Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1859-02-22

vINOLENT POISONS.

From time to time there Is n revival of the
opposition TO strychnine rum and mania potu
brandy, and the opposition to poison makes a
desperate full rush, first in one newspaper and
then in another, at the red and infiaming enc
nv The mildest form Of attack is certainly
that in which fault is found with groggery-
keepers for putting water in their liquors. One
Of the hardest anecdotes at present afoat Of
this rum which is 20 weak that it freezes rather
more easily than anything else known, is thus
told by Cincinnati paper: Out in Vermont
during the cold cycle, an invalid procured a
junk bottle Of new rum from an 'sgent, car
Tied it home, tied a string round the nozzle
and hing it up near the stove, to keep ii safe ;
In the morning he found the bottle en- the floor
and on looking up, saw the frozen rum still
hanging by the neck"
II this were only the worst which could be
said Of low groggery rum, there would be little
complaint. But the fact is notorious and capa-
bic of proof by every old doctor and every
chemist, that the effect of using intoxicating
liquors now, il much more fatal than il was
thirty years ago.
pamphlet by Z. C. Delavan, recently pub
lished on this subject, contains many terrible
facts Within year or two the selling of re-
ciPes for making liquors has become a heavy
business; i've dollars teaching the art of making
almost anything-brandy, gin or wines-from
common whisky. There is an extensive man
ufacture Of cheap Madeira in New York. where
whisky and passing it through carbon" I'm
mense establishments are devoted to this bust
ness. Prof c. ii. Lee, of New York. SAYS:
Tho trade I'm empty wine casks in this city,
with the custom house mark and certifca ates il
immense; the same casks being replenished
rgsin and again, and always accompanied by
that infallible test Of genuineness. the custom
house certificates. There is also in this neigh
borhood, il is stated, an extensive manufnct0ry
If wine casks, which are made closely to i'm
itatc the foreign, as to deceive experienced
dealers"
Every yeaf sees the business of adulteration
increase; and according to n late number of
Chambers Magazine, 1T increases also in
France, in the very vineyards themselves
The following extract from an article in the
y. York Journal of Commerce shows also that
people cannot be too careful in buying their
liquor. and how utterly unreliable all cheap
and secOnd-rate wines are:
g Hiram Cox. NJ D.. of Cincinnati, is uuoted
as having analysed. in that city, sixteen lots
cf wine. of different varieties, which did not
contain one drop Of the juice of the grape. The
basis Of the port wine, for example, was diluted
sulphuric acid, eOlOred with elderberry juice
with alum, sugar, and neutral spirits The
basis Of the sherry wine was a sort of pale malt
sulphuric acid from the bitter almond oil, with
= per centsge of alcoholic spirits from brandy
The basis of the Madeira was decOctiOn of
hops with Sulphuric acid. honey. spirits of ia
maica rum, &c. President Mott in his pub
ished lectures in relation to this subject. speaks
Of the examination. by the assignee, Of the pa
Pers Of a house which had suspended payment
resulting In the discovery that many hundred
barrels Of elder had been purchased during the
previous year. but none Of wine; yet nothing
but wine had been sold. Many other similar
facts are recounied, and extensive quotations
made from foreign periodicals and other au-
thcTities, showing that adulteration is practiscd
LII
readily credited
beautiful state of affairs truly. aud a nice
state of health in prospect for imbibers of cheap
brandy Think a minute, ye who complain of
nervousness, of neuralgia; ye young men who
zee visions and dream dreams, And when YOU
next are merry around the sky rocket and rife
brands, let one of your number sing in full
cups the following from the Autocrat:
"COme. I'LL fresh bumper, for why should we
While The logwOOd still reddens our cups as they
fOw9
Pour out the dccoction still bright with the sun.
Till DER the brmmed crystal the dye-stuif shall
run.
"The halfriPened apples their life-dews have
bIed;
How sweet is the taste Of the sugar of lead,
For summers rank poison lies hid in the uiRsSt
hat were gaTnerCd by stable boys smoking long
mines
Then a scOwl, and a howl and a scott, and
sHeer.
For strychnine and whisky, and ratsbane and
beer,
I'm cellar. IN pantry. I'm attic, in hail.
Down, down with the tyrant that masters us ALL"
And there is more truth than poetry in these
verses Every year makes them truer and
truer. There have been sneers at those whose
poverty, though not their will, consented to
make them drink beer and sing Of wine but
what shall We say Of those who sing of wine
and drink-ratsbancl