FIRST SPEAKEASIES

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 25, 30 January 1932, Page 23

FIRST SPEAKEASIES

Most people imagine that the "Speakeasy" originated m Ameiica But there wcie "Spcakea=icV' m Con stantmople 400 jeais ago, sajs a writer in the '' Cape Times ''

The Mufti, or doctor of Mohammedan, law, luled that coffee was a nine (his ruling need not be questioned too severplj, as some crops of Mocha coffees have, a pronounced winy flavour)- and because wine drinking is against the law of tho Koran, coffee must not be used by Mohammedans.

The prohibition did not find favour with tho coffee-loving Turks, and innumerable seciet coffee houses spiang up to serve, behind locked doors, the hquoi of the golden brown beny. Tho authorities found it impossible to carry out '■ the edict of the mufti.'■'. On the quiet—and for a consideration—they lef things slide until the , prohibiton was lifted

In London the first coffeo house was opened by a Greek in 1652T Ho issued the first adveitiscment (a handbill) foi cofietf.' The original is m tho British Museum. It reads;

VERTUE OF THE COFFEE DKINK. First publiquely made and sold m » England by Pasqua Eosee "The Gram or Berry called coffee, groweth upon little trees, only in the Desert of Arafiia

"It is brought fiom thenc, tnd drunk generally thioughout all the Giand Seigniors Dominions. "It is> a simple, innocent thing, com posed into a drink, by being dryed in an Oven, and ground to Powder and boiled up with Spring water, and about half a-pmt of it to be drunk, fasting an hour befoiej'and not eating rn^our after, and to be taken as hot as pos sibly can bo endured, tho which'■will never fetch! the' skin off the mouth', .or' raise any blisters by icason ot that heat ' "The Turks at iLeals and oilier times is usually Water and the^r Dyet consists mucn of Fruit, the crudities whereof are very much corrected b> this Drink. i "The quality of this Drink is cold and"Dry, and though it bo a iDiyor, jet it neither heats noi inflames more thhn hot Posset. v "It closes the Oufico of the Stomach and fortifies the heat within.

"It helpeth .digestion, and therefore of gicat use to be tiken about £ or, 4 a'Clock'afternoon, as " well "as "Th the morning. > - "It quickens the Spirits, and makes the Heart lightsome

||^PLB. CONSTANTINOPLE

"It is good againsJ^Bore Eys) and the better if you hold your Head over it and take in the Steem that way.

"It suppresseth Fumes exceedingly, and therefore vgopd,.against the Headach, and will |V ,yery- much stop. any Defluxion of Rheuiins, ..that distil from Vt'he head, upon the'-Stomach, and the prevent and help Consumptions, and the .cough, of .the Lungs. '.'■ , "It, 19; excellent to prevent and cure the Dropsy, Goutj and Scurvy. ■ "It" is known by experience ;fo be ■better than any-other Drying : <lrink for People in years or Children that have any running 'humors' uponv'thein, as the! King's "Eviiy'efci.- ... .'; : , "It is a most .excellent remedy against the Spleen, Hypoeondriack Winds, or the like. ;!.' ; "It. will prevent Drowsiness; -1 and1 make .one fit for business if one have occasion to, watch, and therefor^,: you are not to drink of it after supper, unless- youMntend to be watchful, for it will hinder sleep for 3 or 4 hours. ' "It is observed:- that in Turkey, where this is. generally drunk/ 'that they, are not/troubled with the Stone, Gout, v: Dropsie or Scurvy, and' that their Skins, are exceedingly Cleer and white;. It is neither-Laxative nor Bestringent. '■. ~-.v,-V> . ' ', V.!- f.'Mad'e ari^oldin St. Michaels' in Cornhillyby(.Pasqua Eosee ■■ at the Signe of £is own Head." ; The coffee-houses later became the vogue in London and were known ;as the "permy■ universities^'' for tjie literary stars -of the peridd—men like Pope,>S\vift, Addison, Fielding—^all belonged to one or other of the .coffeehouses^ and. upon, payment: of one penny entranced fee and twopence for a pint of.; coffee one could listeii I to.Jor converse ;with;tie best intellects'of the day.' : .. •;^. ': ■■ ■ • ,5 \) '■."■ In early day?, before American independence, tea^ was a favourite;drink wijh the Colonials, but when': King 111. \ perpetrated that blunder as tKe; ,StSj|iJi;;i^ct it became: a patriotic duty to.Varjnk-'something that dis not have to cpinej'fr'om England. : , ,2?he Boston ''Tea^arity decided on ;coffe«f,:'an"d •■ so '■Sv^Sfitfii'ted the national habit which makes'coffee the favourite ■nreal-time'drink in thd'United States, which-to-day takes half the world's .supply. _; r , :>> - ; .-.'■ v; t; f s. : V&enj coffea, )va|^ latroduecd.; intiji England, a^ is" e!vident*from the;i[uota-' tion above, it was claimed tpi be,*; palliative of many ,of,' ; the illitessea'i which nowadays it is said to cause. ' !(\