The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1873-11-15
AUX SABLE.
a Distillery, and How the Old Thing Work.

ILLICIT STILLS, 50

n ILLICIT STILLS sc.
1t Ia, been discovered by some astute ply
soogist that the human liver as well as that Of
all other animals possessed of that useful organ,
is disillery on a small scale producing in suili-
Il ccnt quantities for the uses Of the body, that
5 stimulating beverage known as alcohol. This
5 discovery is Of recent date, and will doubtless
e create much Consideration as well rs unbounded
} indignation among the chigh moral portion Of
- community who would suppress the manufacture
and sale of Intoxicating liquors.
This discovery comes at an exceedingly mop
perfume time. What with our Rcddick bill,
sumptuary laws and anti-lquor license societies,
> to say nothing of tea parties and sewing circles,
whisky had become, as was iOndly hoped by its
enemies pretty nearly whipped; but nov comes
+ this startling fact that every man, woman and
child in the world carries about within HIMSELF
herself or itself n distillcry, Furthermore, as
our respected uncle, (which his name is SAM"
for short, deems Intoxicating beverages luXures
he imposes tax of 70 cents per gallon on alco-
hol and highwnes, and requires 4 license and
Appoints stOrckeepcr and a gauger to watch
each distillery. This new theory shows mon.
strous disregard of lawn this that there nearly
States, and the startling aggregate of some nine
hundred millions in the world outside, to say
nothing of those possessed by the birds of the
air. the beasts of the field and the fishes of the sea-
Uncle Samuel is evidently swindlcd out of
large sums of money every day by the running
of these Illicit diatilleres,-a matter that should
be taken in hand By our next Congress at the
earliest possible hour.
AUX SABLE.
Five miles cast of the beautiful city OF Morris,
the county seat of our ncighborng :" State of
IGrundy," on the Illinois river, Is located the
Inasccnt city of Aux Sable. Its name was given it
perhaps by Father La Sale, the French Mis- sion
arv, who made the voyage from the Mississippi
river to the lakes 2O5 years ago, when he discoy-
cred Starved Rock and other notable places along
this route. Aux Sable we believe means The
.Sa,ais. This Young city contains now about two
dwellings, u warehouse and distiliery-not of
the natural, but the artificial sort. 1t is of the
latter we would speak.
THE DIsTILLERY.
| The establishment is the property of John
McNellis one of the pioneer settlers OF Grundy
county, who in himself furnishes paradoXica
puzzle which dumfounds temperance societies,
and annihilates the wise old saw that Evil
communications corrupt good manners, "-sincc.
for over twenty years he has not tasted drop Of
wine, beer or intoxicating liquors. and yet dur
ing all that time he has daily and hourly been
where such beverages were kept in abundance
and for five years has conducted and given his
daily personal attention to dstery.
In 1868 he began to run Il distillery at Aux
go =
the north and emptics into the Illinois river
His distillcry, fral wooden structure, burned
down in 1871, and at once he erected his preserA
substantial buildings on the site of the old one.
on the south bank of the Illinois and Michigan |
canal and western margin of the Aux Sable
creek. The buildings are of stone one Az by 50
feet, three full stories in height, and an engine
room attached, on the east OF brick, sufficiently
large to contain forty horse power engine and
boilers. On the west of the main building is an
l. of stone, twenty eight feet wide one story high
and one hundred feet in length, with all addi. |
tional smaller building at the western end, !
which is the Office. Water is supplied by means |
of an artesan well, which though only thirty five
feet deep, flows constant stream into the distil-
lery, filling the entire capacity of four inch
pipe, and enough escapes as waste not being
needed, to turn a small mill.
The main building, the distllcry proper COR
tains one run of stone for grinding the grain,
bins for corn, barley, rye, oats, &C., ard elevators
to the various stores. The process of making
highwincs is briefly somewhat rs follows: The
corn is first ground and then putirto mash tubs,
which arc large circular yats capable OF holding |
several hundred bushels of grain. Here it is |
cooked by steam until reduced 70 q mash or
pulp. Then it is mixed with rye and oats which |
have been ground, also with malt, the proportion
being Of corn four bushels to one Of the smaller
grain In the process of cooking the mash OBJ
tains high degree of temperature. Arevolying |
beam, in which are number of long teeth or
pins, reaching the bottom of Tire tub, hitherto
moving with sufficient rapidity tokeep the mash
in constant agtstion, without cooling ii, so as to
mix it thoroughly. When the mash is sufficient
ly cooked it is sot in rapid motion, and the steam
being shut off tie contents of The tub soon cool
to from 81 to $40. When tina temperature has |
been reduced rs above, the mash is run off into
fcrincntng tubs, of which thcre are seven
teen in building in the rcGr of the disttllery
proper. Here it remains s0venty-tNo hours,
where with barrel OF yeast added 1t undcrgoos |
the process Of fermentation. 1t is then run down
into reservoir, where it is cooked again. The
steam arising passes through the worm. This Is
the spirit. Il is out vapor- This is the intoxl-
eating principle contained in the grain. The
monks who discovered alcohol, while hunting
for the philosophers stone, which was TO urn
everything it touched into gold, called TINS ihe
spirit. because IL was invisible, and immediate
mechanical action upon, the brain, when taken
into the stomach, was p phenomenon beyond inc
reach Of science This Wpor is then condenser
| by cold water and becomes highwincs, or low
wines according to its. specific gravity or free
dom fram water. 1t Is drawn through hydro
mcttr and its temperature tested by thcrmome-
,,r Those detormiqe whether il is to be turned
IT,, d, .,,oivcr ON The one hand rs lowwines, 81