St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1871-03-17
HOtc UHisHpy is Wddc.

Captain T. O'Farrell, of Hartford, de
livcrcd lecture "On the Adnltcration
of Liquors." at Rockville, IL few evenings
since lie told his hearers that he had
been in the liquor business, and knew
the methods by which, in this country
as in Europe, dealers got rich. Pure
liquors are not TO be found at any drink
ing house, however 'respectable" The
whi>kcy, 'brandy," rum, and even the
gin you buy, are all vile, adulcrated,
and poisoned. Men who drink such
stuff, even but once day, are cutting
short their own lives, whether they
know it or not. The finest favored
"choice Old BJurbnn." which you buy
at double price, at the most respectable
saloons in Hartford or New York, is 4
vile poison. That which yoTgct at the
cheaper CORNER grocery" is if possible
worse. He proceeded to tell how these
drinks are made. lie said, We can buy
barrel Of ''high wines or ''puIc
splrit'-the cheapest and poorest form
of alcohol-for say, thirty cents 4 gallon.
This is "neutralized" by adding lime
or alum. That makes it what we call
"silen.'-leaves it without any taste
though rs powerfully alcoholic as before.
That is the stock-the baSiS-;IrLl
out of it is made the various forms OF
''whiskey," ''brandy," ''rnm," gin"
"wine," etc, sold at the cheap dram
shops. There is also much real whiskcy
sold, no doubt but the best Of it Is
necessarily largely mixed with the deadly
fusil oil which is absolutely inseparab!r
from it by the process Of dislillation,-un-
less such care Is used rs no diStillcr ever
yet took.
Oil of Juniper, strong poison, is
mixed with this ''silent" basis TO make
the stuff you drink for gin.
The essential oil OF bitter almonds, a
highly poisonous substance, is put in to
make wines and brandies. For making
the latter, the distilled poison known Is
soil of cognac" is also used.
To give the cold bourbon" made OF
this ncutralized alcohol what we call an
sold tlavor"-the sssmoothnesS" of .'agc"
so priced by drinkers who are sure they
can't be cheated-fusil oil, deadly poi
son, and which ''makes drunk come
quick, and renders many men demons
when under its influence" is added in
various proportions. SO is that energetic
poison, creoSotc. That makes "Scotch"
or '.Irish" whi>key-the flavor of the
peat. To give it 4 bead they add
sulphuric acid (oil vitrol y and sweet
oil Wholesale dealers in New York
send out "drummers" to all smaller cities,
and sell thousands of barrels Of this man
ulacturcd stuff. 1t is sold by the glass,
to-day, in fifty drinking places in Hart
ford. There is a profit of 400 per cent.
in it. Printed recipes are also sold.
Captain O'Farrell challenged the rum
sellers to name 4 committee of three, to
act with 4 similar committee from the
Temperance side, and so to the most
respectable" saloons and hotels in Hart
ford or Boston, select the whiskcy or
brandy there sold, and submit it for
analysis TO any respectable chemist,
whom the dealers themselves might
select, and if that analysis does not
justify his charges, he will make public
retractiOn. No one who knows Capt.
OFarrell will doubt his statements and
yet we are told it would be interfering
with personal liberty TO prohibit the sale
of this vile stuff to our fellow-mcn.