The Bryan daily eagle. (Bryan, Tex.) 1895-1898, 1896-06-07
low

~ - AhItt Tunes ~
much beer and
eight times as
much spirits "a We do today, ssya
the New York Journal Judging by the
drink figures OF the middle OF the last
century this Is decidedly a temperate
age instead OF the reverse.
The History Of London. published
about 1850. by william Maitland. r. 4
S.. contains probably the most CEN
plcte and careful account that was ever
printed regarding the population. the
consumption OF liquor and the number
Of public houses al that time. The
author was O scientific man. whose
only object was 10 ascertain the facts,
and he spared no pains to make them
as accurate 90 possible Tho statistics /
OF population were reached by an cx-
lrcmely careful computation Of the /
l.ls Of mortality. which furnish the |
most satisfactory data for the purpose |
short OF a census. The number Of pub /
nc houses was ascertained by actual
survey. and the figures Of consumption
we're derived from the eustom-house
ard excise returns
The population OF London was found
10 be at that tine 725,9o5. This seems
70 be approximately correct, for me
number Of houses was 95,s6s which
fiyos an average Of nearly eight per-
sons 10 a house. Nowadays the houses
In The English metropolis are larger.
and the average is between eight and
nine persons The quantity Of liquor
consumed b. this opulatlon Of three
quarters Of e million Is almost incred-
IDLE. as will be seen from the following
figures: Beer. 7o955.6Oi gallons: splr-
It's. ii.2C5.627 gallons. and wine, 5000
",uns" The wine may be left ous Of
the reckoning because Il is not certain
a. this day what Is meant by "tun,"
bet the others show the following con-
sumption per head. Beer nlnety-saven
gallons: spirits. fourteen gallons
The force Of these figures viii be
appreciated when Il Is stated that the
average consumption per head In the
united Kingdom during the last thirty
years has been. Deer. 2S4 gallons.
spirits and wine together. las gallons.
Tho Highest figures recorded during
these three decades are. Beer. "a gal
Ions IN 1874. spirits and wine, Isl In
1875. The consumption In the United
States Of these beverages ia somewhat
less per capita
There we're C5i inns and taverns. g..
SIS alehousos and $3.50 "bFandy-shoTs'
I'm all i52ss houses for the oonsump
ton Of liquor on the premises In thii
age. which has been called by oontsm
porary writer's a hesotted one. Their
was. therefore. one pothouse TO ever
six other structures. and one TO ever
foriy-seyen persons. In 1891 the pro
portions were l to s. and to $50 re
spectiyely At the present day. ever
n the total number OF retail license
Of all sorts. both for consumption o
liquor on the premises and OF. Is tax
en-. including grocers licenses AM
!, those for restaurants. they only rep
n resent to every $50 persons tn
+, drinking rlacoa In London In the las
i century we're. therefore. nearly ici
70 tlmcs as numerous. according TO N
population. as they are to-day.
" The largest number Of these old
N time drinking places were the brandy
d, shops" or places where strong spirit
- were sold almost exclusively The ma
a. lority Of these were In the poorer quar-
3. lers OF London. In the east end and o
~ the Surrey side OF the Thames. Ale
houses were everywhere. being plent
81, evenly distributed. but they were MOI
ry numerous In the better parts Of tow
This seems to throw some light o
30 the habits OF the working classes ,
10 that time and to dispose Of the 'iC
- that bar-drlnking is modern inycI
ton. As a matter Of fact the publ
- house was even less a place Of real u
. . srcshment and more OF a mere bar tina
~. Il Is to-day
De- The most striking fact contained
'i- the foregoing figures Is the prodlgiol
- quantity OF spirits consumed. In i6'
H the distilling business In England n
cclved such favorable legislation III
ID. Il increased with incredible rapidil
and the product was sold at an a
or. touishlngly low figure compared vii
the prices In vogue to-day. Up TO q
~ latter part OF the seventeenth oentul
ter The English lower classes had been q
WI most exclusively beer drinkers. b
,,, when the stronger form OF alcohol b
4 came cheap they took TO q with ayi
NO lty and the demand was almost ecu
nj. to the supply IN the course OF for
eel ycarc the amount produced ran up FRO
Ic' 500 600 to nearly io.o00,O00 gallons p
H., lnnum. and a great deal was import
~, IN addition. AZ the same time the &C.
me. sumption Of beer fel on. but not 20
;ly, corresponding extent.
an. The list Of splrliS.ihat were drul
r' In those days inci thirteen dl1,
10 cnt varieties. but Several OF them
,,n such as "cltron" and cordial waters
Geneva. Hungary waters. rackee 81
| 10 usquebaugh only consumed
yer very small quantities. These were
ed: imported. The British dlstiller
or .urncd out but three klnds-"malt 50
S g." cider spirits" and "molasi
-. s,irlts"-Of which the nrai rem