The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-11-02

sariIy iced, but clean, cold water IN
every place 1 visited in Europe. TO
assist the reader in beheV1ng L SPEAK
from conviction in this respect III
mention the cities in which l stayed
long enough to acquire some exper-
fence at local hotels and restaurants
Nowhere in Europe did I ever see a
water cooler. Nowhere could the
guest at a hotel walk over to the cor
ner of the Office or lobby and draw
for himself a drink Of water. Not one
European s%ojourner at a hotel did I
talk With on the subject-except the
few who had been in America-who
knew of any way Of getting a. drink Of
water other than calling upon a ser
want to bring it-for a tip. l have
travelled a full day night by rail with
no possibility of getting a drop Of
water on the entire train. At a few
big stations bottled water was sold
meantime at two prices. At table,
water is the last drink served, if at
all. One Of our party, a water dr1nker
by habit, declared that in England it
required three requests Of a waiter to
five orders a fight. In Germany
and Austria at the restaurants it is
the rule to add half a mark (12
cents) to h price Of a meal when
the guest drinks water only. The pro-
cess Of obtaing a drink of water from
the Faucet Is. Inc waiter dShS. W Ild
drink, sir The CUES replies:
Fresh water" Waiter: "Wha
kind?" and he rattles off a string OF
waters. Guest: "None Of these
plain water from the faucet" Waiter:
whats that?" A colloquy ensues,
the waiter playing he is mystifed.
Then he brings all the wine and beer
orders to the tables he serves and for
gets the water. When this perform
ance is gone through at every meal Tor
weeks in different countries the lone
water-drfnker in the end usually sur
renders to the system. It is only
when a party Of lusty-lunged Ameri-
cans, seated together at a table, shout
that they will give no other orders un-
til water is first produced that the
hotelier acknowledges defeat. Finally,
when water is served it is in a little
decanter, not enough for one person.
with one glass for q party. Once In
a while, especially in Italy, there is an
exception to exasperations Of this an
ti-water crusade of the publicans. In
London and Paris the carafe-never
O. pitcher-may at times be on the
table, but it's contents are stale and
taste Of smoke.
A direct effect Of this scarcity Of
plain water in European hotels and
restaurants is, what the landlords de-
SlI Z =, q boIl1o ~ - jig -
legged spring water. in front of every
guest during his meal. A person Of
ordinary difidence, or vanity, has not
the nerve to refuse to be imposed up
on in this way. The abstainer is
made aware Of the fact that he is
persona non grata to both water and
landlord and a black one among the
sheep under their charge. The alb
surdity Of this situation is heightened
when the vendors Of bottled water,
and their agents, the hotel and res
taurant keepers, systematically throw
doubts on the purity of the water
from city supplies. On this point I
heard a physician, Intercepted in
London, make this statement: "The
death rate, especially Of children, will
indicate the source of disease in q pub
lie water supply, if n exists. The
sufficient reply to the allegations as
to danger in the water furnished a
community is the commo steady
decrease in the death rate n the
diseases consequent upon impurity in
drinking water. In London, whose
water supply is decried by the publ
cans, the children (of the parents who
have taken to strong drink, drink only
water. and with impunity. On the
other hand, the dangers in the indiS-
criminate drinking of so-caIled table
waters must be obvious when one but
reads their labels. Like medicines,
they are mea for various
When talking on the subject OF
water with Europeans I noticed fire.
q~uently hat their faces took on a
blank look of incredulity when I said
that on the table in all public eating
places in America there stood, as one
Of the accepted appointments, a big
pitcher of cold, fresh water; that in
the public bars water is served free,
or the customer might serve himself;
that in business houses and Offices
generally and in many public and
semi-public places water is provided
in a cooler for all who wish a drink.
American publicans have not yet
dreamed of "cornering" water as
against the thirsty stranger. Were
it attempted there would be an