Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1896-06-20
AMERICAN BAR.
All Kinds Of American Drinks.

American drinks. Indeed, they sell
more kinds OF American drinks than
they do in New York. An "ear
tv.ster' may be a delicious and exhil-
arating beverage. and morning liy-
ener" everything that its name implies,
but one must come to London TO learn
that they are American drinks.
Englishmen do not habitually pat
TOnize these places. but once in a while
they make up a sort of bibulous SUM
ming party for the purpose of sampling
the wares that are offered under such
! mirth-prOvoking names as those that
l have quoted. Americans, however,
visit them, partly because they are
lured in by the name Of Columbia, and
I partly because they hope to meet other
Americans there; for my travelling
cOuntryman is very fond OF fraterniz-
ing of his own kind. OF meeting some
body who turns out OF be Jarvis, OF
Rochester, the )brother-in-law Of his
next door neighbor in Peoria, whose
name is Tompbins. He likes to sit
down and drink with Jarvis and COM
pare notes about the different places
they have visited, and denOunce the
various schemes of pillage from which
they have both suffered. Americans
of this sort frequent these bars. and so
do the whole army OF impecunious ones.
OF whom there are thousands in the
town at the moment OF writing.
In some of these bars visitors are
served by cOckneys masquerading as
American bar-tendeTs. but in Others the
British bar-maid abounds. She is'a M
tiOnal institution, this barmaid and one
Of very old standing, too. There have
been many changes in English fashion
and customs since she first appeared
upon the scene, but her style of dress
ing her hair remains the same and serves
as a pleasant reminder of the period
Immediately antedating our great civil
contest, when the waterfall was at
the zenith of its popularity,
had long and serious talk with
one o. these barmaids the other day. II
came about in this wise:
l had already discovered that in in
trusting one OF them with the task Of
mixing a drink for you it is necessary
to maintain as close a watch Of her
movements as YOU do of the barber
who cuts your hair and who will pur-
poSely distract your attention for a
moment by holding his tongue or do
ing something equally unexpected, and
then squirt pink hair tonic over you.
This particular barmaid was con-
structing for me what she imagined
was a gin cocktail, and l watched far
more .nJenJly than she knew.
Pleasant dge! she remarked, with
the risin infection which is one Of the
principal charms of the London bar
maid. agreed with her for 1t is always
we'll TO agree with a w0mac, even when
y0u fiCd IL necessary to watch her. And
While / agreed, l did not take ny eyes
eff her
Stop Ny clarion voice echoed
through the pub, my umbrella shot
across the bar and its crooked handle
descended firmly on her wrist. Never
60 into an American bar and order a
drink unless you have an umbrella or
cane with you, and are prepared 10 use
it at the first prOvocstiocD. she paused
in her work and looked up at me with
an expression or surprise in her wide
open, truStful blue eyes.
What's that you are going to put
into that cocktail?"I inquired with a
tcne similar to that employed by Mr..
Goff when el.citing testimony from a
LeEOw witness
Raspberry vinegar, sir; it goes in
nearly all American drinks, sir
well, there's one drink it won't go
in l retorted, "and that is mine"
And then as she replaced what looked
Ike a bottle of hair tonic On the shelf,
l continued:
"Gypsey, there are so few things re-
Quired in the Construction o. a cock
tail, and so many things in the world
that should not be put in It, that I Won
der how YOU can go astray in the mat
ter. Raspberry vinegar mag have its
rightful place in the economy OF ma
tUre-;hCugh l an rather inclined TO
doubt it-but it does not belong in the
gin cocktail any more than sawdust
does. or kerosene oil, or chioroform."
very well. sir" replied the maid.
chserfully. 4 won't put any in, sir, I"
and seiz.ng suspicious looking bottle,
she prepared to add some of its con-
tents to the cOnc0ction in the place.
Again and again l called upon her to
pause.
why. that is not raspberry vinegar
I'm putting in, sir she said in tones
that indicated her grief at MY want of
confidence in her. Il promised you I'll
not put any raspberry vinegar into it.
Don't you believe me. Sir?'
"Then what is it you were trying to
put in when I called upon you 10
pause"
That, Why that's the cherry cor
dial, sir. You can read ths name on the
bottle if YOU don't care TO take my word
for it, SIR"
saw that her feelings were hurt. that
her great, wide open, blue eyes were be-
ginning to ill up. and that there was
something like a culver in her voice as
she spoke.
GYPSY" l sad. leaning over the bar
and getting as near as possible to her
brown u come OF an old fashion,
ed superstitiOus race, and we have al
ways believed that the presence OF
cherry cordial in q gin cocktail was a
sure sign that there would be death in
the family before long. In the same
quaint fashion my parents reared me in
the belief that cocktail with raspberry
vinegar in it signified the shroud and
winding sheet. the tOlling of midnight
bells, the swift approach of the pale
rider. What have you in that glass
now. Gypsy?'
Why, I've only just begun it, sir.
I've got nothing in except a little ice
and the gin and the bitters, sir, and a
little sugar to sweeten it. sir. Now III