The Sun.
London, England, 1866-12-29 00:00:00

ILLICIT SALE OF SPIRITS.

On Thursday, at the Justice of Peace Court,
Glasgow, Joseph Clark, druggist, was charged at
the instance of Peter Connacher, excise-officer, with
having, on the 29th October, sold a certain quan-
tity of methylated spirits, as and for a beverage,
contrary to the statute, whereby he had forfeited
the sum of £lOO. Mr. T. G. Wright conducted
the prosecution ; and Mr. J. L. Lang appeared for
the defendant.

Mr. Lang said that the defendant pleaded not
guilty, and that he had a special defence to make on
his behalf. Mr. Clark had been a druggist in Glas-
gow for nearly 10 years, and during all that time he
had dealt in what was called " finish." It was a
liquid which was allowed to be sold, and it was used
by French polishers and others. He produced in-
voices from a number of manufacturers referring to
large quantities of the liquid purchased by the de-
fendant. It was well-enough known by police-
officers and others that it was drunk by a number
of persons, but the defendant never sold it as a
beverage. Some change in the law with regard to
the sale of finish came into force on the Ist of
January ; and he might mention that defendant
wrote to the Inland Revenue on the subject, but he
got no answer.

The following witnesses were then examined :
James Weir, excise-officer, said—l went to the
shop of the defendant on the 29th Oct., and found
him standing behind the counter attending to a cus-
tomer. I asked for a seidlitz powder, and while
defendant was making it up the customer left the
shop, and I asked for a glass of finish to drink with
the seidlitz powder. He said he could not give me
any drink in the shop, but he would give me some in
a bottle to drink outside, and I could come back
and take the powder. I asked him how he sold the
finish, and he said 2d. the gill. , I asked for a gill,
which he gave me in a bottle, and I then left the
shop, telling him I would use it outside.
I showed the bottle to Mr. M'Callum,
collector of customs, next day, and afterwards
kept it sealed up in my lodgings till the 17th inst.,
when it was produced in court, and a portion of it
ordered to be given to Mr. Moffat and Mr. Con-
nacher to be analysed.

By Mr. Lang—l was sent to the defendant's
shop by M'Callum, who told me to purchase finish.
I know the difference between methylated spirits
and finish, and that parties must be authorised to
keep the former, but not the latter. Mr. Denniston
accompanied me to defendant's shop, but remained
outside. He merely smelt the liquor when I came
out with it.

Peter Connacher—l am a chemist, and am em-
ployed in that capacity by the Inland Revenue.
Methylated spirits should be composed of alcohol,
and not less than one-ninth of its bulk of wood
naphtha. I tasted a portion of the contents of the
bottle produced quantitatively, and my opinion is
that it is methylated spirits with a slight trace of
gum.

By Mr. Lang—No license is required for the sale
of finish. There should be in all finish alcohol or
spirits of wine. I tested the contents of the bottle
with distilled water, and that showed me the pre-
sence of certain articles, and not their quantities.
I am the informant in this case, and when the
bottle was handed to me it was not sealed.

This concluded the case for the prosecution, and
the following witnesses were then examined for the
defence :

George Mill Watson said—l am shopman to Mr.
Clark, and have been in his employment for the last
12 or 14 months. I produce 20 invoices and ac-
counts for finish from Robert Thom, J. T. Ramsay,
Thomson and Ramsay, J. and D. M'Nair, and Ber-
nard and Co. Defendant, ever since I went to his
shop, like all other chemists, dealt in finish. It is
used by French polishers, hatters, and others in
their trades, and I have sold considerable quantities
of it for Mr. Clark. I have never on any occasion
sold it as a beverage, and defendant gave me ex-
press instructions not to do so. I went with first
witness on the 17th inst. to Mr. Moffat's laboratory,
Ingram-street. I saw Weir hand a bottle to Mr.
Moffat with a view of getting its contents analysed.
The sale of finish in defendant's shop was quite open.
By Mr. Wright—•l have sold various quantities
of finish—from a gill to a couple of gallons. I
am not prepared to give the names of any
hatters or French-polishers I have supplied with
finish. I think it will be about four months since
I sold finish on a Sunday. I recollect of a woman
being fined in the Central Police-court far break-
ing two panes of glass in defendant's shop window
on a Sunday. I cannot say the date when it
occurred, but it was since or during last summer.
The woman broke the glass because I would not
sell her finish. 1 cannot say how we gave up sell-
ing finish on Sundays, but I had orders from the
defendant not to do so.

By Mr. Lang—l suspect that Mr. Clark gave me
orders not to sell finish on Sundays, as he was
afraid the people might drink it. Witness after-
wards read a paragraph relating to the case of the
woman who broke the glass, and denied her state-
ment that she was looking for her husband, but, on
the contrary, was there to purchase finish.
This concluded the evidence, and the case was
adjourned till Monday, 7th January, in order that
the two letters sent by defendant to the Inland
Revenue might be produced, along with the printed
instructions given by the board to druggists.

MARKETS.--This day.

COVENT GARDEN.

Although the demand is somewhat less active, the trade
for all descriptions of fruit continues steady, and late rates
are well supported. A fair average business has been
concluded in vegetables on former terms.
FRUIT—Pine apples, 4s to 8s; grapes, 2s 6d to is 6d ;
filberts, Od to Os per lb ; apples, 4s Od to 8s Od ; pears,
2s Od to 6s Od per dozen; oranges, 3s to 9s; lemons, 4s
to 8s per 100.
VEGETABLES—Cauliflowers, 2s to Gs Od ; cabbages, is to
2s Od; horseradish, 2s Od to 4s Od; celery, Os 9d to 1s 6d
per doz heads; turnips, 3s Od to 4s Od ; carrots, 4s Od to
6s Od per dozen bunches; cucumbers, 9d to is each ;
onions, 3s to 5s 6d; spinach, Os to Os per bushel.