is a rank and
violent poison, will impart as much bit
terness 10 the beer as 100 pounds of hops
would. Picric acid costs probably 81
pound while the imported hops cost some
thing like SO 1t cannot be momentarily
detected, but the violent headache follow
ing the next day will tell the story of pic
ric acid.
The output of the Savannah Brewing
company last year was, in the face of a
keen competition, 1900 barrels of beer
and consequently upwards of $4,000 was
kept at home that otherwise would have
gone to breweries in the north or west
The company gives steady employment to
60 or 20 hands. The pay role averages 81
900 per week. Some $50 people are directly
or indirectly dependent for their living on
the business, if those dependent on the
employees for a support are included. Four
skilled mechanics are steadily employed.
Mr.. Fox, the brewmaster of the COM
pany, whose capacity is clearly shown by
the excellent quality of the beer pro-
duced, is also a competent and practical
chemist, who analyses himself all the
raw material received, leaving nothing
to chance. Mr.. Fox says that the COM
pany uses exclusively imported hops for
certain brands of beer. These
hops sold last year as high
as 70 cents per pound. For some
brands of beer native hops, costing from
30 to IS cents per pound, are used. but
then only to a limited extent The bar
ley is brought to the brewery already
matted, but not ground. The grinding,
or rather crushing is done at the brewery,
thus any possibility Of the admixture OF
cheaper or inferior starch products is
avoided
Would hop culture pay in the south?"
Mr.. Fox was asked.
well, / do not see why 1t should not
] have tested small lots of Georgia raised
hops and they We're, according to my
opinion, as good as any imported hops,
Any well drained, sandy land, capable
of producing corn will produce hops,
equally as well, though the richer the land
the larger the yield. 1t has been computed
that hops at 10 cents per pound pay
equally as well as wheat at 81 bushel.
The greatest expense in hop raising is the
cost of poles along which the vines are
trained A hop field once set out will last
a life time, barring the poles. The usual
yield is from 400 to 600 pounds per acre.
The crop is not exhaustive TO the land,
as the vines are left on the soil nothing
but the hop blooms being removed. The
hop plant has a male and female specie.
The procuring of roots from where the
best hops on earth are raised, say Ba-
varia, is not sufficient. The value of the
Bavarian hop is greatly based on the fact
that a good average, say per cent. OF
male hops, is always set out in a field
The blooms of the male hop are of no
value, and they are never gathered at all,
but the pollen from their blooms i'm
proves the size and flavor of the female
bloom. Hop raising is a sure crop. The
vine bears every year. Further north it is
often nipped and ruined by early frost,
hence the variable quantities on the mar
ket In this climate, of course, frost
would not cut any figure, as the season Is
so long that a good crop could always be
depended on. There are thousands of
acres of land in Chatham county where
hop culture would be both profitable and
easily practicable
Mr.. George Meyers Of the Georgia
Brewing Association said: our plant is
caDita lied at $50. 900 although the plant
not been in business long enough to say
exactly what the returns are but mclud-
ing the amount of betterments Ii will eX-
coed bank rates of interest. We employ
about fifty hands and our pay role will
average S25, 900 a year. Our yearly output
is 1000 barrels representing $75,000 which
formerly went to outside breweries. The
business of outside breweries in Savan-
nah has dwindled down to nothing and Is
practically dead as it has been proven that
Savannah can successfully compete both
as to quality and prices. We only use
pure malt and hops. In fact, 1t would be
a poor policy to place anything on the
market except the purest article. We hold
a certificate of the state chemist showing
the perfect purity of our beer. The tend
encv of beer-brewing has been of late
wears to produce nourishing beer with as
little alcohol as possible and the contents
of alcohol in beer has been gradually re-
duced from per cent. to AZ per cent and
Savannah has three ice manufacturing
nlants outside of those operated in con-
p2ection with the brewertes. They are
The Gorrie. twenty-five tons capacity; the
(1hrvstal. thirty-ive tons capacity; the
K nickerbocker, fifty tons capacity.
These plants have all been consolidated
under the Savannah Ice Delivery Com
many. and consequently peace reigns in the
happy family of ice producers, who are
averse to furnishing any facts about their
business for publication. As II is claimed
bv those who are in position to know
that artificial ice can be produced for less
than $40 per ton while IL is sold in Sa-
Vannah for s. per ton, it is quite probable