Litchfield enquirer., 1870-12-22
Adulterated Liquors

Much as has been said of the adultera tion of liquors. few are aware of the ex tent of that practice. By Q late statute the sale of adulterated liquors is punished by severe penalties. and our Supreme Cour, has decided that no want of knowledge oi the adulteration on the part of the seller constitutes 8 defence in prosecution un. der this statute. On our first page will be found the sentence of one Henry Stanton. Norwich liquor seller, convicted of a vio. lation of the law in question, pronounced by Judge Seymour at the November Term of the New London County Superior Court. The case was originally tried by Judge Park, who, on it's being carried to the Su. preme Court, made finding of the facts proved on the trial before him. The ex tent of the adulteration. briefly referred to by Judge Seymour in his sentence, is more fully set forth in this finding as fol lows:
 Professor Silliman of Yale College. tes tified that he had made an examination oi the liquors sold by the prisoner, and that "the sample of port wine was compound in imitation of port wine, containing 2l per cent. of alcohol. one hundred grains to the gallon of sulphurio acid. forty five grains to the gallon of oxide of lead, or Ii tharge in solution, ten per cent sngar, and an inf, sion of alum, made on the basis of common cider-that many of it's ingre. dients were poisonous and in poisonous quantity-that the lead contained in il was continuous or accumulative poison, increasing by each repetition of the dose and that the liquor was by far stronger in its poison of lead than any water poisoned by lead pipes that he had ever known. Professor Silliman further testified, "that the liquor called Whiskey, was an imita tion of whiskey, containing lead, sulphu' ric acid, fusel oil, iron and sugar, and composed of forty per cent. alcohol; that it contained oxide of lead in the propor tion of fifty grains to the gallon; that fuse1 oil, which is one of the products of the fermentation of wheat. rye, &o.. had been added in imitation of whiskey; that the ingredients were many of them poisonous and most of them deleterious. On cross examination, he testified that ia his opin ion this compound was wholly fictitious falsifed in every one of its ingredients that the wine was not the product of fer mentation. or the whiskey of distillation but both were made up from the said in gredients."
 Every ten gallons. therefore, of this man ufactured port wine contains trihe ove two ounces of sulphuric acid or oil of wit riol, and holds in solution trifie unde one ounce of oside of lead; while every tel gallons of such " whiskey" contains ove an ounce of ozide of lead! Oil of vitriol not captivating ingredient in a bevsra0' but the great danger is evidently from tn lead poison which may accumulate in th system. Though man is year fin takin his two or three ounces of oxide of lead, proportion of the whole is liable to be il corporated into his earthly tabernacle, wit its sure result of lingering torture an death.
 This scene to us about the most vulne able point the liquor traffic now present. Most of the whiskcy and nearly all tt wines sold, are adulterated. Verdicts ul der the prohibitory statute are impossibl
 but the very iuryman who is the mo ready to say Not Guilty" when sales the alcohol poison he bargains for are pr
 ved. will mete out the severest justice f,
 the sale of the additional lead and oth, /poisons he did not bargain for. If the
 is any slackness in the enforcement of tn
 excellent law, we lear it will be on tl
 part of Temperance men themselves. The
 detestation of alcoholic poison inciin, them to under-rate the importance of tl other poisons usually associated with and which are making special havoc amol the drunkards of our day. Then, to there is the undefned feeling that q