One of the highlights of my small local weekly newspaper is the articles that they reprint from the newspaper of 100 years ago. What a small town paper thinks of as news is fascinating. Scores from games at the YMCA. A new house is almost complete. Farmers are glad for recent rain.

Today, my darling wife was looking through this week’s edition when something caught her eye that she knew I’d be interested in.

August 7, 1908

ARRESTED FOR SELLING AMBERINE IN BRUNSWICK

The question whether “amberine,” the substitute for beer manufactured for sale under the Byrd local option law in Virginia, can lawfully be sold in prohibition territory in Maryland will likely come up at the September term of the Circuit Court in Frederick county.

Sheriff Myers, of Frederick, on Wednesday last arrested Frank Woods, at Brunswick, on the charge of violating the law against the sale of intoxicating beverages in Brunswick, which is a prohibition district. Woods, it is alleged, has been selling “amberine” at Brunswick. “Amberine” resembles beer in practically all particulars, but contains a smaller amount of alcohol than ordinary beer.

Woods was taken to Frederick before Justice C. H. Eckstein, where he waived a hearing and was released in $200 bail pending the action of the grand jury.

Brunswick hasn’t moved very far from the Prohibition days. There’s only one bar in town, no restaurants with an on-premise license, and two liquor stores.

But, what the heck is “amberine”? Sure, they describe it briefly in the article, but I’ve never heard low-alcohol beer called that befor.

Well, happy for an opportunity to learn something new, I turned to the intertubes to get some more information. Wikipedia? Nothin’. Okay, Google. Well, some results, but nothing about beer or a relation. I got the name of a woman on MySpace, what appears to be a large fishing lure a kind of fish, a (faux) precious stone variety of moss agate, a dietary supplement, a song, and a model of motherboard by ASUS.

Even my search for “Byrd local option law” came up empty, but I suspect I just didn’t get the search term right.

So, can anyone enlighten me? Where can I learn more about this?