Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1897-09-17
DRINKS OF MANKIND.
Many Of Them. lnelu,ling BseF. Are veFy
Ancient.

Ancient.
In the beginning men drank water
and then came TO use the milk Of cows.
asses and caRmels. Then in some spirit
of invest i@aiion they drew the milk of
mares and perhaps the supply more
than equalod the demand, for some Of
1t was left over to stand and ferment,
md as result they had koumyss, from
which they first learned the delights Of
intosication
Next in harml.ssness 10 milk are
those drinks which are prepared from
the products of the soil without the aid
of fermentation. Such are tea, coffee,
cocoa. chocolate. Among these the use
of Cocoon is probably the most an
cient in Europe, a. it reached there be-
fore either tea and coffee. Emperor
Montczuma must have been very fond
of it, as he had 1900 jars prepared daily
for the use of his Household and so for
his own consumption.
Columbus, who did many good things,
carried the knowledge of cocoa to Eu-
rope and it soon became common in
Spain. 1t was introduced to England
in 1857 and about the beginning Of the
18th century chocolate. which 10 prep
aration from the same plant, became
fashionable there. as.ss<
Coffee, the drink more highly re-
garded to-day than any other. was first
used in Abyssinia in s75. Thence it wa
brought to Arabia. A Greek first intro.
duced it to England and made himself
famous by the act.
Tea, which rivals coffee in favor, IL q
native Of China, where it has been
grown for over 1,O"O years Pepys men
tons having drank it in 1860. showing
that it was then q novelty.
1t will surprise those who like teel
to hear that it is not modern inven
ton. 1t was made by tho Egyptian
many hundreds of years before tn,
Christian era, as well as by the Greeks
and Romans. We have received it from
the ancient Gauls, who were grea'
drinkers as well as feeders. Undoubt
eddy the use of beer was common a
early as the use Of wine. -
Among the Egyptians, Greeks, Ro
mans and Athenians beer was mad
from barley, while in Spain and Britain
wheat was used for mailing. Tacitu
in the first century said that beer wa
the usual drink Of the Romans and tn
soldiers of Caesar introduced it int.
Britain. 4
So-called beer was made in England
long time ago by tapping spruce, fl
birch, maple and ash trees and usinl
their juices. This process is still KEEP
up in England and in this country
where homemade beers from roots ar
much used.
Ale, which is more used in Englan'
than in America, is . heavier matte
liquor than beer, and contains SINAI
proportion of hops. 1t was favorit
drink of the Anglo-Saxons and Danes.
A more aristocratic drink is wine, tn
use of which is as old as civilization
It's origin ia ascribed to the gods. Tn
culture of the vine began in Armeni
and Pontus and speedily spread. Tn
most famous of Asiatic wines was this
of Chalyb, which furnished the table
of the Persian kings. Wine was nc
used by the most ancient Romans.
Whisky, which is more Democrat
than wine. is distilled from variou
grains, from potatoes and from matte
barley. 1t was named by the Celts /
Ireland and Scotland. Brandy, drin
not 30 universally used, is distilled fro,
wine.-Chicago News.