Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-08-17
NOT A LOCAL INJURY.
A Government Order Against Old
Whisky Barrels Explained.
1T HITS AND HURTS THE WEST.
A Matter of $4,000 in Its Effect on West
ern Pennsylvania.
ENORMOUS RESPONSIBILITY FOR TAX

Commissioner of Internal Revenue John
W. Mason has issued circular prohibit
ing the re1illing at distilleries of casks or
packages previously used at the same dis
tillery," and he bases his decision on section
No. 3249 of the Revised Statutes, ITO pre-
scribe rules and regulations to secure uni
form and correct system of inspection,
weighing, marking and gauging of spirits. ="
The Commissioner thinks that the practice
of reusing barrels results in great loss of
revenue to the Government, because the re-
peated removal of the marks, stamps and
brands from the heads soon renders them so
thin that the calibers will not indicate the
true length, whilerhe removal of bungs de-
presses and fattens the bung slaves so that
the rod will not indicate true mean diam
eter.
Aswhisky is manufactured in large quanti-
ties in Western Pennsylvania, and many
barrels are used, Chief Deputy h. j.
Mitchell, at the Internal Revenue office,
asked for an approximate estimate of the
loss to the distilleries in this district the en-
forcement of the new law would entail.
A VERY SMALL MATTER.
at won't be much" he replied, 'for the
reason that probably not more than ten dis
tillers in this district reuse the barrels. and
they are the small manufacturers who sell
the whisky by the gallon. These men keep
on hand from one to 300 barrels, and at the
farthest the number of barrels to be replaced
would not be more than 5000 q year.
A new barrel costs about 81, so that
the pecuniary loss would not be more than
Sc. 600 in the district. This money will
come out of the people, as they have to pay
for everything, anyhow. The distillers can
easily make up the extra expenditure in re-
failing the whisky. Ola whisky barrels
make frst-class receptacles for cider, and,
during the cider season, each barrel will
bring 81 30. The loss in the end, therefore,
is not much.
"AIl the heavy manufacturers in the
district never reuse the barrels. They
usually store their whisky in the bonded
warehouses for the three years allowed by
law. The average number of years required
for refining whisky is two. The number of
packages kept by the makers in these store
rooms range from 1 to 10000.
ENORMOUS RESPONSIBILITY.
"By the way, the report for June shows
that at that time there were 1887 GIG tax
able gallons on hand in the district, and the
tax amounts to s., ,188, S54 40, for which the
collector is responsible. You fellows get an
idea sometimes that we don't do much down
here, and there is not much responsibility
connected with the business. These
figures show what we are doing.
This is a big lot of whisky, and
usually not more than 5000, 900 gallons
are kept in the warehouses. The reason is
that during the spring the manufacturers
Al, L.
they worked the distillerieS to their full
capacity. Under the law they would have
had three years in which to get rid of it at
good prices, if prohibition had carried. The
number of gallons made is increasing, and
don't believe the supply on hand will fall
again much below the figures given.
''The new law will affect principally the
manufacturers of high wines and spirits
from corn in Indiana and Illinois They
generally sell it for chemical purposes, in
Iact the liquid is almost pure alcohol
They seldom store it for any great length of
time, and so reuse the barrels But the law
will not affect distiliers to any great extent
in other States"
Mr. Frank, of the Revenue Office, sug-
gested that new barrels will absorb consid-
cradle whisky, and the Government will
lose anyhow.
FROM A PROMINENT DISTILLER.
Emanuel Wertheimer. of Guekenheimer
& Co., said: "The order issued from Wash
ington, which makes it compulsory on the
distillers to use new barrels, will not affect
Pennsylvania. 1t will, however, affect the
high wine, or spirit distilleries in the West,
for they have been in the habit of using the
barrels several times. We have used, and
believe every reputable distillery uses, new
barrels. The difference would be so small
that it would be of no advantage to rebuy
the old barrels from the wholesaler. The
reason the order was issued was that the
high wine or spirit distilleries have been
refilling casks and proper gauge cannot be
ascertained. 1t might be fractional gain
to the distillers to use old barrels, because
they could buy the old ones back
from the wholesalers, % to SO cents cheaper.
The proper gauge cannot be made in old
packages; the constant hammering of bungs
into the packages tends to knock the cask
OUT OF SHAPE,
and it is possible, in cask which contains
45 gallons, to measure A or Az gallons
proper by the Government gauging rule.
We think it will have tendency to reduce
the profits in the distilleries that have been
using old barrels, and also give little
boom TO the cooperage trade. In our trade
it absolutely has no possible bearing"
Overholt & Co. stated that they would
not use an old barrel under any considera-
tion. They believed the Governments ac-
tion mainly aimed at suppressing small dis
tilleries, that sold whisky in old barrels to
save little difference to the wholesaler