The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-07-06
WHAT coLoN1sTs DRANK.

til They Learned to Raise Material
 for Beer, Rum and Cider-Wines
 Among the First Imports of New
 England.
 The English were not Q nation of Wa ter drinkers. Their greatest physicians and scientists constantly taught that water was not supplied by nature as beverage It was asserted to deject the appetite, destroy the natural heat and overthrow the stomach. It was said to ''fiit and swim" through the body, and even its mildest judges acknowledged that 1t was mot convenient"
 The colonists in America reared in these beliefs suffered much in the new world in the earliest days from water drinking. Bradford, the Pilgrim gover- nor, complained loudly, while Higgin- son. the Salem minister boasted in 1929: ''Whereas my stomach could only di- gest.and did require such drink as was both strong and stale, can, and oft times do, drink New England water very we'll" As he died shortly after writing this his words do not carry their intended force. One bold New Englander says of water: T dare not preferre this before good beere but any man would choose 1t before bad beere, Wheay or buttermilk,"
 Water drinking was held in special abhorrence in Virginia, for the notion arose that the great mortality among the early immigrants was caused by the enforced use of water at that time dur dnglthe scarcity of beer. The Assembly in 1928 recommended all new corners to bring a plentiful supply of malt, to be used in brewing, and thus not be forced to drink water 'till the body be- came hardened" Earlier still-in 1909, in the True and Sincere Declaration" Issued by the governor and council brewers were asked for, and also among the tradssmen demanded to go with Gates. Soon barley and hops were plentifully grown in Virginia, and 1t became no longer necessary to import beer from England In 1852 George Fletcher obtained monopoly in Vir- ginia for fourteen years of brewing in wooden vessels. Whether this affected the progress of brewing do not know. but soon 1t gradually declined, as did the cultivation of barley.
 The Virginia planters quickly discov cred theladaptability of the persmmon forhbser by making and baking cakes of the fruit, and then brewing from these cakes. They brewed beer from dried Indian corn, from potatoes. from pumpkins, and from bran and molasses, from green stocks of maize chopped and mashed. They planted the Jerusa- lem artiohoke like barley to be used in brewing and distilling. The Royal Manuscript commission gives the pro- ject of a chemist named Russel, who, flor one Nhousand pounds, paid by the Virginia company, agreed to demon- strata the making of wine or beer from the sassafras tree. So there was no lacking for materials for brewing.
 New England did not long continue lin a-beerless state. They imported malt and learned how to make beer from h. dian corn, and quickly learned to cheat dn brewing, using coarse molasses. In 1884 an ale quart of beer cost penny at an ordinary, and landlord could be fined if he charged a higher price, or if his beer was of a low standard. Tav- ern keepers also were enjoined to sell no more than quart of beer out of meat times. This was to prevent sbye drinkingF'
 he patrons found breweries prof itable business in New York, and pri- vate families in all the colonies built home brew-houses. But in New Eng Iand drinking habits soon underwent a change New Englanders soon drifted from beer drinking to cider drinking, as the many apple orchards seen on every farm began to give forth their bounti- full yield. Perhaps this also was 1ndl- rectiy the influence of the New England climate, Cider was soon so cheap and pIenttful that all could have their fill, - +1 In H. Mar held what was known as the Indian barrel, which was on free tap for every stray Indian who chanced to pass that way. Some tough old Indian squawe and sorry braves had a regular round of households for each day in the week, nnd with liberal draughts from each cellar managed to end each day in the wear in a state of that blissful and mo- fionIess inebriety so beloved by the mo- Ble red man.
 All drank cider, old and young. In- fants in arms drank mulled older at night, a beverage which would kill a modern babe Ola men began the day with quart of hard cider before break Hast. Delicate women drank cider Tine whole apple crop was so devoted to the manufacture of cider that in the Hays of temperance reform, at the be- ginning of this century. temperance Eealots cut down whole orchards of full bearing trees. not>conceiving any ade- uuate use of the fruit for any purpose save cider making.
 The presses for cider making began tc be set up about the year 165O Massa- chusetts had before that planted apple trees very generally, and Henry Vol colt had planted them at Windsor, ir nhe Connecticut valley, and sold botf trees and fruit before 1649. Apples were six to eight shillings bushel; cidel one shilling eight pence gallon-as High priced as rum century later.
 Connecticut cider soon became fa' nous. Roger Williams in 1860 says John winthrop's loving letter to hin was as grateful as "a cup of your Con- necticut cider" By 1897 it was cheal enough-ten shillings barrel. and il