The Washington herald., 1922-08-20
RHEIMS CATHEDRAL
HDlDSFRSTCALL
On TOURIST ARMY
Thousands Visit Famous
Edifice Shelled Dur
- ing World War.
STANDS AMONG RUIN
Located in District With
World Wide Reputation
: For Champagne.

TUT Nudmpd&uc.
RHEIMS, Aug. 1s.-Rheims. with
its sublime cathedral standing in
the grandeur of its cruel war
wounds among the ruins of the
once handsome and prosperous city.
hao become the FIRST place of call
for the vast army of travellers from
alf-parts of the world who are now
In France on q visit to the places
rendered celebrated by battles.
sidDes and massacres.
Day after day the long dining
room Of the Hotel du Lion dor at
Rh1ims and that also of the Hotel
Continental are filled with tourists.
Odoly enough, these travellers seem
unaware that they are here in this
heart of the famous champagne
country. in the region that produces
the finest wine known to the world.
Yet of all the products of the
gracious soil of France champagne
is the crown. No country has ever
succeeded in growing any drink to
compare with it. Makers have In
the course of century and a half
brought to perfection the process
of turning the juice Of the black
an1 white grapes grown on
the white chalky earth of the dis,
trftt into a wine that can be ex-
ported thousands of miles without
damage to its special delicate
qualities 1t Is not produced in a
single season Four years of daily
manipulation and watching are be-
stoved on each bottle and the work
requires highly expert hands For
this reason champagne can never
be a cheap wine. 1t Is expensive
to-sell. too. since 1t cannot be
bought in the cask like the wines
of Bordeaux or Burgundy. but has
toabe supplied in bottles. and Is
consequently always liable to acci-
dents.
wine Consumption Decreases.
.Since the war the consumption
of Champagne in France has fallen
from 100000 to 100000 bottles"
said a leading member of the Syn
dicate of Champagne Merchants in
Rheims. AS regards the export
trade. the United States, Russia
ana Sweden have all been wiped on
the. list of foreign consumers. so
that the 100000 formerly sent
abpoad have fallen to something g
like a third of that quantity. The
English who have always been
among Frances best clients are
also taking far less since the
heavy duties imposed by the Brit
ish tariffs forced up the price of
the bottle"
Yet the price alone would hardly
account for the drop in the con-
sunption of champagne at home
and abroad. 1t has always been the
aristocrat of wines and It's place Is
on-the tables of the rich whose
daily food is prepared by an able
and expensive cook and the price
of the bottle Of champagne does
not make an appreciable difference
in the cost of the family table or
of the dinners put before friends.
Birds. foie gras. fruit and all the
table delicacies have gone up in
price as much as champagne, and
yer they are still served and
eaten
renAtation. 1t has for so long been
forced to keep Indifferent company
thzt its name almost implies an
orgy. From its customary place on
the family dinner table 1t seems to
restaurants frequented by foreign
erss or to the ball supper. In the
champagne country no family fes-
tivty would be complete without
its.presence at the board. and II Is
served. moreover. not at the end of
the meal as a sort of dessert, but
all-through 1t as the best as well
as the most seductive accompani-
meut to the entree, the roast and
the rest.
For champagne to fall into neg
lect would be nothing short of a
national disaster to France. 1t is
ons of the many luxuries which
France alone of all. nations of the
world can furnish. and IL deserves
as much protection and respect as
any.
10 employs large number of
people. There are at least 10000
wine growers whose one SOURCE of
INCOME Is the special. juicy. thin
skinned grape. both black and
white. needed for champagne. but
suitable for no other market but
this of the great white. sparkling
wine
The champagne cellars of Rheims
areeagain full to overflowing with
fine brands. so full indeed that with
the present rate of consumption 1t
win be materially impossible for
the makers fully to utilize or pur-
chase the crops of these next few
years. however fine the quality.
For the growers this means a
perfDd of great distress which 1T
seems impossible to avert. Already
some of the vineyards have been
sacxinced and the vines torn up.
though the soil of the champagne
poullleuse'' which produces this
SPECIAL grape harvest Is not adapt
ed 70 much else.
fconxrirht may