The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-08-04
SODA FOUNTAINS IN LONDON.
John Bull in Ecstasies Over American

John Bull in Ecstasies Over American
 Summer Beverages.
 With the thermometer anywhere be- tween eighty degrees and ninety de- grees in the shade the problem of com fortable existence presents no little complexity Dress, diet, drink-these are the three principal factors which present themselves to the consideration of the average mind, and unquestiona- bly, the greatest of these is drink.
 The tendency in favor of the lighter and less harmful forms of liquid re- freshment was certainly never more pronounced than at the moment, and this probably because the facilities for meeting the demand are incomparably superior to those to which our forefath- CTS were accustomed. Time was when any one in search of a non- alcoholic drink must quit the highways for the | hyways, and if he discovered a drinka- | ble bottle of ginger beer in an uninvi- 1 ting shop he deemed himself fortunate mortal. As for a cup of coffee. that was luxury which was only to be had at a 1 SLISGl SldIip oiC "uS bAoNN enough to encounter the wrath of the young lady behind the bar, whose views on these subjects were usually quite on
 a par with those of British nnanufactur- CTS who have lost so much of their for eigh trade because they deemed them- selves the sole judges of what their cus-
 toners could possibly want,
 There were so-called coffee-houses, it is true, but these were invariably so re-
 dolent of kippers and of haddocks that
 only great strength of character could
 overcome the sense of repulsion. Look
 ing back on it all, the wonder seems to
 be that the temperance movement, as 1t is called, ever survived conditions based
 on a profound belief that all truly patri- otic citizens must, at all seasons of the year, build themselves up on q diet of
 beef and beer. By rare stroke of en-
 terprise, it was, happily, discovered that the provision of light refreshments
 might be made very remunerative un-
 dertaking, and so one by one, quite pa-
 latial abodes have obtruded themselves
 on the main thoroughfares, until com-
 petition in this direction has brought
 the management of the best of them tc
 considerable pitch of perfection.
 Tea is, of course, the main plank 1T the platform of this particular class o1 ! caterers, and tea is much consumed during hot weather on the plea that 1T l the end it exerts a cooling influence
 But in the opinion of many the end Is st 5 far off as to scarcely justify the means ? | Hence there is a very large demand fo , such pleasant drinks as soda and milk lemon squash and iced coffee-the latte ! not very frequently to be had, In gen r ! eral the taste runs more and more Il 3 the direction of iced drinks, whether Il :, licensed or unlicensed houses. In tn
 former the popularity of stone ginge beer, lon the ice," is surprisingly main , tained, and if it is qualified at all tn l addition still usually takes the form 0 gin. Why, apart from alliteratior
 lthere should be so close a connection be tween gin and ginger beer nobod = seems able to explain. The chief alter X natives are shandy-gaff or lemon an a a dash" each of which is considered
 lrepresent a nice compromise betwee two opposing principles.
 a Taken altogether, it must be cor e fessed that English people are not su VI lperlatively enterprising in the produc
 ton of summer beverages. They al not driven to drink as their father y were. but the summer productions ord Il Inarily at their call are still limited an