Evening star., 1914-07-12
OUR NATIONAL DRINK
By Frederic J. Haskin.

""s countries nave national drinks.
out only America has a national drink
mat is all its own. The Germans s
iaeer beer is drunk in other countries
than the fatherland, the Englishman n
mas no monopoly on his ale. and the
Draw Scots whisky is known and ap-
pfeclated the wide world around. But
.ncle Sans pet tipple has none to do
IL honor unless it be our cousins of Cana
da
mat any person should he hardy
enough TO survive a drink of ice cold
water no European can understand They
nave seen. few of them. American tour
ISIS drinking ice drinks. and they have
feached the conclusion that the Yankee
mas an interior lining entirely different
from that possessed by other human be-
ings.
Al restaurant in London only a few
weeks ago crowd Of Britons were din
ing with lone American, and conversing
about the faults and shortcomings of
Americans in general and of their host in
particular
One of the Englislmen attacked the
American habit of drinking ice water as
PROOF positive of the decadence of Ameri-
can civilization. A Scot listened intently
to the discussion. He was a university
graduate an author and an artist of CON
siderable reputation. but he had not
Travelled. Finally, he could stand it no
longer. He burst out: DO you mean to
say that you melt down ice in the winter
and save the water to drink in the sum-
mer time?"
The poor fellow didn't even know
what ice water was. He was told that
IT was ordinary water with chunks Of
Ice in it to make. it ice cold.
In Europe no one drinks water if it
can be avoided. and the very idea of
iced water is hor-
Natlonat Ur1nk rible. For that
Ever Palatable. smss reasoh @ .nere Is a
eral consumption of alcoholic liquors
than is to be found in America. Per-
haps the real difference lies not in our
greater temperance, but in the fact
that in ice water We have a national
drink that Is palatable and, at least,
as healthy as any alcoholic drink.
That ice water is the American ma
tional drink, perhaps. may be due to
the fact that the processes Of making
artificial ice were American in their
origin.
Apalachlcol2, r ia, invented the process
Oh making ice artincaliy, ana So made
the modern ice trade ana system OF
cold storage possIuIe. Another Amerl-
can, Frederic 1uuor OIL boston, was
the hrSt man to organize d trade IN
natural ice. From Tudor, first anu
then from Gorrle and his fonowers
the American ice trade has spread all
over the world IN one lasnlon or an
other There was d time wnen the Unit
Ell states sent ice TO ASA. Now II SENDS
machines 10 make the ice.
Ine effort to alleviate human suffer-
ing was the uIrect cause or the begin
ming OF both the natural ice trade and
the artificial ice INDUSTRY. In loVo Mr.
Tudor's brig Favorite carried a load
Of ice to the people OF Martinique, who
were stricken with an epidemic of
yellow Iever. The Ice was not properly
packed, and all OF II melted before Al
reached Its destination. Notwithstand-
ing the loss of that cargo, worth about
$l,o0V, ana the loss OF second sent to
Havana two years later, Alr Tudor was
not discouraged, and in 1916 he Sc
cured monopoly OF the ice trade in
Havana from the Spanish government
and successfully launched his busl-
ness This was followed by the estab-
llshment Of ice ship lines to Charles
ton, Savannah and New Orleans BY
1858 shipments Of ice were made from
Boston to Rio Janeiro and Calcutta.
K