GIN IN GRAPE FRUIT

Greymouth Evening Star, 11 May 1936, Page 9

GIN IN GRAPE FRUIT

TRICK BY UNDERGRADUATES

OXFORD, March 24.

An allegation that undergraduates at a dance on St. Patrick s Night mixed gin with grape fruit was made at Oxford to-day, when Bernard Butterfield, 24, an Oxford college servant, was charged with being under the influence of drink to such an extent as to bo incapable of having proper control of a car. It was stated that Butterfield was found asleep at the wheel of a car at 2.20 a.m.

Butterfield said that he went with two college servants to a dance, and during the night had four or five glasses of beer. About 1.30, when he was having a grape fruit some undergraduates came in. Before finishing his grape fruit he went out. He returned in a few minutes, but did not notice anything peculiar about his drink. On the way home he became queer and decided to stop and rest. The few beers he had had at the dance were not sufficient to produce that effect. He was accustomed to beer at the college, where it was much stronger. The next day he, was told by friends that what had happened was due to undergraduates putting gin into his grape fruit. He had never in his life had any spirits.

Roy Larflirook, a fejllow servant, said that an undergraduate who was one of a party at the dance poured part of a bottle of gin into Butterfield’s grape fruit. "I did not say anything,” he remarked, “because I thought Butterfield had noticed it.”

Asked by the Chief Constable how he knew the man was an undergraduate, Ladhroek replied: “1 have had a lot to do with undergraduates. 1 could tell by their actions, their manner, and their talk they were not ordinary people like us.”

Butterfield/ was fined £l, with £2/2/- costs. His license was suspended for a month.

OXFORD BEER DIFFERENT. March 26. Since the earliest days of its foundation, Oxford has been noted for its drinks —particularly its beer. Only one college to-day, Queen’s, still brews its own beer. Most of the ethers have special ale brewed for them by brewers. This beer is different from that, usually served to the public. It costs no more,, but it can be obtained'only by undergraduates, senior members oi the colleges, or their guests. Until recently New College and All Souls retained their brewers, but. today Queen’s College, which has a special brewers’ permit, is the only place in Oxford, apart from a brewery, which brews its own beer. ‘‘Of course, the beer in colleges is different from that in any public-house or hotel,” the steward of a famous college said to-night. “It is a special ale, and much of the strength of Oxford college beer is due to the way in which it is kept. Those in charge are experts, and the beer is served only at its best.” Some colleges have famous brews. There are. for instance, Brasenose ale — served after dinner on Shrove Tuesday with roast apples floating in it,—the Chancellor Ale of Queen's College, tasted only by a few privileged people, of which one pint is said to make a man merry for the rest of the evening, and the famous ivy brew of Lincoln College. This special brew, in which ground ivy is steeped, is made from an old recipe. It is a relic ot an old feud between Lincoln and Brasenose.

A Brasenose man was killed by a Lincoln undergraduate, and as a penance Lincoln College was ordered to provide free beer on the anniversary ot the murder to any member of Brasenose College who demanded it. Owing to the capacity of Braseuose men, tho steward of Lincoln hit on the idea of steeping ground ivy in the beer to make it more potent. The centuries old recipe is still used today. Many other colleges have recipes which have been handed down for centuries. In addition, there are scores of other Oxford drinks, including Brown Betty, named after a former Oxford bedmaker, 'the Oxford Grace Cu,p, Rum Booze, Pepper Posset and Oxford Mull.