1914 Beverages de luxe

there are to-day but eight in the I'liited States, all but one of those being located in New England, and only two outside of Massachusetts. While, during the past thirty years, there has been an in- crease of about 125 per cent, in the production of distilled spirits in general, there has been practically no increase in the produc- tion of Rum. The maximum production ol' iium reached 2,4:59,.']01 gal- lons in the fiscal year ending June 30, 1880. The manufacture of Rum has not kept jjace with the in- crease in population. This is due to the fact that drinking, like other things, including architecture and clothes, has its styles, varying from time to time, sometimes for good reasons, some- times for none. For many years during tlie early history of the country, Uluii, which is made only from molasses, was practically the only strong liquor in use, as nearly all grain in the country was consumed as food. American (Ryo and Houriion ) whisky, the i)roducts of grain, may be .said to have come in style about the time of the Civil War, although George Washington made some at Mount Vernon, and there was considerable di.stillation throughout the South, its consumption increasing gradually for many years, it taking the place formerly occupied by Rum as a national bev- erage. Fifteen or more years ago Scotch whisky began an in- creasing popularity, and in the .same way, although perhaps in a lesser degree, there has been during the past two or three years an increasing demand for fine old Rum. Another reason for the lack of growth of the Rum industry is found in the fact that alcohol for medicinal and manufactur- ing ])urposes can be generally more cheaply jjroduced from grain than from molasses. But many old-fashioned i)eople and good Judges of liciuor still adhere to the use of our foi-efiithers' favorite drink. It is evident that the actual ])r(i(iuction in gallons ha\ing remained about the same, and the number of distilleries ha\ing decrea.sed, those distilleries now in e.xistence, or some of them, at least, mu.st be of much larger capacity than those of the early days. The largest Rum distilleries now in oi)eration are located within the Boston Metropolitan district, one of them alone hav- ing a capacity of more than 1,500,000 gallons per annum. Some of them, however, still remain jiractically unchanged from our grandfathers' days. In financial standing and in good rei)utation of tho.se en- gaged in it, this industry compares favorably to-day as it did in its beginning with any other in the country.