Show THE consumption OF few persons have any adequate idea of the enormous production and consumption of malt and distilled liquors that is going on in this country it is only when the census returns are carefully collated and scattered facts are collected aggregate that we gain any real comprehension of tho actual state of ti lings and even then we fail to estimate this properly because alie figures arc so large that they do not impress us with their astonishing size one simple statement will best give an idea that can be readily grasped and understood and that is that the production of malt liquors alone in this country as an industry is second only in financial importance to that of breadstuff s this is an astonishing fact but the statistics prove it and this growth has been attained by very rapid strides in 1840 the of malt liquors in this country was gallons as reported by the united states census in 1886 the consumption had grown to the enormous amount of gallons put these figures in another shape in 1810 the consumption per head of the population was gallons in 1886 it was 1118 gallons during the same period the use of distilled spirits decreased from to gallons per head the present annual cost to the consumer of beer at 50 cents per gallon is placed by the census statistician at while the annual t ire by the consumers of all kinds of li quoos is set down at these totals are BO large that they fail to produce a sufficiently distinct impression upon the mind of their real and startling magnitude |