The Washington herald., 1912-10-04

/ ton IN feDruary, lsOZ, MS mayeeey
drove over to Burton-on-T one day
and had a peep behind the scenes at
Bass Brewery. With characteristic ad-
miration of the practical side Of things.
King Edward, after watching q while
the skill of the maltsters. coopers and
brewers. resolved to take a hand" His
majesty went to work In the brewery.
| Truly. IL was but a few minutes, yet
long enough to manipulate the levers
which started a special mash of 400
barrels OF extra strong ale. That spe-
cial mash is not yet all consumed: in
deed. for fifty years yet to come some
| of IL will be In existence and known
as The Kings Ale"
A plate bearing a record OF these
facts has been placed upon the mash
tub his majesty used in that royal ef-
fort at brewing, and-loved monarch
! ical democrat,-when the King had fin
ished his bit O. graft he took a re-
fresher in the shape of a good drink
| Of Bass pale ale.
Bass Ito give the firm their full name.
Bass. Ratclin & Gretton, Ltd), are
proud OF this royal patronage. and the
least sentimental business man will ad-
nit they have good reason to be so. even
though the incident be regarded from
the business point OF view only. King
Edwards visit set the seal Of the high
est appreciation the world could esti-
mate upon a manufacture for which
England Is famous the world over. Ger
tainly the name Bass" as applied to
pale ale, is synonymous with the name
| English" wherever the beverage Is
drunk. The mash tub (now known as
"the Kings mash tub), is No. 2 in Bass
new brewery at Burton. and the visitor
who gains permission to look over the
brewery can easily have 1t pointed out
to him.
This mention of the visitor reminds us
OF some remarkably interesting facts,
the mere allusion to which gives some
idea OF the enormous extent of the
works and business done at Bass brew
cries. Visitors privileged to look over
the breweries and connected premises
are necessarily accommodated with a
saloon railway carriage drawn by a
powerful tank" engine. The network
OF full-gauge railway lines running over
the establishment comprises seventeen
miles Of railway. The firm keeps eleven
locomotives busy working their traffic
into and out of their premises.
They have in constant use 12O rail-
| way trucks for the purpose of trans
porting malt, casks. coal, &c. over
their private lines. The engines. brew
cry furnaces. &C. consume $1,000 tons
OF coal annually, and the coal used in
10000 tons. The raw material received
on the premises includes at least 400, 900
quarters of barley and malt and $4,000
| hundredweight OF hops-in all between
$4,000 and $1,000 tons per annum. The
prospective visitor to Bass may gather
from the foregoing facts that to look
| over the breweries, malt houses, coop
erages, warehouses. &C, is a work of
time. He may save himself fatigue II
he follows King Edwards plan OF see
! ing only one brewery on one visit and
content himself with gaining a little
sound practical experience as a mental
guide to a conception OF the whole.
with regard to the Kings mash tub, It
may interest our readers to learn that
this Is a great circular oaken vessel in
which are at work certain pieces of re-
yolving machinery. including a strong
iron shaft. known as the 'porcupine."
the "sparger" The work done in these
mash tubs is the mixing OF the malt
with the water.
The brewing water-that Is. the water
which finds Its way into the mash tub
and after mixing with the malt ultimate
ly becomes part OF Bass light ale OF
stout-comes from deep wells in the
gravel situated above the town OF Bur-
ton, and Is strongly impregnated with
gypsum. or sulphate OF lime. This Pc
culiarity has a powerful effect in deter
mining the flavor. character. and keep
ing qualities OF the finished beer.
The remarkable virtues in the brew
ing water probably account for the high
esteem in which Bass beer is held by
the medical profession. The British hos
pital commission on beer places Bass
stouts and pale ales on a level with
milk in respect to It's nourishing prop
critics. and reporting on the question
OF administering Bass beers to in
valids. declares such stout and ale as
among the most useful dietetic and
indeed medicinal agencies we possess" ."
Does not this account for "a Bass be-
ing the most popular reviver of droop-
ing spirits and worn-out nerves?
Naughty Francesca" the joint op-
cratic product of Signor Toselli and
his ex-wife. the former Crown Princess
Louise of SaXony, which was to have
been produced as a premiere in Berlin,
has been tabooed by the Kaiser.
Toselli and the princess, now merely
Nine. Toselli, have been separated for
more than a year, but they are still
collaborateurs in art and literature:
she in appreciation of his music. he in
admiration of her wit satire and clev-
erness. as displayed In the libretto.
While they are not on speaking terms
Z
sentation of Naughty Francesca"
The ex-crown princess is not averse
to the situation. She always has loved
the limelight. She has made scanda-
lous sport of the traditions and eti-
quette OF royalty. From sirlhood she
has never endured restraint. She
| eloped with Giron after, as wife and
mother, she had seemingly settled into
the position of a princess who would
one day become Queen.
1t began at a dinner party in Brus-
sells. The attache of the German Le-
cation remarked casually to his neigh
Dor over the desert: The Crown Prin-
cess of Saxony wants a French tutor
J for her children and have been asked
to keep my eye. open for a suitable
4 man."
!. That's the very thing for your
j young brother" said a Belgian diplo-
mat to NJ. Giron, a Brussels lawyer.
who was also-at the table. only he's
such a handsome youth there might be
mischief"
No one was more surprised than young
Giron himself when he received a week
later q command" from the Court of
Saxopy to present himself for a month s
trial. The sequel to this command filled
the newspapers at the time. A so-called
denial on the, part of the princess re-
: Gently that she Is collaborating with her
husband In producing the operetta has
been followed by a letter In the italian
press from publishing house in Milan.