Just a darn good story

The long and storied history of distilled spirits.

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techne1
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Just a darn good story

Post by techne1 »

I read this legend in a book about the history of bourbon and thought I'd share it:

What the Governor of South Carolina Said to the Governor of North Carolina

A great many years ago the governor of North Carolina received a friendly visit from the governor of South Carolina. After a real North Carolina dinner of bacon and yams, the two governors lit pipes and sat in the shade of the back veranda with a demijohn of real North Carolina corn whisky, copper distilled, within easy reach.

"There was nothing stuck up about these governors," says a North Carolina State historian, in the homely but vigorous language of his section. "There they sot and smoked, and sot and smoked, every once in a while taking a mutual pull at the demijohn with the aid of a gourd which they used as a democratic goblet. The conversation between the two governors was on the subject of turpentine and rice, the staples of their respective states, and the further they got into the subject the lower down they got into the jug, and the lower down they got in the jug the drier the governor of South Carolina got, who was a square drinker and a warm man with about a million pores to every square inch of his hide, which enabled him to histe in a like share of corn juice, or other beverage, and keep his carcass at the same time well ventilated, and generally always ready for more, while the governor of North Carolina was a more cautious drinker, but was mighty sure to strike bottom at about the twelfth drink, like as if nature had measured him by the gourdful.

Well, they sot and smoked and argued, and the governor of North Carolina was as hospitable as any real Southern gentleman could be, for he ladled out the whisky in the most liberal manner, being particular to give his distinguished guest three drinks to one, and gauging his own dose with great care, for fear that if he didn't he might lose the thread of his argument and the demijohn might run dry before the governor of South Carolina should be ready to dust out for home, in which case it would look like he had not properly observed the laws of hospitality, which would have been a self-inflicted thorn in his side for years to come, and no amount of apology could ease his mind or enable him to feel warranted in showing his countenance to his fellow-men, especially in his home district, where for generations it had been a main point with every gentleman to keep his visitor well supplied with creature comforts, and to hand him a good gourdful as a stirrup-cup when about to take his departure for the bosom of his family.

Singular to relate, the cautiousness manifested by the governor of North Carolina was of no avail, for at one and the same moment the jug went dry and the governor of North Carolina, much to his subsequent mortification when he learned the fact afterward, dropped off into a quiet sleep, while the governor of South Carolina continued to keep on with his argument, holding the empty gourd in his hand in close contagiousness to the demijohn, and wondering at the apparent absentmindedness of his hitherto attentive host, to whom, after a minute and a half of painful silence, he made use of but one remark: 'Governor, don't you think it's a long time between drinks?' the remark being overheard by George, the body-servant of the governor of North Carolina, who, knowing that there was something wrong, took to the woods, where he remained in seclusion for three days. But the governor of South Carolina receiving no reply from the governor of North Carolina, mounted his horse and rode sadly homeward with an irrepressible feeling at his heart that there was coming to be a hollowness in friendship, and that human nature was in danger of drifting into a condition of chaotic mockery."--January 30, 1881 New York Times; related by Maj. James Calvin Hemphill, a South Carolinian and editor of the Charleston News and Courier, later with the New York Times.

In gratitude, techne1
SuburbanStiller
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Re: Just a darn good story

Post by SuburbanStiller »

Twas a good story. When the booze is gone, the party's over.
LWTCS wrote:Recon i am an intermet lilker geek
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