, 1875-06-26
The WhiSkey Frauds
lFnom the Chicago Tnnrs,l

/ j
ment officials that no frauds can be commit
ted without the connivance of the guagers
and storekeepers, it may be remarked that
| they have absolute control over the still to
which they are assigned. Every vat and
grain box is under lock, and the keys are
| held by these officials. So Is the warehouse
! kew. The distiller is absolutely pOwerless
without them, and hence the law takes their
| guilt for granted when 1t Is shown that
| fraud has been committed
| According TO the Revenue Law, three
| days are allowed for a mash, and the stills
are charged on that basis. Our officials hold
! that as a rule our establishments have
worked at even a slower rate, consuming
| Sometimes four and five DAYS at mash. in
order to increase the yield. They allege that
| the three days process will not extract all
| the juice there j. IN the corn, and that the
J extra yield Will fully cover the loss sDs-
} l21De1 IN 8cc00Df u me GOgerument rating
them to their full capacities every thre days,
The detectives, ON the other hand, most
of whom are practical distiliers, al all events,
KNOW al a6OUl the business, rather hGJt at
! this theory, aud alege that where frana Is
made easy and placed on a good paying basis,
stills have been known 10 change their
mashes every twelve hours, and they hint
that something Uf the sort has been going On
here.
During the night before the seizure every
distillery was closely watched. In one case
work was begun at one o'clock on Monday
morning, and at five clock the third mash
was in. The still was then seized. When
the storekeeper was interrOgated he declared
that but one mash had been put IN that \.
NJ, but the foreman confessed 10 three, thus
substautiating the observations OF the de-
tectives-
According to the la--, when a barrel has
been filled with spirits it must be stamped.
This form Is generally complied with, at
least IN the first instance. Now, for the
purpose of elucidating the manner in which
frauds are committed, let the reader accom-
pany lot of fifty barrels to Il rec;ifying Is
tablishment. When 1t arrives there the pro-
prietor is supposed 10 notify the Collector
that he Is ready to rectify the lot. The
contents of the cask are then empfied, and
the official detained by the Collector imme-
diately destroys and obliterates the stamps.
This i the legal way Of doing it. Now, let
the reader rise before daylight and take note
how it Is done Illegally
The stamped casks containing the spirits
are hastily loaded, RAPIDLY transferred to
neighboring rectityius establishment, the
contents Withdrawn, without the obliteratiOn
Of the stamps, the empty casks returned, re-
6Ned, and ihere they Stand rs innocent Of
fraul ~ if they had never left The establish
meut The storekeeper meanwhile Is con-
yeniently absent, because II might go hard
I = IL. / a..
Nv the ufic~ra Of the law during such az
operation. But in no event can he offer an
excuse for not having a knowledge Of sGch
duingS, since, in the first place, the still is
altogether under his control, and the law as
sume7 that he is always present-One for day
and another for night duty, and further
than this. he Is supposed 70 know what guam
titles of spirits are III the establishment, and
not q single casll full can be extracted with
ont his full knowledge, unless he wIlltuily
neglects his his business. Frauds are also
committed with - soaked " stamps, and dis
tille,s pay from ten to twelve dollars for
them The " soaked . stamp Is one that has
been used. The INDUS opsyDlai Is as follows:
party purchases barrel Of hiShwines.
While the liquid remains IN the cask the
stamp must not be disiigured, for otherwise
it may be seized and fraudulen,ly obtained.
But when the contents are drawn off, the
law provides that the stamps must be de-
stroyed. Now, instecd of complying with
the law in this particular, some people are
in the habi; of - soaking" the stamps, and
then dex;eriously removing the same. When
their efforts are crowned with success they
experience no difficulty in exchanging it for
a sreenback with a saw buck in the corner.
But the early morning jaunt is the favorite
method and in some dis-iierys not thousand
miles from Chicago, the thing worked SO
easily, and the same casks Were used 50 re-
peatedly, that an honest Teuton, speaking to
a detective whom he took for one in the ring,
remarked that " them barrels, pointing 70 a
lot with evident pride, " have been so often
10 the rectifers' in the dark that they can
feel their way there all by themselves.
This is the kind OF work the Government
detectives have been unearthing all over the
Wesr, and they estimate that the frauds per-
petrated in this city and Milwaukee have
amounted annually TO 100000.