The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1904-10-23
Artificial Concoctions Mixed at
Saloons in All Parts of
New York.
SMALL FORCE OF INSPECTORS.
Bartender Tells of Having Adult
terated Scores of Barrels of
Liquor by Using spuri-
GUS Spirits.

which costs the liquor seller only 2 cents
and. In some cases. only 1 cent a drink,
said Coroner Scholer. 'is being sold at 4
cents a drink in all parts of New Yorl
City, the dealer thus making a profit Of
or 9 cents on every drink. so far as tn.
actual cost Of the connection is con
cerned.
"of course. this stuff - not whisky al
all. thought II is not all necessarily a
fatally poisonous as the beverage recently
sold so extensively in the 'Strykers Farm
district seems to have been. The prelim-
caves no doubt that the liquor sold in
Frftsch's saloon. at No. 723 Tenth avenue
contained wood alcohol. 1t Is not certain,
however, that Herman Sachs. Of No. az
West F~orty.ninth street; who is supposed
rinkin that liquor. We found a liquor
flask in his room, but it had no label, and
We are not yet sure where 1t came from.
The autopsy on the body Of Sachs
showed valvular LESSONS Of the heart,
calcareous deposits in the valves and also
emphysema Of the lungs. or a sort OF
asthma It is likely the man could no
have lived long anyhow. but whether OF
not poisoned whisky accelerated his death
remains to be discovered. His stomach.
therefore, like that Of others. has been
sent to Doctor Atkinson, chief chemist Of
Inc department or Health, 1or analysis.
RECIPES FOR LIQUORS.
Coroner Scholer held In his hand as he
spoke a little paper-covered book. which,
he said. he had managed to obtain from
an extensive downtown wholesale dealer.
and which contains scores of recipes. set
forth In great detail. for the making Of all
ing these directions the INSCRIPTIONS
liquor dealer or recti1er, of course, vto-
lates the Law, but he makes an Illicit profit
Of several hundred per cent on the spuri-
OF course, this book was not intended
for general circulation. The wholesale
dealer who issues 1t is supposed to put 1t
into the hands only Of discreet" custo-
mers, who are not ~scrupulous and who are
alive to the opportunity for large profits.
The wholesalers profit comes in moi only
In the sale of the ingredients openly. set
forth in bis book of recipes, most of which
shrewd enough to insert In almost every
formula some necessary ingredient which
Is designated in the catalogue merely by
a cabalistic combination OF letters and
figures.
This particular substance is his "
secret and the wouid-be purveyor Of
spurious drinks must buy it from him or
else lack a necessary part of his decep-
the cabalistic letters employed in the
book for these particular chemicals, which
are not named openly. and pays the cata-
logued price for them.
Coroner Scholer would not permit the
publication in full Of the books contents.
nor would he tell by what species OF NOR.
al suasion he mastered its possession and
its secrets. but he said: This wholesaler
and I made a little computation together
on the basis Of forty gallons to the bar
rel. which showed that this kind Of rye
whisky. apportioned Into drinks of liberal
size. would actually cost the retail dealer.
to use the wholesalers " phrase, about
2 cents a drink IL he makes 1t good and !
cent a drink If he makes it bad"
NOT ACTUALLY POISONOUS.
These authorizations, though illegal.
Coroner Scholer said, were not actually
poisonous, and would not produce such re-
suits as wood alcohol. He expressed the
belief that some enemy of Michael Nc
Auliffe, who had recently left other sa-
looms to become Fritche's bartender, had
results that were fatal to McAulife and
many of his regular customers. II Fritsche
is to be believed he himself and hum
dreds Of others drank from the suspected
feature Of the case Is puzzling the
A bartender, who gave the lame Of
Henry Plumb. and his address as No. $50
friend of McAuliffe, volunteered a differ
emit theory. II was drinking with Nc
iulife the night before he was taken ~"
said MT; Plumb. Ma" y n had ha been .S drink <
mixing the stuff in the whisky barrel, not
being quite himself, he got In too much
alcohol, / have myself mixed scores OF
barrels OF bogus whisky in saloons in this
."The same thing is done all over the
city, where so-called cheap whisky ts
sold. A high proof alcohol known as Der
lin spirits is often used. II Is distllied
its fumes even causing intoxication With
this a little muscatel Is used to cut the
alcohol or mellow it and a little oil Of rye
to aayor R and colo. .nIr IL: f fd1r b one eafr Of
whisky can be made, and by adding suf1-
dilution to make the specific
correspond with the stencil
' il he happens along to make a test.
cannot easily detect the imposition.
Former Coroner Eidman is the Internal
Revenue Collector for the Third District,
which includes all Of Manhattan Island
north and east of a line drawn from the
East River through Catharine street,
the Bowery to Houston street. and
along Houston street to the North River.
In this vast territory are more than 800
rectifiers. to say nothing OF re-
tailers who compound and sell beverages
without paying the rectifiers' IL
cense Of 500.
lectors to collect the taxes in his district
and I'VE gaugers, who are expected to pre-
vent and detect frauds and to make
monthly reports for the district. Coroner
thinks the force is inadequate to
the public.
.'It is something like the Slocum affair.""
said he. There does not seem to be q
sufficient force for competent inspection"
In behalf of the Federal Government,
John Sinsel, United States revenue agent,
a force of Federal deputies took up
The task Of making a thorough investiga-
lion. and scores Of samples of whisky
from saloons in the neighborhood
will be subjected to analysiS.