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Concerning the Curriculum
upon their knowledge of drinks in the making, or else
upon their piscatorial prowess when it came to absorb–
ing the same. I put this question to a score or more,
many of whom were reputed to "drink like a fish":
"Leaving out plain Scotch, rye, gin, beer and simple
alcoholic drinks of whatever sort, how many kinds of
mixed drinks would you say there are?"
In
no case did the answer reach beyond fifty. And the
highest enumeration of cocktails was twenty-five. That
gave me a clue to the state of ignorance as to manners
and conditions of an c;tge just a little more than a
decad~
gone, which, considering that those men were supposed
to be experts
in - ~heir
way, must be widespread. Such ig–
norance is due fdr correction. And follow exhibits which
multiply more than ten times the highest cocktail
guesses of men supposed to know.
As the vulgate has it, "Read 'em and weep!" Not for
the drinks that have gone, perhaps, but in envy of those
who could compass such stuff and ca'rry on, as the Eng–
lish put it. That they carried on, in the American sense,
is a matter of record.
It is also a matter of record -that many of them have
been carried on.
Awl
the stern moralist might consider
what follows as their epitaphs.
"Other times, other
customs,'.~
runs the saw. And
some would add that other, beginning,
"De gustibus."
After all, the verdict belongs to posterity. We are too
near the casualty list to pronounce final judgment. The
"facts" subjoined speak loud, and in reading, one may
almost detect the odors of those other times and those
other customs. But the taste--no !
[ I I I )