Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1897-08-20
MAINE MOONLIGHT

VO1 81 y CS1O 0AScS I41B tbtbAa-.l1y Oh inc
Neal Dow law there were many Illicit
stills in Maine, all of which yielded a
fair profit to the owners. The hard
times, which lasted from 1873 to 1887,
drove most Of the manufacturers out
of the business. Soon afterward an Or
land genius discovered way of max
ing whisky from alcohol by mixing it
with water and croton oil, and then the
revenue officers rested, believing there
were no offenders in the state.
The compound which was put up by
the Orland man has been known under
various names. 1t was generally called
split" on account of the way the al
cohol was divided, though the inventor
and his friends have always termed it
'ten-minute whisky" because of the
| short time in which it was prepared.
The cost and manner of making two
gallons of ten-minute whisky are as
! follows:
To one gallon of alcohol, valued at one
| dollar, add 20 cents worth of croton
oil. Shake well for ten minutes and
add gal Ion of pure water. The re-
suit is two gallons of 4G-rod whisky.
at cost of 60 cents gallon.
Three drinks of this mixture would
| make q good man disown his parents.
| The ten-minute whisky came into pen
| cral use and the owners of the illicit
stills moved over the line into New
brunswick in order to live, alcohol
came to Maine by the quart, gallon, bar
rel and hogshead until the Boston deal
ers grew curious and sent secret agents
| down east to learn what became of
so much raw spirits. When they found
out that it was made into ten-minute
whisky they doubled the price.
| Meanwhile the price of grain went
| lower and lower every. day. Corr
which had generally sold for 70 cents
a bushel, and had not gone below so
cents since the days before the war,
dropped to 40 cents last fall, held there
ell winter, and had a downward ten
dency when the spring of 1897 opened.
| According to the Maine standard q
bushcl of corn, when sprouted, roasted
| ground up, fermented and distilled, will
| yield four gallons of whisky, and with
corn at 40 cents a bushel good corr
whisky should not cost over 20 cents
n gallon. AS long as alcohol was sold
at one dollar a gallon, it was cheaper
to make ten-minute whisky than run
the risil of conducting n still; b~t when
alcohol and the internal reycnuc tax
on whisky went up, and the price of
corn went down, the distilleries started
once more and are reported to be doing
a good business.
Though some of the Maine liquor
dealers are rich and prosperous, most
Of them lead sorry lives, and are glad
enough to get through the year with
out falling in debt. AS their real bust
! ness must be concealed, a majority of
these men conduct cigar or candy
stores, or make pretense of being victu-
alters and boarding house keepers. The
few who have saved money enough buy
farms in the country, which supply the
shops with fresh fruits and vegetables.
! Of late these farmer saloon keepers
have engaged largely in stock raising,
keeping fat cattle and hogs on places
that can hardly support rabbits. Nat
urally they have to buy grain; and
while they are at it they might as well
purchase enough. So great quantities
are bought and consumed to fatten the
stock and restore fertility to the run
out farms. How much Of this goes to
fatty tissues for the animals and how
much to the illicit stills nobody knows
though when q man who keeps two
COWS uses ten bags of whole corn u
week it may be inferred that the stills
get the larger portion. "
Another method adopted by the me1
who cannot afford to own farms and
thus make their own whisky is to give
heavy patronage to the men who peddlc
spring water Of certified purity
Though all the Maine cities and most
Of the larger towns have public water
works there is no other state % its
population inSthe union mere SO JGnct
f;o-called spring water is sold. Ever
place of 5000 inhab;tauts is supplied
10y three to ten water carts, represent
ing as many springs. Tie teams call N
houses and stores every day, leavinf
full jugs and taking away empty ones
4 4.