The Story of the Drunken Elephant Quote

(Nov. 19) -- As journalistic blunders go, it wasn’t quite up there with “Dewey Defeats Truman.†But last week, The Associated Press had to eat its words after running a news article about Paris Hilton’s supposed desire to publicize the plight of elephants in northeastern India.

For the record, it is apparently true that elephants there get drunk on farmers’ homemade rice beer, then go on rampages. But it is not true that Ms. Hilton, who served jail time this year for violating probation after a drunken driving arrest, told reporters, “The elephants get drunk all the time. It is becoming really dangerous. We need to stop making alcohol available to them.†  Etc. etc.

 

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Well, I don't know about Mzzz Hilton and her errant elephants, but I can tell you about the "alcoholic" cows that frequent breweries!  LOL!  Many years ago, I was the Agency PR exec for Continental Can's line of can packaging.  Part of my job was to develop - and place - articles about same in the "trade press" serving the packaging and brewing industries.  To do this, I often visited major breweries across the land where CCC's cans were being used to package the brew.  I thus had to be pretty familiar with beer brewing practices, etc.  At one stage in the brew cycle, the "wort," as it is called, (largely spent grains, malt, sugars, etc. residue - a  sort of mushy collection in the bottom of the vats) - is expelled from the product stream.  This "wort" is no longer useful to the brewer and constitutes mounds of hot, steaming, still slightly alcoholic leavings.

 

It is however, highly nutritious still - and as such is perfect fodder for cattle.  So many brewers sell (I forget) or just plain "give" this spent wort away to area stock farmers, who haul it away by the truckload!  And I  remember once, I think it was at Hamm's Brewery ("Land of the Sky Blue Waters" - remember?) up in Minnesota, on a winter morning, that cows from a neighboring farm actually gathered right at the loading area one cold morning and were consuming "wort" right on the spot!  The steam rose in clouds, and now and then a cow might lurch a bit unsteadily, for they DID sometimes get a bit woozy on this stuff! 

 

(But I never heard of any going on rampages - though it was rumored their milk was "right tasty!")

 

bernie-been-there-done-that