Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-07-23
is MISUNDE RSIOOD
Popular Misapprehension About
Denatured Alcohol.
ITS EASE OF MANUFACTURE
Multitude Of Uses to Which It Can
Be Put.
CAN BE MADE FROM VEGETABLES
Restricted by Law to Distillertes OF
Not Less Than 500 Gallons
Daily Output.
GAN BE MADE FROM VEGETABLES


about denatured alcohol. In fact. there
are many things about 1t that are not un-
derstood in this country and the scientists
of the Agricultural Department ana the
officials of the internal revenue are all col
Iectinx Information and statistics that WIZ
he Of use when the new law goes into enect
on January /. 1907.
II may be we'll however, to point out o
few things that are not so about the ne"
commodity, and that will clear the air Oh
misunderstanding about some others. III
the first place denatured alcohol Is no oli-
ferent from any other sort of alcohol ex-
cept that 1t has certain things mixed Win
It rendering it impossible to drink. There
ia q revenue tax on ordinary alcohol OF
81. 10 a gallon that makes it too expensive
to use for anything almost except q drink,
which a man will sauander any amount OF
money on when he cannot get money t ~.
anything else. This raises much money 10.
the country, keeps up the price Of wine ana
whisky to point where the average cru
zen cannot afford to get drunk more imam
once in 80 often, and otherwise unit. s,a lnv
use of alcohol to the profit of the WHISKY
trust and the satisfaction of the w =. i, u
But there are many ways in Whicn alco-
hoI can be used that do not tend 10 on unk-
enness. 1t can be used as Iuei' an I nouar
nant to run automobiles ana power
launches and for various uses In the arts.
for making varnish and lot OF otneI
things where It's present price unoer tne
revenue tax makes Its use almost OF aI hoI
prohibitive Now comes the free alconoi
BILL" This Is merely measure that WIZ
allow alcohol for use in the arts TO pc maa l
without paying the revenue tax II II Is hrst
rendered totally unfit to drink.
Columns Of "Pipe Dreams"
This bill passed the last Congress. and on
the strength of 1t there were columns OF
mine dreams" written about free alcohol.
It was going to be so cheap that anybody
could own an automobile, and the horse
was going out of business quicker than he
would have gone had Edison perfected his
battery that would run indefinitely for
nothing Free alcohol was also going to
put the kibosh on the Standard On COM
pany and give the people fuel and light for
next to nothing. IL 1t did not actually pay
them for using 1t.
II Is a fact that alcohol can be made OUT
Of almost anything in the vegetable line. and
therefore It was going to open up a. way
for the farmer to use everything on ms
farm that he could not eat or sell. every
farm would manufacture It's own neat, nsn.
and power and what 1t did not use It
would sell to the city in the winter. and
thus levy a tax on the urbanite, even when
he was not paying summer board lor the
privilege Of being eaten up by mosauieoss.
alcohol will do a number OF good things,
but it will not usher In the millennium.
It Is not going to be backyard industry
Any man who can get tin can and
length of rubber hose is not going to be
allowed to enter on the manufacture OF
alcohol The law provides for that, and
the internal revenue office Is going ahead
To fix the matter ON g. business basis.
Regulations are now being framed under
which the free alcohol law win be ad-
rndnistered and Mr.. Yerkes, the commits
sioner of internal revenue, Is now In Europe
studying the methods of denaturfzing and
the way the law 10 administered on the
continent. or course, some envtous people
will say that the commissioner of internal
trip, and that he could have obtained all
the information he wanted from the con-
suIs at the expense of a stamped envelope.
But that is another question. The govern
ment always has good and faithful servants,
who are willing to brave the perils of an
'try's good and at the country's expense
So the commissioner has gone abroad TO
collect information at first hand.
Information About the Product.
Then the Department of Agriculture has
started on bulletin which viii be ready
for distribution the first of the year. tell
ing ell about denatured alcohol and its
uses. DIR. Wiley is at work on this. The
department has also hired Prof. Charles
Lucke of Columbia University. who viii
make q lot of experiments with Internal
combustion engines TO see what alcohol Is
good for as fuel It has been used as
fuel abroad In automobiles and boats for
some time. But Prof Lucke Is also going
to get his data first hand
When these official announcements are
all ready there will be no excuse for any
body not knowing all about denatured al