The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1895-05-15
CIDER MAKES DRUNK.
Prof. Loveweu on the Witness
Stand Today.
HARD CIDER A RISKY DRINK

wasn't intoxicating, although it Analysed
9. $500 per cent alcohol.
It was the case against C. Curtis the
cider manufacturer who has done as
large a cider business as any
man in Topeka. The principal evil
dence on the part of the
city was that of J. P. Lovewell, the vene-
rable professor, who has occupied the
chair of chemistry and physics at Wash
burn college almost since its organiza-
ton. He analysed the cider, and found
it contained nenrly seven per cent, and
SO testified.
"What is hard cider?" asked ]. S. Ems
minger, Curtis attorney.
81 should say that any cider that had
become fermented was hard cider"
slow long does it take cider to fer
ment?"
1t depends largely on where 1t is kept
It ferments quickly in warm place, but
If kept cool the process is delayed"
SIS hard cider intoxicatingT
'It is so considered"
as there any scientific standard of
what is Intoxicating and what is not?"
"None that l know of"
'sWhat per cent of alcohol is consid-
cred intoxicating by scientific men?"
Il nave never Q0dFQ Scl6QLluC u1Su Uls-
cuss that question"
'FWhat do you consider the minimum"
81 have known people to get drunk on
beer that contained only four per cent"
whether or not this cider is intoxicat-
ing then, is a matter to be proved by ex-
periment?"
81 think 500
"What per cent alcohol does whisky
cOntain?"
"From forty to fifty per cent"
SLOW much does champagne?"
"E'ifteen to eighteen"
BRANDY"
sixty"
"How much does beer contain?"
Generally four or five, but sometimes
as high as twelve per cent"
Glow much is in port wine?"
81 never analysed it."
WAS this cider completely fer
mented?"
No. It was merely in process of fer
mentation''
what is the specific gravity of alcohol
as compared with water?"
"IfyOu let one represent water, alcohol
will be eighth-tenths, or nearly that"
The lawyers concluded that Prof
Lovewen had passed a very creditabIe
examination, and they let him 60
Then the defense began on their wit
nesses. There were nearly two dozen of
them, all subpoenaed to prove that Cur
It's cider was not intoxicating. They
were mostly men able to tell, because
they generally used something else" to
produce the desired effect
Inc following was one witness testi-
mony. The others were much like it:
Did you ever drink any of Curtis
cider?''
YES"
"How often?"
times every day in the week"
"Did it ever make you drunk?"
Never"
Are you a good judge of liquor?"
"Guess So"
"How long have you been drinking
liquor?"
Thirty years"
Ever been drunkf"
Eyes"
ION cider?"
Not in Kansas"
s'Where?"
at my old home up in New York"
Kansas"
mo"
DO you mean to say that cider fer
ments in New York and doesn't ferment
in K&nsas?"-
Dunno"
What sort of a climate do they have
up at your home in New York?n
Gold when it's cold. and pretty warm
in the summer"
How long had this cider been stand
ing that made you drunk in New York;"
six months or year"
AT the conclusion of vast amount of
testimony similar to this which lasted
until nearl y noon, Judge Ferry an
nounced that he would take the case
under advisement
Mr. Ensminger offered a demurrer to
all the evidence on the ground that
whetner or not the cider was intoxicat-
ing depended not upon ANALYSIS hnt
experiment, and there was no evidence
that anybody had been intoxicated bv it
This demurrer was overruled