The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-09-24
REST EASY, BOYS; CHAMPAGNE SUPPL Y
 STILL HOLDS FIRM

New York, September 23.-The most popular of Broadway indoor sports. known among the experts as Open ing Wine may go on, it was learned yesterday authoritatfve1y, until the holidays at least. But unless the champagne imports, now wholly at a standstill, begin again soon there is 8 grave danger that when you seat yourself at your expensfvely reserved table in your favorite Broadway rest aurant next New Years eve to see 1915 aborning the old time legend. $
 Champagne only served after g o'clock D. m.'' will not stare you out of countenance this year.
 Still wines in which we are in terested, are beginning to come to US again said one importer Besides we were stocked up for two years to. come when the trouble began, that is so far as cIarets, sherries and still wines were concerned.f Now the i'm portauons of these wines is being re- Ssuned. This year the crops are especially good and there is enough labor at hand to gather them and make wines The champagne indus try on the other hand is sadly
 .In all of these champagne con cerns the officials seemed as anxious to get some shred of Information from the reporter regarding conditions in the general neighborhood of Rheims Epernay and other entrepots of champagnes as the reporter was to get such Knowledge from the importers.
 There are enough chanpagness left in this country, I believe, said an officer. to last until the first of the year at the most. We don't ex- pect any new inportations before. that time. if then.
 4As soon as the first word of com ing trouble reached here the hotel and restaurant men of the city start ed in to stock up, and for some time they got their goods at the old are such that there has been an in crease in the wholesale price Of chanpagnes ranging from to $6# a case of twelve quarts.
 There were 6, ,481 cases of cham pagnes on hand on August in New supplied by the Customs House, it was said at the one office yesterday. and the stock in bond on September I was 39,606 cases in New York and A, ,666 cases, or 535,992 quarts, in bond in the whole country.
 sI should think said an official, sethat once the war is ended, or at least as soon as the champagne dis tricts are uanq1 again, that three or four years, perhaps five, must pass before new wines made from the vineyards that will have to be rep1ant- ed will be ready to be shipped to the United States.
 .sI believe that there is enough champagne now in New York to last somewhat longer than the first of the year There is enough think, to last throughout the winter here.
 We know. of course even though we can't get details that the passage of infantry. cavalry and artillery over the wine growing countries and the bonnbardment and rifle fire to which they have been subjected must have destroyed the vineyards. We don't believe-it's S our fond hope. at least that the cellers have not been footed.
 ttOur company, for instance has more than fifteen miles of cellers in. the chalk foundations of Epernay which ordinarily contain from 15. .OOO. 900 to 16,000,00 bottles of echampagnes Even heavy artillery cannot damage these because they are4so far underground, and we have had no advices to show that the stock has been footed.
 Business about the various wine offices visited is at a, standstilL. It was learned, the closing of the finnan- sciaI district activities, the retail in crease of 50 cents or more quart for cFampagnes and general business con f1iffons have combined to decEea-se3 very much the retail sales of ,1I,a 1111a pnAS.