, 1896-08-05

New bourbon Is fut Oh the NdTkel
Forced to Suspend Production
on Account of an Over Burdened
Market
Louisville. Ky, August 3.-All but
six Of K~entucky's 800 distilleries closed
their doors today. and for a period OF
IS months not a drop OF the liquor
which has made the old Commonwealth
famous will be manufactured At the
expiration of the period of suspension
limited production will be begun, but
it will be at least three and a half years
thereafter before a drink of new Ken
lucky bourbon will be put on the mar
ket. Thus the suspension of opera
tiOns. which goes into effect today for a
period of IS months. really means that
no raw Kentucky whiskey is to be mar
ketei for four or four and a half years.
The suspension of the distilleries was
brought about by overproducnion, and
The consequent determined effort on the
part of the Kentucky distillers to create
a market for good whiskey, and. at the
same time, to reduce the amount in
pond to a reasonable figure. 1t is a
stop never before resorted to in the
history of the country. and the outcome
will be watched with interest all over
America.
For the distillers CT Kentucky to shut
down sounds queer. 1t is as though
GOALS had ceased to come from New
castle. The situation is so unique, it
has so many interesting aspects, it will
be 50 far-reaching in its effects as to
require more than a passing note. A
glance at the past, present and future
cmplified in her distilleries, one Of the
bulwarks of her commercial strength.
will prove interesting.
TOO MUCH RED LIQUOR.
Only a few years ago the distillers Of
this state were in clover as high as
grew the golden grain they took to
their stills and converted into that am
brosial nectar known the world over
as Kentucky whiskey. During the past
five years they have not been so pros
Ferrous. Increase in taxation from 80
cents to $l.1O per gallon is one cause Of
today's depressed market, while an
other cause is the fact that in 1893 the
production of whiskey in Kentucky
was vastly overdone; so much over
done, in fact, that in that year alone
As. 900. 600 gallons were sent from the
stills, although consumption had even
to less than 20, DOC, 900 gallons annual
", But it has been since 1893 that mat
tiers have come to such a crisis that
MANY distillers lust prior to the meet
in. in this CITY, at which SUSPENSION
was agreed upon, declared that another
year such as the last one would wreck
nearly every man in the state who
handled whisky on a large scale. Since
| 1893 the surplus of wh;skey stored in
bonded arehous Of the state i'm
creased SO rap,dly that fine Kentucky
whisky became almost a drug on the
market; competition, in order to gel a
sale far n nroduct for which there w1as
a continually decreasing demand. be-
came so great hat nrices were Gu. to
the bone. values went AWAY below par
and in MANY cases the distiller could
not get the cost Of ion and car
rage for his goods More than that
the confidence IF tba b~usinass mo,
mt only I'm Kentucky b,t in all narts
of rho world whore kentuckv wbisl;es
h6d been as stanIe az what was sbak.
eo. they feared m buv on n derlininp
market with the outlook very blue and
a few had cour,ge n buv whisky ord
have IT stored in hond az had been tho
custom with tho hiy don, ers from that
time Of nrosner;tv heforo tho w.r
TUE AGREEMENT
This u.s hrieev st,,.d tho oor,;
rion of ,rairs At tho MACHINING y. 1908
Ssvoro, .ror,s noao 60 no. az,
| c,rted action on ,be mart ~ THO dis
tiIlars but !, u,,s NOT ..oo+,vo un,u 20
Gently ot q mae.in, i, ,bis o;,r al,
aereed n close ,b.a. dis,i,,.ria, Tow .
rar;od Of 70 ,,o,.bs hao;,;,n r,,,
Tboro .ro rou, T., tho hondoa uo.o
bousos ot,ho s.o.o 90 ooo ooo .,,...