The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1916-03-06
SEEN AND HEARD
BY GEORGE MINER
Special Correspondent of The wash
fng1on Herald.
tcor-nsht. iss. b. the Mcclure Nexsrapsr
syndicate.l

New York. March b.--Nhen the averaFs
person has occasion to refer to American
champagne he associates # with some
thing that is a cheap and bad imitation
Of what made France famous He would
say that II would be quite impossible &C
pay more than a dollar and a half q
bottle for II. Anyway. that was my con.
eeption Of American fzE until light came
TO me
Here are some facts: They make such
good champagne IN this country nov
that the best brands sell In restaurants
and cafes for as much as French cham
payne did before the war That Is 10
say, $3.50 a bottle. It's a mighty good
wine, too, and only an expert can tell II
from the high-grade imported article. OF
course. there are cheaper grades, but the
tendency is TO make better wines all the
time and discourage the consumption Of
the poor stun. The $50 a bottle wine is
eight years old, which IL q standard
ageing period.
Lure for Invaders.
Mr.. Carl F. Ward Is the manager Of q
company which manufactures more
champagne than sll the other American
hrms put together. He tells me they
have more than 100000 bottles Of cham
payne In reserve. I did not know there
was so much made in the country It's
wrong OF me TO announce this. II nnIEht
eompllcate the international situstion and
lure some European country TO try 70
invade us and get that wine
You know the Germans only went into
france as far as the champagne district
and then stopped. Moreover thev don't
seem inclined TO leave IL
The war gave the American wine m
dustry great impetus" said Mr.. Ward
for the importation Of foreign wines was
cut down 70 a skeleton Then the deal
ers were afraid a heavy war tar vToIII5
be put on, and 50 they laid IN big stocks
OF American champagnes. The result
was that our business doomed IN nng
shape last year
Then, 10 cap the climax along came
these good times with prosperity sprout-
ing all around and, everybody making
money. and OF course the demand for
champagne went up, as Il always does
when money is moving freely. They
couldn't get imported wines enough. -
they had TO take ours. and. very much
TO the consumers surprise. he found he
liked II. So We are doing 6 vastly in
creased business.
This condition has created an entirely
new market for our goods People who
would never before touch American wines
are now devoted 10 them. They will never
''All this has brought US I'd from our
somewhat low estate and made Us fash
ionable. 1t used TO be considered almost
damninE TO be caught drinking American
wine. Consumers were mighty careful 90
keep the napkin wrapped around the bot-
tie 70 conceal the label Now all that has
passed. The smart set is now drinkinz
American wine and discussing its rner1ts
It's poor war that doesn't shoot good
to somebody
American Bottles Lack Strength
IT'S a singular thing" continued NJ
Ward. that all accessories TO putting
bottle OF American wine on the marke,
come from Europe. The bottles are all
made in France. II seems that they can
make seamless bottle in this countr,-
strong enough to Withstand the pressure
a champagne bottle is put to When the
wine is feTmenting the pressure is as
much as several hundred pounds 70 the
square inch. l understand the reason is
that they have not the right kind Of sand
here. The corks all come from Spain.
and even the little tin caps that go on
top OF the corks are made in EnCland
Why. don't know. They just are"
Mr.. Ward says the prohibition move
ment does not worry him at all
Somehow" said he prohibition never
seems to apply 20 champagne drinking
Aou tttr II IL not sofa uluCn over OEFS-
Its too expensive. Its main conEump-
ton is at the family table dinners and
clubs, places where prohibition is really
not operative
I sec that Dewar and Buchanan. the
two great Scotch whisky houses, have
formed a partnership. I am a little sur
prise3 at this. as Sir Thomas Dewar
had such a tremendous business and Is
decidedly independent person at that
Sir Thomas is a well-known and highly
popular character in London. He is the
eldest Of three sons OF old John Dewar
who founded the house. The others are
Sir John Dewsr. lord chancellor Of Scot
land, and Sir George Dewar. who went
in for politics and has been in Pariia-
ment for a number or years. Sir Thomas
tried Parliament once. but II bored hin
When they were digging for the four-
dstions OF Dewar House. his new once
building on the Haymarket. A few years
ago. a workman found a part n a Dot
that Sir Thomas thought might be a
Roman relic.
An I'll tell ye. Miner" said he. ''I
kept II 10 meself but went down TO
Hammersmith and ] had the finest lot OF
old Roman coins and pottery made for
five pun We liver laid yer eyes on. Then
at night I planted EN- IN those diEginEs
-salted. YOU call ii. An the worllmen
turned them up an the newspapers had
pages about the Roman md. 1t cost me
i've pun. an I got 500 pun Of sdvertis-
ing. Some reckless antiquarian has them
now in a blooming museum"