Washington sentinel., 1900-06-16
IT., - SENTINEL
Underground ii Towns of Chsmpa Gne
ROYAL Magazine.

is highly probable that had
champagne been known in the
time OF Shakespeare, the INN ortal
bard would not have permitted
Cassie to stigmatize the invisible
spirit OF wine as a devil, though in
the days Of good Queen Bess there
were, no doubt, wines which pro-
duced even worse mornings than
the full bodied ports a1cl fiery
sherries so beloved by our fore.
fathers. The worthy folk OF the
last century who scorned claret
because it was a wine which did
not enable the consumer, in the
words of the old farmer, ito get
any forrader," would in all proba-
bility have despised the pale, yell
low fluid, which TalleYrand called
the Vin ctUtlSatc4y par F,rceLieRee.
II the vineyards of the Cyprus
commandery produce the strong
est wine, those which flourish in
the low hills oil that department
OF France through which the
Marue TRANQUILITY flows furnish the
most popular. Mankind no sooner
discovered that the luscious inVen-
tion Of Don Perignon, who, Of
certainty, must have been better
cellarman than a monk, possessed
the truly divine power OF trans
forming the anxious, care-laden
citizen into a light hearted brilliant
creature merry OF speech, sunny
IA aspect, and sparkling OF eye,
than they straiPhtwaY accorded it
such favor that today the power OF
champagne rivals that Of statesmen
and kings. II the Press is the
fourth estate, then oi a surety
champagne is the fifth. No social
function is complete without It, 1t
oils the wheels OF diplomacy, and
knots which reason fails to loosen
champagne sewers with ease. In
deed, so great is the demand that
1000 acres in the vicinity of the
river Marne are given up to the
cultivation of the vine. AS the
average production is twenty-one
million gallons (the sales to Eng
land alone exceeding twenty mil
lions bottles year,, the wine trade
is gradually altering the aspect OF
the country.
The quaint architecture and
crumbhng houses of Eperney, the
Roman antiquities and grand old
cathedral OF Rheims, enable these
towns to retain their old world
air. But their belated survivals
exist only on suterance. They
are not in the way, moreover, for
the real towns of Champagne are
underground, bustling, busy
places, where the chief business OF
the industry is carried on, These
subterranean cities are of vast ex-
tent because champagne, although
a product OF nature, is dependent
on man for the DEVELOPMENT OF
those qualities which have won it
the favor It enjoys. 1t is also coy,
for after leaving the sun kissed
vines, the raw wine so shuns the
light of day that cellars, at once
dark and cool, are necessary Tor its
Transformation into
Ch mpagne with foaming whirls
AS white as Cleopatra's pearls.
These underground towns have
widened and spread as the popu-
larity OF the wine has grown. The
growers have even taken to tun-
nelling at Ay. little village nest
ling between the the vine clad
slopes and the Marne Canal.
Underground Champagne shud-
ders at the mere mention of cham
pagne being mixed with ice or ice
water, and declares that it's flavor
is injured if it IS cooled below a
temperature OF 50 deg. Under
ground Champagne has, needless
to say, it's grievances. 1t is apt to
revile Nature for not providing
really bountiful vintages ofener
than once IN four or FIVE years. In
the opinion Of the cellars, the vim
tage Of 1899 was OF fine quality,
but not oVer-abundant. When the
ladies and gentlemen Of the lower
regions (Champagne) dine sump.
tuously they prefer champagne
early in the reDast, not because
they like it, but because cham
payne, they say, is the parent oil
good appetite. The British work
ing man, with his short hours Of
work, would probably not care Tor
a job in Underground Champagne.
Day after day the working people
leave for eleven or twelve hours
the outer wcrld,to discharge duties
which, If not heavy, must be ex
tremelY monotonous. One INTEL
ligent old Frenchman assured me,
when visited Rheims, that he had
worked below nigh upon forty. FIVE
years. His duties consisted in
shaking the bottles to dislodge the
sediment. Having stated that he
had shaken fifty bottles a minute
during a working day of twelve
hours for these iortY-6ve years, he
asked me to calculate how many
bottles he had shaken. l consid.
cred for a moment, and then in
continently took to my heels. Un-
derground Champagne may pro-
duce good wine, but il seems to
sour the disposition OF those who
tend il. / found most OF the in
habitants taciturn, not to say mis-.
anthropical. In one cellar at
EpeTnaY l came a cross an old man
who assured me that the place was
hlled with ghosts and g blins. If
the cellar folk drank the wine theV