| Show BABYLON BABY LOWBEER BEER AND BIBLES LONDON england feb asih 1897 statistics even during an election campaign are apt to give one that tired feeling nevertheless there are members of humanity who exhibit an abnormal proclivity in that direction one of these geniuses a few weeks ago obtained space in a london weekly to the extent of publishing a tabulated statement of the amount in in pounds u ids shil lins lings and pence expended daily in london by its inhabitants in what the con ious drummer would include un der the heading of sundries in his expense bill I 1 dont know upon what basis this mathematician computes his bis statements statement but alter after a severe mental effort super induced by reducing some of the items to almighty dollars I 1 rehash some ot of the particulars first thing in the morning mr john brown bown of london desires to ascertain how the world wags so he buys himself if he wishes to a paper of 01 course go del deeply aply into the treaty and incidentally keep up his dignity he in tests in the times which will cost him dx be cents perchance mr brown may the sporty class with a hardhearted heart eid landlady or some other cross to bear it in that case the morning leader or mail nils fills the bill at one cent eft no matter what paper he buys before he has finished his rasher of bacon in ih the morning he has spent just ne heerts gets ux up from his breakfast in a on his shoes or boots as bry pulls they cau them over here snap goes his hoe shae lace at that precise moment mr blown will wi ll 11 have to invest several hun bun bd ed do dollars in strings mr brown catches his bus train or team the former averaging three cents ride promptly collects from him 25 a the trams some over and asche above that amount while the sur burban agway companies touch him to the daily of oo of course if he likes to fass A cab he 6 can charter the major ajo por I 1 the twelve thousand that patrol ex th t re ets of the great metr metropolis apolis opolis the bvm ar of which aich have to pay the owners V before they make a cent towards assac own living expenses naturally no sell self respecting business mom would go eo to his desk unshaved and 4 apke the paradoxical fact that mr owa generally shaves at home he tether spends xa 12 upon the tonsorial I 1 dont blame mr brown for arving at home the average english sm S barber rier is a fearful and wonderful feature who dwells in an uncarpeted abode res redolent of stale tobacco and suds bl his uniform especially out isling footway b eing composed of a very du shirtsleeves shirt sleeves of the blotta looking aprons apron sam aaS hue collar of the vintage of the eteh ties together with a breath lesem tonne na a blend rend of ottar of roses and cash OKI 10 bouquet warranted to corrode a beet anchor you wedge yourself yo ursell into sk a bard seated wooden chair that lesem un ble a spanish garrote which similitude strikes 1 ak ft one very forcibly when he swoops 40 down ot on you with murder in his eye and 0 mor anzor that is second cousin to a dental forced Ibro eins 0 it in his bis hand the manipulator CO over your face once extracting and much as you might enjoy toe the operation and beg for for it to be nea ted he be is firm you are shaved i I 1 next such luxuries in england as aa close close shaving bay rum powder and lace cream are unknown outside of a few of the best places and are considered efte effeminate minate however that might be mr brown cant resist the flower girls en route and promptly parts with for violets and button tion holes it he happens to be in arrears with b bis is board bill and his landlady won wont it shine his bb shoes he has to indulge in a penny wm nine to keep up his bis status the shoe blacks daily rake in in two cent shines bines the match sellers too daily d dispose ot acco adoo worth of lights wherewith the votaries vot aries of the goddess nicotine re light their pipes mr brown is an inveterate vet erate smoker his pipe is is never out and whether he smokes shag in an old clay pipe a whiff of w which ih transports the Utah nian back to the valleys of the mountains so famous for our good old rag carpets or indulges in a five bob cigar just as sure as midnight comes he has sent up in smoke with nothing remaining but a little ash and a furred tongue mr brown is aso also a great epicure in fact it is conceded that an englishman is always equal to a meal under any circumstances cum stances or pretext one well known writer of the early part of the century goes as tar as to assert that if london were devastated by an earthquake the surviving englishmen would hold a dinner upon the ruins just to celebrate the event be that as it may every man has to sustain nature and whether mr brown stands up to a lunch counter on the strand at the cost of a shilling dines at the savoy to the tune of 0 one pound ten or takes his humble cup c p of conee coffee and a bun at lockharts lockhartt Lock harts tor for three cents the man of figures computes that he daily spends exactly 1250 which includes one million pounds of f meat two thirds that weight ot of butter together with a couple of million loaves of bread we must not omit mr browns little bill for pick me ups with which he moistens moi his throat and lubricates his bis gullet allet from champagne loarf and art fe be stows away beneath his bis capacious vest the contents of some quart uart pots which w aich it if piled one on top of 07 the other r would make a column some jeet feet high whether mr brown is carried home on a stretcher or salutes the partner of his bis joys and sorrows with a chaste kiss that is above suspicion as regards an aroma of stale beer or cloves whether he goes to bed beastly drunk or supremely sober his days liquor bill costs him somewhere about while on the subject of beer I 1 will note that I 1 visited a model brewery the other day in company with my companion any one who insinuates that we went w ent there t ere for any other purpose than to allay curiosity is respectfully defered to the ten last words of i john 24 not that this brewery is fitted up with all the latest contrivances or for that matter that we pose as connoisseurs on beer in general but this aforesaid institution from all accounts was such a unique establishment in its way that any man who unmoved could gaze upon that in elegant structure and ancl then pass by on the other side and not desire an introduction to the breadwinners bread winners engaged therein would be to say the least a trifle blase contemplate the fact oh ye ve grobi A brewery run operated owned and worked by a harmonious by band of sunday school teachers local preachers and scripture readers with a goodly inkling sprinkling sp of teetotalers tee and an F R G S thrown in to elevate and give tone to the tout ensemble a brewery that manufactures its tubs within the precincts of what at a remote date was a roman catholic place of worship be fore america asa thought of a brewery that does not own a single public house or cater to the bar trade and a brewery withal that turns out a good brew such an institution is the fremlin brothers brewery situated on the banks of the medway maidstone kent I 1 had heard about this work ingmans elysium whose musty precincts were never desecrated by an oath and whew where the bosses treated their employed emp loyes as though they bad white skins and being somewhat of a skeptic I 1 applied to the superintendent for the privilege of strolling over the premises such a re request aest staggered falstaff jr nee cockell cooke tor for a moment visions of enterprising americans annexing fremling Frem lins famous recipe and underselling the english product much in the same way as they imported british dairymaids dairy maids ani and i are now exporting and flooding the english markets with american cheese floated across his bis troubled brain finally after under going a rigid cross examination worthy of the redoubtable li hung chang during which I 1 confessed that I 1 did not know the difference between wort and a bran mash we were graciously allowed to become initiated into the mysteries of brewing with someone to accompany us to see that we did not sample too much malt extract in my regenerate da days S in sanpei sanpete county I 1 had acquired a gaz hazy y idea of the process icess of brewing from the good old B danish anisa housewives who with the aid ot of several tubs hops hot water straw together with other mysterious ingree ing redi ants accompanied by inexplicable is in concocted a dubious bever age fremling Frem lins somehow dont work it cuite quite the same to begin with they do 0 not brew their beer in the wash wah house with the aid of a copper stick they have a five story building instead A furnished on several floors with w what hie unregenerate western boy would designate as numerous bully swimming swim min tanks tank ss while on the topmost floor is situated a roller mill that crushes the malt to brew good beer three things are essential good water good barley and good ho hops the art of brewing to be bechn technical consists of eight distinct prop pro besses i grinding 2 mashi mashing nir 3 sparling spar ging 4 boiling 5 cooling 6 fermenting 7 cleaning 8 racking and storing in the first process the malt is grounds ground when it is transferred through the floors into the mash tuns auns below a requisite amount ot of hot liquor any man who calls aqua water around a brewery stands in extreme peril of being fined half a crown is added and the whole is stirred in the mash that bear some resemblance to the kimberly diamond washing machines for the benefit of the uninitiated the mashers are very looking individuals probably on this particular morning they did not appear to the best advantaged advantage bein being g minus their cigarettes red ties four ply collars and canes and other immedi menta in fact on the contrary they seemed to have an abnormal tendency towards leather aprons and corduroys however in the mash tuns auns were some wooden rakes that revolved raking and stirring the mash ma h right throughout this second proc process ess lies the secret of good brewing as the heat of the liquor is most important alter after a space of time the water once more changes its name to that of wort wort or malt extract to be less technical this is run down to the floor below into huge coppers that have a capacity of thousands of gallons but for the seductive aroma one ione would imagine it ft were wash day in giant fee fues castle here the hops are added and anything else that suits the fancy anol and constitutes the recipe A neighboring brewery in days of old added a man rubber boots and all but one is led to believe that the result was not a howl ing success as the prescription was not repeated the boiling then proceeds merrily from two to three hours after which the concoction is xun iun off into tanks furnished with false bottom plates i called hop backs the aforesaid fluid is strained and run through an elaborate 6 mgt system em of cooling refrigerator pipes into the cooling tanks on the floor below subsequently yeast is added to aid the process and fermentation sets in A beautiful snowy billowy froth like cotton batten a foot thick in appearance forms upon the surface suri ace this gives place to a thick head of brown yeast which is removed by an automatic contrivance called a parachute during the fermentation process car carbonic add acid gas is is given off in p preat reat quantities so much so that any light held above it is extinguished and one cowd could comfortably comfor taby taNy commit suicide by a t prolonged inhalation ot of the fumes the final course of racking and storing speaks for itself the head brewer of an establishment is essentially a big man for upon his bis shoulders devolves the responsibility of the institution from the beery stand point he generally has under him awe one or two assistants in the form of articled pupils they prefer to be called that diat as apprentice is so you know these young gentlemen are treated with deference due by the mp loyes and employ their time in analysts analysis making miniature mashes in test tubes watching the development of yeast germs under the microscope testing the color and smoking cigarettes for eor this purpose barring the latter an lipco up to date laboratory is provided nothing is left to luck or haphazard brewing is a science and is operated on scientific principles first last and all the time fremling Frem lins brew their beer by the aid of gas furnaces manufacture their own ice and own dynamos forli gUting purposes there bere is the usual wilderness of empty barrels incidental to a brewery together with the rosy cheeked checked capacious vested sturdy sons of albion who play baseball with the same stack tiem them up wash them I 1 smell them and uther other detail work another little litile army is to be encountered in the ishoo barrel capacity vaults filling orders etc nine coopers the prince of trades are given constant emp employment loment manufacturing kegs barrels etc and and average a weekly output of two hundred and forty casks not to speak of the cripples and compound fractures that they have to patch up the keg factory is located in one of the oldest buildings of maidstone and was at one time a catholic chapel regularly every year the kent society pays this building a visit lament regarding the desecration and promptly bury their grief stricken faces in in a tankard of six ply X quite a contrast to the old building are the stables adjoining which are up to date and house some forty five horses that individually tip the beam at two thousand pounds or more and would make three of our dour western cay uses of course the inland revenue collects duty from brewers according to the amount turned out despite the fact that america has the reputation over here for being a great place lor for boodle I 1 noticed that mr revenue officer was well looked after regarding the comforts ot of this life in the form ot of a cosy office and a mug handy further investigations would doubtlessly have revealed the p presence I 1 cresence of a cigar box in having a pleasant chat with mr J W johnson the stores manager who by the me way has seventeen letters after his name contributes to a couple of well known religious american journals jour pals and is a prominent wesleyan I 1 learned that the firm would not tolerate bad language bulldozing or in fact any un spirit of any description nor would it have an atheist or callous individual around the premises the men are well viell looked after provided with coffee every morning in the lunch and reading room ana to use mr johnsons own words if anyone under me gets into financial diffin difficulties unties or seems to be going astray I 1 just invite him to have a private cup of tea with me and we talk the matter over in a quiet way 11 mr R J Fr fremlin emlia the head of the firm is a financial power for good among the various sectarian denominations in maidstone and is at present building a handsome stone church in place ot of a temporary one wherein he reads the lessons on sundays mr cooke the business manager further has been identified with sunday school work for a score of years and when one comes to enumerate the local preachers teetotaler and various others who sit around in that beery structure ciure reading their bibles at noon hour words ail in a name As a hish class curio ferlins Feml ins is unique not five hundred yards from the brewery as we left it that day lay a condemned wretch spending his last few miserable hours of life in company with the death watch in his cell in a fit of drunken frenzy he be had kicked out his bis paramours par adamour amours 0 s brains and the brewers still read their bibles but then yu know they do not manufacture bet be to be consumed in public houses bouses as w were informed time and time again d mg our peregrination ot of discovery thus does humanity |
