Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1857-11-13
THE, WINE OF THE BoRG1A.

q .r.aH \ " u oE HORGlA. I.
Since our recent remarks On the dan.
ger OF drinking spirituous liquors without
being perfectly we'll assured as to their
origin, we have heard within week
from three different sources, of the death
OF six different persons-four in one
place and two in two olhers-from drink.
ing spirits. The deaths in question were
all Immediate, and caused, not BY exces
siye drinking, bu: by the poisonous ma
ture of the liquor.
-.. 1t this posun was strychnine. aud it is
not impossible, the causes of the deaths
would be apparent enough. Strychniue
Is horrible daVoring material, rather
worse than anything known in the mate.
Tt1 HasdscG, o1Alie acid not excepted and
those who nave seen man die from its
effects. have also seen the intense agony
to which poor humanity can be subject
ed. The fearful convuisionS and iutensi.
y Of racking pain which it occasions seem
like q fOretasle of tGrtures beyond human
conception. Decidedly, strychnint Ia not
nice, aud those who do not fancy it had
better be rather nice when the tempLa>
sion to drink doubtful liquor comes in
sheir way.
But strychnine does not come alone
Evil angels always fly in focks. In all
newly distilled spirits from rcoru occurs
the deadly - fusel " or "Fousel" oil
Otherwise known rs amylic alcohol-s pc.
cuiiar oily spirit, first detected and col
Iected in the process Of distiling spirit
from potatoes. 1t is found, however, in
several kinds of spirituous liquors, and
HbOunds in common whiskey. It's pres
ence in :he liquor is in exact proportion
TO the amount Of spirit extracted from the
.gEain. or IS it is expressed in Turner's
Chemistry, " 1t is particularly abundant
towards the close of the process" Thus
In good old>faSliOned dome tic di;tiIinv,
and when liquor was allowed to grow old
honQugh to allow the fusil oil to lose
much of IFS bad qualities. it had but lit
tie effect. N"w, however, when steam
distilting wrcnches the last possible drop
OF spirit from the corn. it brings an un
Wontsd Quantity Of this poison, which
acts with terrible result on the nerves !;
seeming like diaboIical inspiration. stir
Ing up mania, commissions and the hor.
roTs, in au Incredibly short space Of time.
This iasel oil Is a deadly poison, few
dT"ps suthcIng to destroy life. 'If." says
-Tur0er. t' its Vapor. mixed with air, is
-bTeathed for little time, asthcnat'c pains
and coughing are likely to ensue, and
even vomiting" A pretty strong article
that. And il is far from being scanty in
ronghiy distilled spirits. 1t can. be re-
moved. but only partially, by frequent
dIsliItation. In thus re-distilIing three
hundred barrels, of Will key. one whole
barrel Of pure iusel oil has been collected.
It is very remarkable that the fusel oil
when removed from the whiskey, is only
taken away to be put back again in ano-
ther but still more deadly form. From
it is made the oil Of cognac, one dollars
worth of which Will turn one hundred
gallons OF whiskey into " fine old bran
dy." A very few drops OF this !" devils
elixir, as, it has been called, will pro-
duce almost instant death-as happened
indeed last summer in Canada West 10 a
young man who. while busted in turning
whi>key Into brandy, inadvertently tast-
ed the transforming medium and died di.
rectly. AS this black chemistry is not
always carried on by practical chemists,
who are very careful Us 10 The propor-
tions. 1t may well be suppo ed that mis-
takes will occasionally occur. Young
men desirouS OF giving, an extra high fla.
vor TO brandy. and who are ignorant of
the deadly effects Of the faToring es-
sence. may very innocently raise the gro.
~" up to killing pitch. In fact. we have
known one manufacturer who honestly
believed that "made brandy was more
Iholesome than the best imported, hav-
ing got the idea that the oil deposited
"'hOculent matter" and took all the fusel
poison out Of the whiskey. And there
are thousands upon thousands of men
who would sell any amount of poison if
they could only make an additional cent
. gallon by it. .... ..-
or late, the facilities for poisoning Ii,
qpor have increased with suoh fearful ra-
Pldlty that We can no more refrain from
cautloning our readers than. we would
from cautioning them against the exis-
tence OF any pest. Books are circulated
giving the fullest directions for poisonous
counterfeits OF every variety, Of LIQUOR:
and Yet we never hear of their authors or
printers being indicted. while we have
seen in this yerY city. and in a newspa>
per. an advertisement in which one ia.
pIllar. with the business offered his sepyi
ees, by the day. guarantee to, be able 10
make all lllsorts of liquors at an, expense of
only forty cents s4gallon beyond the cost
q! the ,whiskey. We suggest that some
orthe, zeal now bestowed. and very pro.
perry, on preventing the circulation of
WORKS OF an immoral choractar ha owto.