Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-08-12
MILLIONS: N DRINKS
80 saT
Vast Quantities; Imported to
United States.
II -. Is
FRANCE IS IN THE LEAD
WE PAID THAT COUNTRY se,s5o,-
600 LAST sYEAR.
All Kinds Of Drinkables From Every
Part of the Habitable
Globe.
FRANCE IS IN THE LEAD

States paid the snug sum of more than
sl5oOoooo during 1902 in import duties,
Tar greater amount than ever before known
In the history of the government.
treasury officials state that this increase
Is not due to the fact that Americans are
an incorporate people. but our increasing
population has brought with them the
thirst for the drinks of the countries of
their nativity, the whistlewetters of the
United States not being to the liking of
our new citizenry
Naturally, with the increase of popula-
ton from foreign countries, the list of pc
culiar drinks increases and the import
duties roll up. In every port of entry from
New York to San Francisco may be found
samples of thousands of foreign alcoholic
beverages, and few Americans have any
idea of the wealth and variety of this field,
there being more than thousand different
brands OF legally recognized intoxicants
coming from almost every section of the
known world.
France Leads All Other Countries.
France and the united kingdom cupply
by FAR the larger quantities, the formers
drinkables costing US last year Sc $50, 0@0,
and the latters $3,214,O0O, while Germany
came next with 81. 345 coo, then Spain with
$67S,014;, Italy. $471 ,362 Canada, 1897, 443;
Austria Hungary, 1925 O13; Japan, $246 437;
Belgium, $2O0,207; Portugal, s146537; Meth
erland s11S,S55; British West Indies $780,
312 and so on down the line.
There is scarcely a country which does
not contribute one more brands 20 this
wonderfully long list of alcoholic concoc-
lions for which we pay more than s15OCO,
GOO and which places the United States
head and shoulders ahead of any nation on
earth for the quantity and variety of in
toxicants handled.
in, oil
of casks and bottles and even in sheep and
goat skin receptacles-the kind spoken of
in the Bible when the good men took
occasional nip of the nectar extracted from
the product of the vine. But the gentle
glass and casks have forced the skin bot
ties out of the market save occasional
import of the wines of Jerusalem for re-
ligiouS purposes. these including the Je
wine The governments samplers give
1t as their opinion that every brand is of
poor quality, and If it has always been
unpalatable as now the good Saint Paul
had little cause to recommend even a drop
or two for the stomach's sake, and that
the people of that fa1" off land have not
had the advantage of studying viticulture
as taught by Commissioner of Agriculture
Wilson.
However, the rabbits and their faithful
focks do not think they could get along
very well without the wines from Jerusa-
lem for their religious obServances, and
the skin bottles will continue to come to
our ports. The wines have a muddy APP
pearance and are thick and unpleasant to
the taste, having no C ance of becoming
popular with Americans, even if imported
in large quantities.
A Drink From Russia. @
Volka. or volky, comes in great quantities
from Russia, but about the same kind of
drink can be had at any time by drinking
the deadly spirit used in alcohol lamps in
emit ba
vite for the dead of winter, but it is too
snappy and fiery for a climate like ours.
The stuff is in the same class some of
the wet goods imported from Mexico
pulque and mescal. The former is sweet
ish-sour beer. made from rank cactus,
and is everything but pleasant to the
palate. 1t is a sort of liquid Limburger
cheese, with a dozen or two ancient eggs
thrown in.
Mescal is distilled from the pulque and is
a rank and corrosive liquor, the drinking
of which is sufficient to cause man to fall
in love with his mother-in-law or do other
unheard-of things. 1t is prime favorite
with Mexicans Indians and half breeds
who employ it apparently as a substitute
for suicide.
Intoxicants that are horrible both to nos
tril and palate are imported from Central
and South America. Casasha or white
cane rum, is several degrees worse than
any drink ever produced in Jersey. In
the interior of Porto Rico, Jamaica and
Brazil 1t is made in large quantities and
sold for less than common cider in this
country.
An immense array Of curious stimulants
come from the far east-China, Japan and
Java. The orientals have never learned to
make effervescent beverages, but outs de
of this they know as much about ferment-
ing and distlling as do Americans. In
some respects they have gone further and
utilized almost every vegetable from which
a juice fluid can be extracted.
A parallel would exist if we made whisky
from oats, buckwheat and rice and vine
from watermelons. cantaloupes and pump
kins. The government classes these east
ern liquors into wines. strong liquors, cor
dals and medicines.
None are very bad to taste. yet none are
very attractve-just about on an average
with fluids sold at the general run of Amer
lean wet goods emporiums. The far east
gives us many strong liquors-arrack, saki,
san, sui, ung, ka-pie. no-mah halo-to help
along the undertakers in utilizing the waste
grounds.
Odd and Strange Libations.
From European countries come an mex
haustible stream of odd and strange drinks
and it is a known fact among government
officials that a large number of these i'm
ports are limitations. Hamburg and Bre-
men manufacturers are adopts in adulter-
ating and counterfeiting the higher brands
of wines and all kinds of drinks.
higher class wines, and much attention has
been given to this class of industry. Every
port of entry in the United States receives
bogus wines, strong liquors, cordials, es-
sential oils and lfavoring extracts from
these shrewd maIlfpulators but at the
same time immense quantities of genuine
stuff come from the same places.
The Latin American countries put on us
some charming drinks, but in most cases
they are regarded as a little too sweet for
the average American, who delights in
something which will produce that good
feeling in fast mall time. For women and
invalids the drinks areI acceptable, but for
the rounder, no. All the Latin-Amercan
drinks are mild, but have the redeeming
feature of being inexpensive
Scandinavians temporarily residing in
America keep alive their love of home and
pleasure by drinking red caraway liquor,
Norwegian beer. Danish corn whisky and
Swedish punch. The first Is a combination
of alcohol, water .caraway seed. rose leaves
and anise 1t is ipungent and penetrating
and takes but a few minutes to get in its
work The beer is good, with a strong
body The Danish whisky reeks with fusel
oil and emits sickening vapor, while the
Swedish punch is a sweet and odorless mix
ture and could well bear the label of the
w. c. T. u, being of no more intoxicating
nature than ex-Postmaster General Wanna
makers famous Bethany punch" which