DRINKS WHICH TOTAL ABSTAINEBS SHOULD AVOID.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXV, Issue 10236, 29 June 1883, Page 3

DRINKS WHICH TOTAL ABSTAINEBS SHOULD AVOID.

The many new beverages, teetotal and otherwise, now in the market have caused the Executive Committee of the Grand Lodge , of England, 1.0.G.T (Mnlins), to Bubmit some of them to eniinent analyiste, with -the results here given ;— rFirsf,? there is the ' so-called " Good Templar champagne." This is made by a firm of wine makers in France, and is distributed through a London, firm of wine and spirit;merchants. The Good Templar order never sanctioned their " designation being attached to this beverage, and on placing a sample in'th'e hands of Mr A. B. Hill, borough analyist for Birmingham, he reported it to' contain 19s}. per cent, of proof spirit. It is therefore mora intoxicating than the . strongest malt liquors, and is, in fact,, of about the same alcoholic strength ac some clarets, and other so-called •" light " French wines. Every effort has been made in appealing; • to. \ the consciences :of the manufacturers and agents to discontinue this most unwarrantable attachment of the name of the Good Templar order to this intoxicant, but the manufacturers will not reply to letters sent, and the agents compromise the matter by confessing on their price lists, hut not on the bottle labels, the fact that it contains about & per cent, of alcohol. So-called sacramental wines, specially recommen ded by adventurerß and others as suitable for total abstainers, have also received attention. A " ruby tent " sacramental wine is now advertised as " specially reoommended to total abstainers as a wine free from foreign aleoholisation." This Bimply means that in this wine no brandy is added ; but the fact that the juice is fully fermented and intoxicating is concealed. The following report on this "ruby tent" wine has been received by the Grand Lodge Executive : - " Bull-street, Birmingham, June 13th 1882. We have made a careful analysis of tha ' ruby tent.' a communion wine. We find it contains 11.2 per cent, by weight, of absolute alcohol, equivalent to 24.3 per cent, .of proof spirit. — Signed, T.- and W. W. Southall." Thus this wine is as alcoholic and intoxicating as though three-fourths jai it were unformented grape juice, and one-fourth were strong rum, gin, whisky, or brandy. " Rota tent " wine is os intoxicating as " rtiby tent." The wholesale advertisements of hop bitters as an " unintoxicatiug " cure for everything, including the alleged cases of thousands of drunkards, has caused the Good Templars to have this analysed by an eminent chemist, A. Collenette, of Guernsey. The following is his report : — "I have examined v sample of '.hop bitters,' and declare it to contain 796 deg — 12 per cent, extractive matter — 0.88 per cent. The samplo analysed was contained in a yellow glass bottle, and measured 1G fluid ounces. The alcohol distilled possessed a hard, oppressive smell, which I believe to he due to an abnormally large qumtity of amylic alcohol (fusel oil). The ' hop bitters ' examined bore the labels i,f tho Hop Bilter.-i in>nn f .-ieturiog C»ml>:ii.y, oi Bocb'.hiw, >'<e-,v Yoik, U.S.A., «ad"was retailed at -ii Gd per bottle,"

Thus this so-oalled remedy for intemperance is about twice as intoxicating as ale or beer, and is as alcoholio as if onefourth of it consisted of whisky, or of any other ardent spirit of which 50 per cent.- is alcohol. The introduction of continental beers, such as Bavarian, Danish, lager, &0., into this country has been aocompanied by declarations that they are unintoxioating. The Good Templar authorities have had many samples of these analysed by Messrs Southall and Company, and they report the lightest of them to contain 5 per cent, of alcohol, about the same as English beer. -Representatives from every county in England, recently assembled in Grand Lodge session at York, unanimously resolved to request the public Press to expose the charaoter of the " Good ' Templar champagne," and similarly misleading productions, add it ia in furtherance of Buoh resolution that tbe present statement is made. —J. Malms. New wines direct from the vineyards. Guaranteed to h-i genuine grape juice, unfermented ai d -.nintoxioating. AltoDouro, Madeii-p, Congress, Muscat, Lachryma? ehiieli. These wines vary considerably in body, flavour, oolour, and bouquet, and are calculated to meet every variety of taste and requirement. The first four are excellent sacramental wines. " These wines have considerable dietetic and hygienio merit. They are valuable medicinal remedies, and wholesome and acceptable beverages." — Nor-, man Kerr, M.D., F.L.B. " I think Mr Wright is rendering an important service to his country. I should not in the least degree hesitate to give a dinner to any class of people, even the most refined, with these wines upon the table, whioh are perfeotly harmless in themselves, and withal nutritious. They are exceedingly grateful to the palate, and I think with their introduction we might fairly consider the social difficulty very largely solved." — Dr B. W. Biohardson, F.B.S. !