SPEAKEASIES

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 150, 17 February 1932, Page 2

SPEAKEASIES

NOT MODERN 1DEA BEGAN IN CONSTANTlNOPLE NOT AMERICA AS IMAGINED. PROHIBTION OF COFFEE. Most people imagine that the "Speakeasy" originated in America. But there were "Speakeasies" in Constantinople 400 years ago, says a writer in the Cape Times. The Mufti, or doctor of Mohammedan law, ruled that coffee was a wine (his ruling need not be questioried too severely, as some crops of Mocha coffees have a pronounced winy flavour) and because wine drinking is against the law of the Koran, coffee must not be used by Mohammedans. The prohibition did not find favour with the coffee-loving Turks, and innumerable secret coffee honses sprang up to serve, behind locked doors, the liquor of the golden brown berry. The authorities found it impossible to carry out the edict of the mufti. On the quiet, and for a considerationj they let things slide until the prohibition was lifted. Jn London the first coffee house was opened by a Greek in 1652. He issued the first advertisement (a handbill) for coffee. The original is in the British Museum. It reads:' VERTUE OF THE COFFEE DRINK. First publiquely made and sold in England by PasdUa Rosee. "The grain or berry called coffee, groweth upon little trees, only in the Desert of Arabia. "It is brought from thence, and drunk generally throughout all the Grand Seignior's dominions. "It is a simple, innocent thing, composed into a drink by being dryed in an oven, and ground to powder and boiled up with spring water, and about half a pint of it to be drunk, fasting an hour before, and not eating an hour after, to be taken as hot as possibly can be endured, the which will ne-vev fetrh the skin off the mouth, or raise any blisters by reason of that heat. "The Turks' drink at meals and other times is usually water and their dyet consists much of fruit, the crudities thereof are very much corrected by this drink. Its Many Virtues. "The quality of this drink is cold and dry, and though it be a dryer, yet it neitlier heats nor inflames more than hot posset. "It clos.*s the orifice of the stomach and fortifies the heat within.

"It helpeth digestion, and therefore of great use to be taken about 3 or 4 a cloclc afternoon, as well as in the morning. "It quickens the spirits, and makes the heart lightsome. "It is good against Sore Eys, and the better if you hold your head over it and take in the Steem that way. "It suppresseth FUmes exceedingly, and therefore good against the Headach, and will very much stop any Defluxion of Rheums, that distil from the head upon the Stomach, and the prevent and help Consumptions, and the cough of the Lungs. "It is excellent to prevent and cure the Dropsy, Gout and Scurvy. "It is known by experience cc be better than any other Drying drinl; for People in years or Children that have any running humors upon them, as the King's Evil, etc. "It is a most excellent remedy against the Spleen, Hypocondrihck, Winds, or the like. "It will prevent Drowsiness, and make one fit for business if one have occasion to watch, and therefore you are not to drink it after supper, unless you intend to be watchful, for it will hinder sleep for 3 or 4 hours. "It is observed that in Turkey, where this is generally drunk, thar they are not troubled with the Stone, Gout, Dropsie or Scurvy, and that their Skins are exceedingly Cleer and white It is neither Laxative nor Restringent. "Made and Sold in St. Michaels Alley in Cornill by Pasqua Rosee at the Signe of his own Head." Coffee Houses. The coffee-houses later became the vogue in London and were known as the "penny universities," for the literary stars of the period — men like Pope, Swift, Addison, Fielding— all belonged to one or other of the coffee houses, and upon payment of one penny entrance fee and twopence for a pint of coffee one could listen to or converse with the best intellects of the day. In early days, before American independence, tea was a favourite drink with the Colonials, but when King George III perpetuated that blunler known as the Stamp Act it became a patriotic duty to drink something that did not have to come from England. The Boston Tea Party decided on coffee, and so was started the national habit which makes coffee the favourite meal-time drink in the United States, which to-day takes half the world's supply. When coffee was introduced into England, as is evident from the quotation above, it was claimed to be a palliative of many of the illnesses which nowadays it is said to cause.