Norwich bulletin., 1916-09-19
BUYING THE SOURCE
 OF BAY RUM
The Danish West Indies the Source of All of This Genuine Toilet Prepara- ton
Especial to The Bulletin)

Especial to The Bulletin.) l Washington, D. C., Sept. 1s.-After l fifty years of negotiations, and at a cost of $25,000,00O, the United States is on the threshold of achieving the ownership of the source of all genuine bay rum. It is true that we are not buying the Danish West Indies prim- arily because they are the group made famous by the refreshing toilet pre- paration, nevertheless the American l people will feel more fat home" in calling the islands ours when they recall that if it weren't for St. 'Fhom- as, St. John and St. Croix freshly shaved faces would be unsoothed and | throbbing heads would be uncolled by the universally popular product of dis 1 titled bay leaves.
 | The geography and etymology of bay rum are defined in the following 1 bulletin issued by the National Geo. graphic Society:
 If the average user of bay rum ever stops to consider the name and origin of this fragrant lotion he prob ably thinks it quite appropriate that 1 the perfume should be made from the fruit of the tf1ourishing green bay tree and of those leaves with which the heroes and poets of antiquity were crowned when the people delighted to do them honor. The thought is ap- | prOpr1aCe put the IacIS are re1racCOry, for it isn't that kind of a bay tree. The bay tree of glory is the laurus nobilis, while the bay of rum has the caustic name of myrica acris.
 ! "The peculiar species of aromatic bay which supplies the distinctive in gredient of bay rum is closely allied in appearance to several other varie- ties of bay growing on St. John and St. CroiX, and great care is necessary to avoid confusion in gathering the leaves and berries, for a very small number of leaves of the wrong kind will materially affect the quality of the finished product
 l '"The leaves of the nayrica acrfs are from three to five inches in length The round berries are about the size 1 of a pea and contain from seven to eight seed. The bay rum which is made from a combination of green leaves and berries is of a better qual- 1 ity than that distilled from dried leaves or from the leaves without the berries. The berries are very diff cult to gather, however, and they cost from Is to 20 times as much as the l leaves.
 "The basis of bay rum is Jamaica or St. CroiX rum, made from the skim mings of the sugar boilers, scrapings of sugar barrels, and the washings from sugar pots. For the best grade of the toilet article the original rum used should be free from foreign odors and almost colorless.
 For a number of years much of the bay rum of American commerce has Ibeen manufactured in this country the ingredients usually being about lone-half the bulk alcohol one-six-
 teenth Jamacia rum, 40 drops of oi
 of bay to the. pint, 20 drops of oil o1
 orange, a few drops of oil of mace and the remainder distilled water, al
 of which is allowed to stand for sew eral weeks and is then filtered throusI
 magnesia.
 gThe nnyrica acris is only a distant
 relative in the family of trees to the
 ornamental rubbed bays which before
 the war were shipped to this country by the tens of thousands from Hol-