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CHAPTER VI
ALL ALE
Waste not, want not—The right hand for the froth—Arthur
Roberts and Phyllis Broughton—A landlord's perquisites—
Marc Antony and hot coppers—Introduction of ale into
Britain — Burton-on-Trent—Formerly a cotton-spinning
centre—^A few statistics—Michael Thomas Bass—A grand
old man—Malting barleys—Porter and stout—Lager beer—
Origin of bottled ale—An ancient recipe—Lead-poisoning—
The poor man's beer.
In a speech made some years ago Sir Michael
Hicks-Beach observed that nearly one million
sterling's worth of tobacco was wasted annually
by throwing away cigarette-ends and the stumps
of cigars. But what would you, Sir Michael ?
Are the lieges to cremate their lips and singe
their moustaches by smoking on to the (literally)
bitter end ? Whether or no, it is tolerably cer
tain that there is an enormous daily waste in
the matter of intoxicating drinks — without
counting the wanton, although conscientious,
destruction made by teetotal magnates. Accord
ing to statistics—I shall not madden my readers
with many of these—more than ,^138,000,000