The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-03-10
STIFF DRINKERS. TEE p~un1rIy,
Their Distrust or water ana Prediction r..
NTsdrord Rum.

Fron the Independent.
Our Puritan ancestors hardly imagined ,h,,
water was either a hoalthful or n ~sutncicr,
beverage, it we may judge from some nnr.
graphs in their letters and diaries. GOV. Brad.
ford bitterly complains OF tho hardship of b,v.
ing to drink water. as no beor or wine was 10 h.
had. In 1929 an appeal was sent to the HON.
Company for ministers" n patent u1d.,
seals" that their legal status as c]olonists migStt
be clear and stable; and also they want "vyns
rSootes.% When The answer to ,h n.'' ,np hog
months. il carried "forty.dvc tuns of 6Tcsegrfness
two casks Of MaieEH and Canaric twenty
drinking and all only six tIns "" Of water, crsNi pS.:
ing back a glowing account Of the, attractions Of
by the fine air; and he added:
Whereas my stomach could only digest and dn
now / can and doe cftentlmes JJripss ,aS NIX an tale
water ycrie well. ~
One Wood wrote in the Ne,r EnGiand's Pros
pect that the country was well watrrci. ana
with a water unlike that to be found in England
jetty color ii thought that there eau be no " better ~Hrs
Beere. as As some have done. Those that drink II +, EsSGi
beautiful. fresh and lustie as they that drink heere.
early as 1891 the people Of the colony had
passed a law for putting drunkards in the
stocks, and browhouses multiplied. and an ale
The manufacture Of other drinks dcvclonei
rapidly. Fifty years later. Judge Sewall names
siilabub. clarst. sack canary, puSeh, sack:
posset. and black cherry brandy. Everybody
f sTank in sis asan TalSa was Besides RSESdG 9Sss, On iS,r sy yer
"beveridgo" and "swiZzle' made from molasscs
and water. and many kinds of beer; but the
corn. pork and lumber TO the West Indies and
brought back raw sugar and molssses. which,
There was a distillery in every inland town
while, those on the coast had scores of them. The
significant name "killdiyii" was universally
coast in. exchange for slaves. Film" and
punch" were made and drunk on all imagina.
Bile occasions, Laborers would not work at tho
harvest, nor builders at the trades. withouta
liberal allowance of rum.
Large quantities of liquor were consumed
messed In many Of the parish records still ep.
tant. The following record is that OF the town
OF Beverly, Mass. at an ordination in MISS:
80 Bowles Punch before they went to meeting 8 o
30 people eating in the morning at l6d 900. q . 0
10 bottles of wine before they went to meeting j 10 3
a 6owIes punch while; at dinner."::
~ botties wine. ga D
howles brandy
and six people drank NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. 0
Even at a raising of a meeting house large
stores of intoxicants must be laid in. When tho
meeting house in Medleld. Mass, was raised
there was provided four barrels beer, twenty.
four gallons, West Indian rum. thirty gallons
twenty-five pounds brown sugar, and 465 lem.
ons. When, a century ago. Gen. Washington
was engaging a gardener, it was explicitly
stated in the contract that he should have
Four dollars at Christmas. with which lie may 10
drunk for four days and four nights; two dollars At
Easter for the same purpose two dollars at WhisGn.
tide, to be drunk for two days; a dram in the morn.
ing, and a drink OF grog at dinner at noon.
Every tavern displayed many d~ccanters Of
liquor to be drunk with all meals. free. and tho
f1ip-iron was kept constantly heated in the tav.
ern fire; the sideboard of every private family
had a various assortment of liquors, and not TO
ask q caller TO drink was q breach of nOSpttal.
ity; in short, temperance sentiment as we now
know 1t, did not exist.