The Saint Paul globe., 1900-06-17
Col, R3ekep ON
I12i8ed Drinks.

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COL Joe Rickey, the man who invented
the drink that bears his name, sat in the
cafe of the Waldorf-Astoria talking pol
iucs with Senator Squire, Col. Thomas
p. Ochitree and several others the other
night. when the subject of "Rickeys'
came up for discussion.
AS might be expected, Col. Joe had
much information to impart.
''Thcre is a mistaken impression that I
created the drink now known all over the
world as a 'Rickey,'" he said, but, as a
matter of fact, 1 don't think I ever drank
Hickey in my life.
THE Hickey originated in Washing
ton. and I was in a sense responsible for
IT. You see, it was like this: 1 never
drank whisky neat. It's a mighty in-
furious system but whisky diluted with
q little water won't hurt anybody. OF
course. a carbonated water makes it
brighter. and more palatable, and for
that reason always took a long drink,
usually whisky and water with lump
Of ice
UIGHBALL OF COMMERCE.
"Ghis is the highbau of common com
mcrce, and has been known to thirsty
humanity for many generations. To this,
however, ] added the juice of a lemon in
my Geene to get d healthful drink, for
the lemon acid is highly beneficial, and
tones up the stomach wonderfully.
This combination became very popu-
Jar at Schoonmaker's, in Washington,
where 1 did most Of my drinking, and
gradually the folks began asking for
Gr,I7,
this time the use of lines became fairly
common, and one afternoon an expert
meuler tried the effect of lime juice in
stead of lemon juice in the drink, and
from that time ON all 'Rickeys' were
made tIom lines.
"I never drink the lime juice Conbina-
ll0n myself because 1 think the lemon
acid is mellower and more beneficial.
THE drink named after me was always
made by the experts in Schoonmaker, s
from lines thereafter, and soon became
popular. Washington, during a session
of congress, Is filled with people from all
parts Of the country, and soon the fame
of the new drink spread North and
South East and West, until it could be
found all the way from the granite cliffs
of Maine to the Golden Gate of Cali
fornla, and from the gloomy forest of the
Northwest to the sandy wastes of Key
West.
MADE A THING OF SHAME.
"Only here in New York was it per
verted and made a thing of shame Here
they make it with gin, which is a liquor
no gentleman could ever bring himself
to drink In fact. the gin riclley IS abou.
the only kind known in this city, and the
average barkeeper looks surprised if yoH
ask him for one MADE with rye whisky.
81 see, by the way" continued Col. Joe,
now Well started on ms way conVersa-
ti9ualIy. that a writer on your paper
has called attention to the fact that
cocktail is a mighty mean drink. No man
possessed Of any intelligence will drink
any sort of mixed drink, but of them all,
cocktails are The worse.
THE whisky put into cocktails would
cut new street through Harlem. Most
of it never saw the inside of a distillery
1t is probably made down on Heste
street from vinegar, concentrated lye,
chemical extracts and naphtha. That
barkeeper who said he paid dollar and
a half for his mixing whisky was prob
ably lying, as l don't think the average
Broadway baTkeeper pays that much for
the straight stuff he sells over the bar.
AT any rate, he can't afford to pay much
for mixing whisky, as too much of 1t is
consumed in q drink to give any great
returns.
ITS not only the cheap whisky put
into cocktails, but the quantity used,
that makes them so deadly" continued
the colonel
81 can demonstrate to you in a minute
just why the cocktail dTinker falls by the
wayside. while the man who sticks to
straight liquor is always sober enough to
take him home"
He CONDEMNS THE COCKTAIL.
The colonel then took up an empty
cocktail glass and filled it with water He
then poured the water from the cock tail
glass into an ordinary whisky glass, just
filling ii.
you see,' said the colonel, that there
is a whisky glass full of liquor in cock
tail. The consequence is that a man
drinking cocktails is drinking about three
times as much every trip as the man
who is putting down the straight stuff.
Moreover, he is imbibing poorer whisky
in combination with all sorts of things
which should not be taken into the stom-
RCh. lie is certain to set drunk in pretty
short order.
Col. Hickey then discoursed long and
plainuVely upon the quality Of liquor sold
in New York.
81 don't know of more than three plac-
es in New York where a man can get
whisky fit to drink, he said. Rents
are so high along Broadway that the sa-
loonkeepers cannot afford to sell better
than the very cheapest brands. 1t is no
protection to call for case goods. You'll
get a bottle labeled ali right, but bearing
signs of misuse. A single glance will
show you that it is probably the only
bottle that ever came into the place. 1t
has been filled and refiiled until the label
has peeled partly off, and has been