37 / 102
j^ew
England
BY
FREDERIC
L.
FELTON
Rum
Of
Felton
&
Son
Boston,
Mass.
Any
account
of
beverages
de
luxe
would
be
in-
complète
without
some
référence
to
the
distillation
of
Rum,
an
industry
which
dates
back
to
the
early
days
of
the
colonies,
and
which
has
continued
with
the
usual
variations
down
to
the
présent
date.
One
of
the
first
points,
of
course,
is
to
disabuse
the
mind
of
the
reacier
of
any
idea
which
he
may
have
that
this
refers
to
Rum
in
the
extremeiy
broad
and
gênerai
sensé
in
which
the
word
is
used
by
n
early
ail
of
the
anti
-liquor
élément,
as
well
as
by
some
who
are
in
the
habit
of
using
stimulants.
It
is
a
com-
mon
thing
in
even
the
best
jonrnals
to
see
références
such
as
"Rum
did
it,"
or
"The
Rum
élément,''
the
ternis
being
meant
to
cover
everything
alcoholic.
As
a
matter
of
fact,
the
produc-
tion
of
Rum
in
this
country
is
about
one
and
one-half
per
cent,
of
the
total
production
of
strong
alcoholic
liquors,
and
the
actual
use
of
Rum
as
a
beverage
is
still
smaller
proportionately.
Many
articles
and
chapters
have
been
written
on
the
be-
ginning
of
the
manufacture
of
Rum,
as
well
as
the
dérivation
of
the
word
itself.
As
to
the
exact
period
when
the
distillation
of
a
potable
liquor
from
molasses
began,
it
is
probably
prac-
tically
coeval
with
the
beginning
of
the
manufacture
of
the
cane
sugar
itself.
According
to
a
paper
on
the
etymology
of
the
word
"Rum,"
written
for
private
circulation
some
years
ago
by
N.
Darnell
Davis,
who
at
that
time
occupied
an
important
offi-
ciai
position
in
the
colony
of
British
Guiana,
Rum
was
first
distilled
from
the
juice
of
the
sugar
cane
in
Barbadoes
about
the
year
1640
or
1645,
and
the
name
the planters
of
the
colony
gave
to
the
new
liquor
was
"kill
devil."
At
a comparatively
early
period
it
was
callecl
"Rum-bullion,"
a
word
which
ex-
pressed
the
idea
of
a
great
quarrel
or
tumult.
In
the
library
of
Trinity
Collège,
Dublin,
there
is
a
manu-
script
containing
a
description
of
Barbadoes
about
the
year
1651.
The
writer
refers
to
the
new
spirit
as
follows
:
"The
chief
fuddling
they
make
in
the
island
is
Rum-bullion,
alias
Kill
Divill,
and
this
is
made
of
sugar
canes
distilled,
a
hot,
hellish,
and
terrible
liquor."
Mr.
Davis
thinks
that
it
was
about
the
year
1660
that
Rum-
bullion
was
clipped
of
two
of
its
syllables,
but
the
first
mention