OLD TOM.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 4868, 26 June 1901, Page 4

OLD TOM.

It was a wicked pervereu n of a name that coupled gin and the Galvinists together. The 'grim Geneva ministers ' had some connection with the Swiss town ; the ( distilled damnation,' as Robert Hall called it, owed its name to tbe juniper, or rather, to the old French form of tbe word 'genevre.' Hollands and Schiedman and ' a little square,' were alternative names, for 200 years ago Shied bam was famed for its gin factories, and Bquare bottles were already in vogue. * Old Tom f is really a London product, that is if the i story told recently in the New York j courts is correct. An American plain. Pneumonia Pbbvbot;bd. Among the tens of thousands who have used Chamberlain's Cough Remedy for colds and la grippe during the past few years, to our knowledge, not s single cose has resulted in pneumonia. Thos. Whitfield & 00., 240 Wabash A venae, Chicago, one of the most prominent retail druggists in that city, in speaking of ' this, says : '' We recommend Chamberlain's Cough Remedy for la grippe in many cases, as it not only gives prompt and complete recovery, but also counteracts any tendency of la grippe to result in pneumonia.' For sale by R. ,8. Poison, chemist. Prios, Is 6d ; big size, ,Bsr*- '" ■' ■ ' n , . : .

tiff tried to restrain a rival dealer in gin from using on the labels of his bottles the design of a cat which plaintiff had previously adopted. The Supreme Court decided against him. The cat was shown to be an ancient symbol, having been used commonly after sweetened gin acquired the name of • Old Tom.' In 1729 Sir Robert Walpole's Government, thinking that tbe people' were drinking too much gin, resolved to put a prohibitive' tax on it, and offered a reward to informers against illicit gin-shops. Many attempts were made to evade the law. A certain Captain Bradsti;eet rented a room in Blue Anchor Courts and nailed ' a sign of a cat ' against his ground floor window. Below the sign protruded about one inch of lead pipe, and tbe cat bad a slot in its mouth. Tbe streets were filled with riotous crowds, who eagerly responded to Bradstreet's invitation to ' put twopence into tbe cat'B mouth and tbe end of a pipe into your own.' Thus, nearly two centuries ago London had a ' twopenny tube,' and the ' Old Tom Cat,' or more briefly, ' Old Tom,' became tbe accepted term for sweetened gin. ' Old Tom ' has fallen into disrepute at various periods because of the adulteration practised by gin-palace keepers in London. Turpentine is said to be the most common adulterant.