The Portland daily press., 1891-07-25
THE uNo BEER CASE.
The Testimony of Professors Robin
son ard Carmichael.
Judge could Says He VIII Render a
Decision Wednesday.

Judge Gould Says He VIII Render a
Decision Wednesday.
The Uno beer case so called, was brought
up in the Municipal Court yesterday morn.
Ing County Attorney Robinson ed
Tor the government and Gen. Mattocks and
george I'd. Soldiers for Mr.. Brown on whose
premises the beer was seized.
Inc county attorney introduced evidence
showing the facts of the seizures, that
drunken men were hanging about the place,
the testimony of the officers being that one
drunken man told them in the presence OF
the respondent, Brown, that he had drank
nothing but "Uno" that day. This letter
was read:
BRUNSWICK, Me-, July 49, 1891,
heander n. Cram, SHERIFF Cttrnberla,ad County
Dear Sir have analysed the beer you sent
and with the following results:
FHst-The four are practically Identical in
composition and contain 1852 per cent Of alcohol
weight.
Second-The name "lagero applied to beer re.
terS 10 the manner OF making and not to what ii
Is made of. Lager means a storehouse, for in
Germony such beer is kept stored for months be-
fore sold This beer Is made of the same things
as lager beer, that Is, malt, hops, etc. but prob
ably has mot been stored long Technically il
would not be called lager beer.
Third-Ale is an English drink made from the
same general thing as German lager but contains
usually upwards Of four per cent. Of alcohol.
Fourth-What the law means by strong beer.
power. Now do not feel competent to draw The
sharp line in this respect, people differ so in the
action of alcohol upon them.
lDeleye ttata per cent. beer is an intoxi
eating drink, neither am willing to give certi-
hcate that a beer is not intoxicating unless il
contains under per cent. of alcohol Between
VI tn a nEfQ 70 AnalA
FRANKLIN c. ROBINSON,
State Assayer.
INTENDED 10 be a true copy verb. et lie J., but
made In hast. LKANDER K. CRAM
Sheriff.
In response to second letter, giving direct
questions to be answered, Professor Robin
son sent the following letter:
sis it ale?n "No.~
SIS 1t lager beer?" "No."
sis it malt liquOr?" yes"
as 1t strong beer?" No."
SIS 1t intoxicating?" ~ don't know,
l should answer as above of course, it being I'M
the law is in reference to intoxication. and wish
could consclent1ously answer positively in this
case that it was intoxicating, for believe that al
con0l OF any strength Is dangerous and poison.
Gus drink. But where 1t Is between two and
three per cent its actual intoxicating effect is
e0osS 70 The In bq question is can man hold
you little. A quart Of two per cent beer would
contain the same amount of alcohol as ia fluid
ounces OF whiskey
The defence then called to the stand Mr..
L. j. Tabor. the chemist of the Suffolk
Brewing Company of Boston. This compa-
ny is the sole manufacturer of the Uno beer.
Mr.. Tabor described at some length the
method of making the Uno beer. 1t is made
from syrup of grape sugar, obtained from
corn, treated with rice, powdered, and also
contains hops. 1t has no malt In it, He
said when .he beer is first made 1t contains
one per cent and little more of alcohol. II
the beer Is kept at low temperature the al
cohol will not increase perceptibly, but If
the beer Is kept in warm temperature the
alcohol will increase to little over two per
cent. 1t cannot increase more than that, for
the sugar from which 1t is formed will be ex-
hausted. When the beer is kept for some
time 1t becomes insipid and unpalatable, and
accordingly 1t is always used up before the
alcohol has time to increase much.
Prof. Carmichael. formerly of Bowd0in
College, now Of Boston, chemist of wide
experience. was the next witness for the de-
fence. He described the method of making
malt. The Un0 beer In question would not
be called malt liquor. 1t contains less than
3per cent of alcohol and is not an intoxica-
ting beer. He has not examined any of this
lot OF beer. Hop beers are manufactured to
satisfy the laws of the New England
states. Rice treated in the manner de-
scribed by Mr.. Tabor would not make the
malt Of commerce.
Asked If this beer was intoxicating Prof.
Carmichael said decidedly that it was not.
That is. person in ordinary health or of
the normal temperament would not become
intoxicated by 1t. Some persons, however,
become exhilirated by the fragrance of
flowers and there might be now and then
man who would be affected by Uno beer, but
1t Is physiologically impossible for person
of ordinary temperament to be intoxicated
by 1t.
County Attorney Robinson asked him If
he meant to disagree from Professor Robin
son Of Bowdoin. The witness said he did
not understand that rofessor Robinson had
declared beer with less than three per cent
of alcohol to be intoxicating. The county
attorney showed the witness the letter, in
which Professor Robinson declares his be
lief that beer of three per cent of alcohol may
be intoxicating. Professor Carmichael then
said, that granting that Professor Robinson
had made that statement he should disagree
with him. There was considerable amuse-
ment in the room when Professor Car
michael was given several bottles of beer to
sample. He tasted the liquor and pro-
nounced it Uno.
George Brown, the defendant, testified that
he sold Uno beer and nothing else Drunk
en- men are in the habit of loafing about his
place. but he sells them nothing intoxicat-
ing.
At this point, the testimony being SUBJ
stantially closed, the court adjourned until
2.30 o'clock.
In the afternoon the arguments were made
by General Mattocks and County Attorney
Robinson. judge Gould reserved his decis-
ion until next Wednesday.
Cundy's AaYbor and New Meadows