THE THIRST OF NATIONS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXI, Issue 41, 18 February 1911, Page 10

THE THIRST OF NATIONS.

The Strassburger Post has recently devoted space to a comparative statistical study of thirst, as shown by the amount of liquor consumed' by the inhabitants of various European States. The task is complicated by the varieties of liquid refreshment which are met with in different countries, and which are common to few. It appears, however, that the Dane drinks on an average 104 litres of beer, very little wine, but 24 litres of brandy each year. (A litre i 3, roughly speaking, li pints). The Swede is satisfied with 56 litres o£ beer and 9of alcohol. The Norwegian is one of the most temperate of Northern nations, consuming but 31 litres of beer and 3 of brandy per heud of population. The Russian takes 5 litres each of beer and vodka, whereas his ally, the Frenchman, needs 32 litres of beer, 10 of brandy, and 108 of wine. John Bull imbibes 6 litres of whisky or gin, 2 of claret, and 152 ot beer or stout. The .Dutchman rests content with 38 litres of beer and 8| of brandy. His neighbour, the Belgian, is more capacious, being satisfied only with 221 litres of beer and 9 of alcohol. The Austrian and the Hungarian each absorb 11£ litres of schnapps and 16 of wine, the formei needing in addition 80 litres of beer, while 11 will huffice for the latter. Of all the inhabitants of Europe, the Italian is the one who drinks least beer, a mere 2 litres, and the least alcohol, li litre. He imbibes 98 litres of wine, however. The consumption of beer in Germany, according to official statiptics recently ptriblished, is rapidly decreasing. During 1909 the consumption diminished approximately by 65,000,000 galldns, or 1 gallon par head of the population, During the preceding year there had been a diminution of nearly 70,000,000 gallons; whilst during the last decade there has been a decrease of 3 gallons per head of the population per annum. The decline in the brewing trade is also revealed by the diminishing number of breweries in Germany. In 1906 there were 6035; in 1907, 5792; in ISOB, 5590; and last year, 4763. During 1909 alone there was thus a decrease of 822 breweries. The decrease in the consumption of malt has been considerably greater than is indicated by the diminution in the consumption of beer, thus showing that the beer drunk in Germany becomes lighter and lighter every year.