The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1906-06-05
WITNESSES BUSY
WITH MANY DRINKS


quit. rapid orIrr and each one bad Goo
go the route, Tho government is try-
ing Goo nud out whether sake is wine
or e. beer and water wagons don't go
m the witness bot
United states Attorney Levott ~
Washington did lot of Juggling with
the drinks for the benefit of the last
morning witness, Japanese whose
thirst must bo subject To- "a very fine
cultivation. There were sherry, port
wine and clarot, several kinds OF each,
and sake. and after Tom Fitch had
done with the witness ANA got his om-
phatic opinion that sake had no re-
somblauce at an to any of them, Lea
vett began. lie poured out lot of
drinks, mixed the glasses AN up and
told the Jap to go TO Il again
without a tremor the Japanese rails
ed one glass after another and went
down the row, while the crowd gazed
on i'm awe The witness rolled his eyes
i'm heavenly revcrie and then said some
thing including the word sake. He
had picked out the Japanese booze
Lcavett tried new game. He took
a sample of sherry, a sample of port
and a sample of sake and invited the
Jap to tackle them again.
would you say that the sherry re-
sombles the port more than the sake
resembles the either of them?" he
asked.
The sherry does not resemble the
sake at ALL" the witness replied with
emphatic gestures, after a lot more
tasting BY this time he perhaps sus-
pected that the United States was
trying to get him drunk, but the Japa-
nese was game.
Leavett was not satisfied with the
answer and called for repetition of
the test. The Jap went bravely through
the drinks again. He sampled each
several times and thought over each
one. The crowd stared in silence while
he made up his mind and finally he said
that sherry and port were more like
each other than either Of them was like
sake.
The federal attorney added claret to
the row, but the Japanese expert stuck
! to his opinion also to his job AS a
bee fitting from bud to bud his hands
flew about the row of drinks as he made
sip after sip. Sometimes he held n
drink in each hand and alternated
poisons To the last he held to the
view that sake bears not the slightest
resemblance to the wines. He was
allowed to go. Only once had he wilt
ed. That was when he had success
fully picked out the sake from among a
row of wines, and was asked to make
another test. 4 can't taste anything
any more, he said, and he had to be
allowed a few minutes recess and som,
water.
Tom McTighe was another witness OF
4 the morning. He would have nothing
! to do with anyone who tried to spring
sake on him as wine. When asked
what sort of wines he drank, he sale
the best and not any sake in his. "I
| were to give you bottle of wine anC
a bottle of sake, what would you do?'
asked Leavett.
I'D drink the bottle of wine ant
throw the bottle of sake at you" wa
the answer, and the Irish consul wa
excused
DR.. f. H. Humphris was called. Tn
doctor has travelled a good deal il
Europe and about the rest of the worlt
and has tasted numerous sparkling
beverages which are called the hes
wines i'm their various countries Col
Fitch invited him to try jolt of sake
no limit on the size of the fid.--an,
say how it impressed him. The doe
tor took IA sip, pondered a moment an,
then remarked that it didn't seem t
remind him of any, wine ever served OF
him. In fact it appeared that Their
would be something doing if "A waite
answered the doctors call for win
by bringing sake.
The evidence Of all the session wa
much the same way, Manager Hertsch
of the Moana hotel declared that he ha,
never run across a wine like sake, an
other witnesses all said the same.
In a financial way the hearing is a
important one to many local firmf
which have paid hundreds of thousand
of dollars Of duty on sake at the win
rate and want to get their money bach