Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1891-07-23
FRUIT STILLS WILL Be BUSY
Turning Apples and Peaches
Into Brandies.
100 STILLS ON THE PENINSULA
The Government Levies a Tax
of 90 Cents Per Gallon.
10000 Gallons of Apple and Peach is the
Estimated Yield of the Peninsula--How
"Moonshine" Plants are Prevented.


Correspondence Baltimore Sun.
EAsToN, July 1.-THE immense fruit
crop of the Peninsula this year will give a
big impetus to branch of business that
has languished for three years, and which
last year was not operated to the smallest
extent. It is the distillation of fruit bran
dies from apples and peaches.
There are about 100 registered stills on
the Peninsula between the two bays Prob
ably hnlfpf them are in Wicomico county,
Md, and Sussex county, Del. More of
them will be in operation this year than
at any time within 20 years. At no time
recently has the business been profitable,
because The shortness, of the apple and
peach crops interfered with the brandy
material. This year the early sum-
mer apple crop is very heavy, and
the distillers are quick to take adj
vantage of the low prices to begin
their WORK. II. G. Dodson the deputy col
lector of Internal revenue for the division
comprising the eastern shores of Mary
land and Virginia. is busy already with
the official work of bonding and starting
the distillers. In Dorchester and Wicomico
distlllers began work ON the early-summer
apples q week ago. This is early for the
distilling season, Usually they do not
begin work before August and often not
until September. 1t is quite certain there
are not so gallons of homemade fruit
brandy in the market on the Peninsula,
and the output this year will find an
empty market.
Fruit brandy pays the United States
government a tax of 80 cents gallon, and
the business on the government part is so
thoroughly systenatized and hedged about
with red tape forms that an escape from
the payment Of the tax on single gallon
by any distiller is impossible, unless there
is collusion between him and the goycrn-
nfiifApr Twn al "A
two gaugers have all this work to look
after on the Peninsula. Their hands will
ne full this year. One deputy collector
and one gauger has Delaware and another
pair the Maryland and Virginia territory
from Cecil county to Cobb's Island. The
deputy collector has to visit every distiler,
survey and register his still and take his
bond before he can start the fires.
Eleven papers have to be executed
with unvarying formalties before fruit
grower can begin 10 liguefy his fruit with
out being "moonshiner'' and mourning
heavy penalties. The distiller must keep
book of form prescribed by the inter
nal revenue department and enter in it
daily the amount of fruit and kind he
used to make the distilling, material, where
obtained, the hours the still worked guam
tity and kind of material used in the still,
the numeer OF boilings and the product in
wine gallons. Fruit juices of any kind,
when first run through the still, produce
what is technically known as ''singlings. !"
This product has to be redistilled, or
doubled up" as the business phrase is to
make the brandy. The deputy collector is
Obliged to visit every fruit distillery once q
month, and unless he visits many of them
more frequently the distiller's monthly re-
ports will get him and the officer both in
trouble with the department. Some of
the distillers cannot write, and their at
tempts to keep their accounts on which
the monthly reports are based are ludic-
rous, but very harassing to the internal
revenue officer The gauger also makes
monthly visits to each distillery, measures
the product he finds on hand, and marks
the measure on the cask containing it. 1t
not infrequently happens with ignorant
but honest distillcrs that between the
brandy the gauger finds on the premises
and the output for the month as shown by
the distillers monthly report there is a
difference, sometimes plus and sometimes
minus, of from 10 to % per cent. And
although two gallons OF singlings are re-
quircd to make one gallon of brandy,
there are distillers' reports on file which
show that in given month more brandy
than singlings was produced These are
the things that worry the soul of the
deputy collector the long summer days
and blight the life of the clerk in the col
lectors office in Baltimore who has to
audit all these distillers' monthly reports
and make an abstract of them for the
Washington office
1t is probable that 0,000 gallons of apple
and peach brandy will be made this year
on the Peninsula, on which tax of SlS,-
900 will be paid into the United States
treasury. Under the internal revenue
laws only the Juices of apples, peaches and
grapes are permitted to be distilled. Re-
Gently, since tomatoes have been canned
so largely in the country thrifty packers
have desired TO experiment in the stills
with the tomato refuse. and some have
made application to the internal revenue
department for special permission to dis
till tomato juice, but without avail as the
department can find no warrant of law for
it. To use any other material than what
comes from peaches, apples and grapes in
his still would subject the distiller TO heavy
penalties.
Some years ago John n. Wright of the
upper part of Dorchester county, one of
the most thrifty farmers and intelligent
distillers on the Peninsula, did get permis-
sion to distill the liquid obtained from sas-
safrasi roots as an experiment. He sue
ceeded in obtaining beautiful and highly
pungent oil which Is used as the basis of
most of the iiavoring extracts and essences.
The distillation was q success, but the ex-
pense of the maceration of the roots with
out proper machinery prevented the busi
ness from being profitable. MIR. Wright
believes that the business of distilling sas-
safras oil with proper machinery equip
inent could be very successfully conducted
here,