The morning news., 1897-08-07
DRINKS AND DRINKERS.
American Drinking Customs Are
Distinguished From Those of other
Nations
From the Chicago Times-Herald.

Nations.
From the Chicago Times Herald.
The drinking customs of America are dis
tinguished from those of other civilized
countries only by the habit of treating. In
England four men Will sit al the table of a
public house and each will pay for his
liquor. In America one will pay for the
four. Then another pays in turn. In Eng
land this means social converse. In Amer
lea 1t means drunk. In this country are
probably so anti-treat societies. They
seem to exercise little effect. The most
successful with which l am acquainted
has its habitat in Washington, D. c. Ad-
miral Ammen and other men hign in place
are members. / have watched them at
their devotions more than once, and / cam
not say that any less liquor was consumed
because each man paid for himself They
are satisfied with themselves, however
and that is the main thing after all. Ger
tainly, if any men need the anti-treat re-
strictions, naval officers and former naval
officers need them. Sea dogs are jolly
dogs. That is proverbial. 1t should be
said, though, that a drunken officer of the
American navy is as rare as white crow
Long practice and sea air have rendered
him immune. Listen: Giving naval man
whisky differs from pouring it into a rat
hole only in that you have the satisfaction
Of knowing how far down it goes.
The drinkers of each section of the union
have a distinctive salutation. The wiry
easterner, whose mind is on his business
and whose life is one long sprint after
the swift dollar, says briefly, "Well"'
tosses off his liquor and is gone The west
erner with more time and freedom and
easiness, remarks cordially, Let her go"
and she goes. The courtly southerner likes
to talk above his glass. He has more leis-
ure than anybody and takes more delight
in social converse. With him drinking is
a means to an end. He wants to hobnob
with his fellow man. He will tell you,
Your very best health, suh!' or Many
happy days. or My best wishes and re-
CARDS, subj officers of the army say,
How" This is universal-common
to any town or fort in the country. When
you hear a man give this salutation you
may be sure that he belongs to the army,
or has belonged to it, or has associated
much with army people. 1t said to have
been derived from the Indians who use
the exclamation to express a variety of
things.
1t is a world of strange drinks. Ameri-
cans are supposed to be past masters in
the art of mixing singular decoctions. The
very names of them give the untraveled
Englishman a sense of wonder extreme.
We have the cock tail of various kinds.
the rickey, the ginsling, the julep, the
stone-fence the eye-opener, the brain
duster, the silver-fizz, the golden-fizz, the
smash, the pick-me-up, the Remsen-cool-
er, toddies innumerable and punches with
out limit One barkeeper of New York
city, known to newspaper men affection
ately as the only William" has publish
ed a book containing recipes for the max
ing of more than 5000 drinks. Many of
them are of his own invention, but they
may be had as far west as the Pacific. In
Martin Chuzzlewit" Dickens had little
good to say of America. The book raised
an agonized howl on this side of the At
lantic. We were much younger then, with
the vanity as we'll as the beauty of adol-
escence. But when Martin had reached his
room and Mark Tapley had removed his
boots, the master of English fiction pays
tender and loving tribute to the opales-
cent delights that lie deep down in the
heart of a sherry cobbler. They are the
kindest lines in all that part of the tale
devoted to America.
In other lands, however are drinks far
beyond ours in strength and strangeness.
There is the Russian vodki, for instance.
A gill of it poured down Carthagenian
mummy viii set that long dead person to
lighting all his Punic battles DER again.
In the forceful language of the west,
'"Two drinks of it will make man go
home and steal his own pants" The West
Indian gets from the cocoanut clear pure
water, toddy and arrack, which is a rock
splitting brandy. OF their toddy Boyle
says 'it looks like skim milk and smells
like SEQ slaves in a pen" The Marquesans
have a seductive drink called aroo. A
number of young boys sitting in circle
chew fresh cocoanut and when 1t is sutil-
ciently masticated eXpectorate it into
bowl that is the common receptacle. Fresh
water is poured upon this delectable mix
ture and it is allowed to ferment. The
south sea islanders prepare the ava root
in the same way. Paul du Chaillu once
found a wonderful drunkard in the per-
son of the King of Olenga- Yombi. When
he was an infant his father would take
him to the top of A tall tree and force
him to drink palm wine, until he came TO
prefer il to his mothers milk. 1t was
the ingenious parents ambition 20 make
him the champion boozer of equatorial
Africa, and he succeeded. The King of
Olenga-Yombi in Du Chaillus time had
been solidly drunk for fifteen years, and
when last heard from was calling loudly
for another gourd full
Genuine palm wine is made from the
PALMYRA palm, and is far superior to any
potable product of the cocoanut. Capt.
Burton of Burton & Speke says that the
juice of the oil palm makes drink that
is unapproached by the liquids of civili-
zation Ii is of delicious color and flavor,
and it's effects are eXhilaration unmiXed
with ferocity or a headache next day.
Livingstone makes mention of an intoXi-
cant brewed by the Majenga tribe of the
Zambesi. 1t is made from the grain of the
country, sun-dried and gently boiled. The
fermented liquor eventuates into pala-
table beer. It win produce superior
brand of drunk, which leaves no i'll effect.
Indeed, II is an antfebrile of remarkable
power, and it was when stricken with
Jungle fever that the good doctor was
made acquainted with Il. Despite his pro-
tests. the kindly natives poured Il down
him until ne saw visions and dreamed
dreams and awoke wen man. The intro-
duction Of the drink TO this country would
cause a wonderful Increase N the number
OF fever cases.
The Abyss. mans drink a beer made from
nour dough. and 1t seems to be winner
when opposed TO the Italian chlanti. They
have also a honey wine. called "tedge,"
that is highly praised by the Jesuit fa-
ther Foncet "Moak" they brew by boil
ing their beer with honey, eggs, butter
and spice "Besden' IS made from mullet
steeped In ledge" allowed to ferment for
ten days in the sun. The Soo-Soos make
"a palatable drunk-making drink from