The Saint Paul globe., 1905-04-23

1
bartender in New Orleans, has
compiled book in which he sets forth
the drinks of the world
: The American who has run the
gamut from sioe gin highballs to poets
dreams, imbibed everything from a
Tom Collins to bourbon with dash of
oitters. is merely an amateur drunk
ard compared with the army of drinks
that are served to the nations of the
world.
Necaire has listed S4S American
drlnks-or naturalized drinks-that are
worthy of place in his book, whereas
he has an array of 11,754 mixed and
straight drinks that, so far as he can
find out, have never been served in the
United States.
Every Drink Except Two Injurious
To add TO the value of the compila-
tion-which has taken twenty-six
years of work and research, of corre-
spondence with governments, with
travellers, with bartenders in other
countries-Necaire adds note in
which he says that every one of the
drinks he describes is Injurious to
greater or lesser degree and each one
aids in the degeneration of the peoples
who use them-eXcept, possibly. fer
mentation of goats milk found in
northern Siberia and wild honey fer
meDtation discovered in central Aus
tralia. The others he declares are pos
itively harmful to the drinker and. TO
support his argument, he records sew
enteen races of men among whom alco-
holic beverages are unknown and
proves. TO his own satisfaction at least,
that these peoples are the happiest and
healthiest on earth.
The compilation of drinks is a re-
markable one. Necaire awards to the
Russians the doubtful honor of being
the greatest drunkards and the most
cosmopolitan drunkards, and to the
Swedes the distinction of having in
vented the most drinks-and the best
tasting drinks. He declares the drinks
of the German Chat is the native
drinks) are the most healthful, and he
declares brandy the worst drink. out
classing whisky. beer, or wine in ex-
tent of evil and in results
Russia Nation of Drunkards
Russia" says Necaire, is the great
est drinking country in the world. The
Russians drink more violent spirits
than any other nation, and they have a
greater assortment of drinks, despite
the fact that vodka supplies the place
of wine, beer, whisky and brandy with
the great mass of the Population.
But the Russians must yield to the
Georgians - their dependents - In
amount drunk per capita The Georg
ian is never sober from birth to death
and manages to keep in this condition
on wines. Men and women are always
befuddled. caused mainly by a mixture
of ether with light wines"
Iceland follows as nation of drunk
ards. They drink everything known.
importing from Sweden and from
America and England. Fermented vim
egar, sweetened with syrup, with a
dash of brandy, is one of the favorite
drinks. The Icelanders have drink
concocted from the glands of the whale
that is terrific in it's effect, although
only ten drops are used in a glass of
| sweet wine or sweetened water.
The most delicious drink, which the
New Orleans "mixologist" awards the
prize, even over his beloved absinthe,
was sent to him in a bottle by a corre-
spondent who found it In central Aus
tralia, where 1t was used by the natives
| who dared try it-having no Reyholes
to find. The drink is made of wild
honey, mixed with peppermint gum
Just add water and serve" The taste,
he declares, beats anything he ever
found with the wild tang of the honey
accenting the delicious flavor of the
gum.
Dutch Drinking Is Unhealthful
| Inc DulCn, declares Ine DOOZe MS
! torian, "are, perhaps, the most un-
healthful drinkers in the world. They
drink huge quantities of rum and gin,
| and this, on top of a diet of smoked
| eels, hard, boiled eggs and picked Gu
cumbers, with much smoking, is not
conducive to good digestion" Perhaps
| not-yet the writer says the Dutch do
| better on it than they 10 when they
| attempt to fight American whisky.
The old warning, Don't mix your
| drinks" appears from a perusal of Ne
| CARES book to apply to nations as we'll
as individuals. He cites numerous in
| stances of nations figuratively going
under the table" on foreign drinks that
| could absorb unknown quantities or
their home booze without becoming
spiffiicated,'' as he POLITICALLY writes 1t.
! The Australians are an example. They
swallowed the honey peppermint decoc-
tioD in immense quantities, but went
all to pieces under mead from New
! South Wales
"Berbers, in northern Africa, have
learned this lesson" he writes. "They
drink great quantities of delicious
home made wine, made from grapes,
/ but refuse and become true Mohamme-
dams when offered foreign drinks. They
] drink a mixture of sour wine with fer
mented goats milk which is said to
| taste better than it sounds
Knockout Drops in Africa
Ore of the greatest drinks Necaire
! found was among the Uganda natives
/ in Africa, called abana wine, which,
! like cider or an Indian, is good only
| for a few days. The bananas, whole,
are placed in hole in the ground lined
with green leaves and tramped. Then
water is added, the hole covered and
| left for a few days, when hay is mixed
| into it. Then it is placed in a wooden
| trough and water is added and the
mass stirred. The liquid drfps into
pans, and for twenty-four hours is de-
| licious, then ii fermentS and becomes
| a rival of the famous dynamite" of
London slums. made of ether, mixed
! with wine or beer.
"Mubisi," which is the Uganda drink,
| Is declared worse than the bino Of the
| Philippines, which the natives have
| learned to mix with gins.
The Bulgarians," says the bartender,
| would make ideal customers. They
drink light sour wines. mixed with wa
] ters. At festivals they drink freely. but
never fight, row. quarrel or sing.
The queerest drunks in the world
are participated in by the Koriaks and
| the Kamchatkans of northeast Siberia.
! Whole tribes, numbering hundreds Of
men and women. get drunk and stay
drunk weeks at time on the fly mush-
room. They need no mixing of drinks.