1935 Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book

137

JAMAICAN JOLLIFIERS

3. JAMAICAN JOLLIFIERS

Rum, Ru.m, J amaica Rum! Who in thy praise is dumb? The strong, the weak, the gay, the glum– All call thee good, Jamaica Rum! -Old Song

It is recorded in Rupert Hughes-or somewhere-that the Father of His Country so highly esteemed Jamaica Rum that he once swapped a perfectly healthy negro slave for a cask of it. That, somehow, makes one recall a famous cartoon of the late Homer Davenp,ort's-Roosevelt with Uncle Sam tapping him on the shoulder and saying, "He's good enough for me! " As a matter of fact, George Washington did not stand alone. Many of our Revolutionary and colonial fathers knew Jamaica Rum and liked it. The Pilgrim Fathers knew rum, or came to know it, and when swallowed it seemed to go down well with the Puritan conscience. For many years rum was one of the products of New England. Perhaps Plymouth Rock and Massachusetts Bay were orig- inally attracted to it by its ancient name. . When Englishmen first discovered what could be done with cane sugar in Barbados, rum was known as "Kill– Devill," and under that guise it made its first appearance in English literature. It was said to be a sure cure for "Blue Devils." Soon it was rechristened with the Devon- shire name of "Rumbullion,'' meaning "a great tumult,,- probably a case of swapping cause for e.ffec~. In time it be- ;~~:~·. came the most famous product of Jamaica, its manufacture :· /It~-~·· in that Island having attained such a degree of perfection~ ... .;/~-;~