The sun., 1908-04-05
BOSTON HARKS BACK TO RUN
NEW ENGLANDS ANCIENT TIP.
PLE ONCE MORE ~ FiTOR.


CaIlbOEm Rnd Teddy Indeed There
Are Many VINO Never Deserted "
John Adanlss Prophecy NSrInsd,
BosroX April 4--The Puritan capital /,
witnessing remarkable revival q rcv,al
Of rum the liquor. Generic rum has me-, s-
needed TO be revived In sight Of the Vuliri
dome Of the Massachusetts State House
But when New England men who feel lhev
must drink turn from blended vhiskcys to
calibogus and toddy somethingsup
Boston always does something different.
Prohibition sweeps the South and the Wes,
Saloons are supposed 30 he closed ana
associations Of brewers and distillers begin
to tell people how harmful 10 the cause n
temperance prohibitory legislation really u.
The same impulse gets started N eastern
Massachusetts, but instead Of leading even.
body 10 try TO stop somebody else nom
drinking, II simply makes all the Thirsty
particular as 10 what they drink
The net result is a new vogue NJ nun
and the compounds in which II can be- u.a3.
Let the friends Of beer ray that mine" pIa
IL worse than rum. Boston knows that iI-
adjective worse applies neither to pie mr.
10 rum, Pie has its uses, from the New
England point Of view, and no minco uiou
perfect without its hayoring Of rum
And why rum?
Because. say men about town in Boston,
it is chemically pure and exceedingly del.
cate. Bottled in bond, il has a guarantee
that puts II out Of the class Of dubious
drinks.
No doubt another reason why Bos(ouiau'
are suddenly drinking rum Is that some ~
them have always been accustomed 10
drink rum Despite the wide use in recent
years of gin rickeys and Scotch highbaIs,
the ancient beverage Of Puritan forhcaS
never entirely went out Of fashion.
The enthusiasm with which rum punch
10 hailed at each Harvard commencement
is familiar 10 thousands Of graduates
Even though it has been banished from
some spreads in the Yard II still is entjCiuE
at the banquets and lunches held hy Dha
classes at various clubs and hotels.
Neither has the habit OF furnishing limit
less quantities Of rum at gatherings Of ths
Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company
OF Boston ever died out. John Adams a
I
New England man, writing from Passy m
September 2j, 1918, sagely observed, Tho
taste for rum and ribbons will always con-
tinue" lie spoke knowingly OF the wavs
of his contemporaries
Old Boston barkeeps have among their
patrons men who for half a century pas
have regularly, in season and out, aWN
changing fashions in drinks, used rum lu
such mixtures az hot Hip, hot toddics, hot
I hft mil ID
chilly weather and at other times when
the raw east wind sweeps the town. The
same customers when hot weather sends
aristUcratic families down 10 the norm
shore prepare for the hardship Of the jour
ney over the unmerged lines Of the Boston
and Maine by CUuiOuH draughts Of cold
toddy, coh punch, cold rum hghoalls ana
Just rum,
The ways Of ancestors are held in highest
respect in Boston and a taste for rum, real
rum, was marked characteristic Of all
classes of Hubbites before the Washingto-
nian movement and the cheapening Of wins
KEY, due TO increased production OF grain
west OF the Alleghanies resulted in the
closing Of many Of the distilleries OF eastern
Massachusetts,
This regard for the ancestral beverage
is not confined TO the queer little city IN
the hill IL applies in q marked degree 10
are descendants Of sea captains in Salem
and Newburyport who drink only rum aud
water
Maine, in particular, shows per capita
the largest consumption OF rum OF any
American commonwealth. The latest ~
port OF the Maine State Liquor COmms-
sioner, Justin A. Leavitt Of Kennebunk-
port, demonstrates that while the sale ~
whiskey at the various State agencies IN
naturally somewhat in the lead the next
hest seller is rum. The exact proportions
in the modest legalized liquor traffic 81
Maine are whiskey, $50 gallons; rum,
1929 gallons.
The use Of rum equals nearly one-thrd
OF the total consumption OF liquor Tor tie
State. whereas the consumption for tho
United States il only about ! per cent.
Sportsmen and tourists from outside are, oi
course, responsible in part
The fisherman or huntsman before he
goes into the Maine woods is apt to secure
a stock Of bottled I'm bond rum against
possible contingencies. II Is also due IN
part 10 the number Of old time Americans
In Maine particularly in the seaport towns,
who hold obstinately TO the opinion that
when you buy whiskey you may get whis
key or you may not, but when YOU buy rum
you get nothing else, provided It was
bottled In bond.
In spite Of the disappearance ~ Tho
almost numberless small distileries m
such towns as Aledford, Salem New bury.
port, Newport, New London and Portland,
more rum. il is said. and better. is now
manufactured in New England than at
any preceding time. South Boston. cou-
venient for receiving consignments ~
molasses from the West Indies, is now
the leading centre Of production.
The basis Ofthe manufacture IT, Of course,
the same as In 1851, when, according to
delightful sentence in manuscript descrp'
tion Of Barbados: "The chief fuddling thev
make ia the island is rum bullion, alias
kill divil and is made of sugar canes dIs
titled Nine-tenths Of all the rum mads
in the United States is manufactured N