Imperial Valley press and the Imperial press., 1906-09-29
OENATURED ALCOHOL
Wat 1t Is Made FrOm-liOw PrOduC- Government Restrictions Expert Chemists Advice to Prospective MaautaC-
 turerS

the last decade has created such wide spread interest, and even excitement. as the Free Alcohol Bill The public nas demanded information about every phase of It. The daily papers, trade journals and magazines have found the subject good copy and have filled their columns with stories. the most notable characteristic of which has been vast optimism In regard to the future ef this new industry, the manufacture of de- natured alcohol The impression has gone abroad that alcohol may be prof ltably manufactured from almost any sort of vegetable material. in almost any place. by almost anybody. Wildly exaggerated statements as to the yields from various materials. probable prices and extent of markets have been made. and the result has been to induce a sort cf alcohol madness In the puolic' About one In every ten men has a plan for manufacturing denatured alco- tol, and all of them want information to help them plan definitely. This magazine has received scores of let ters of Inquiry about the process of manufacture. availability of materials and. In fact, every other phrase of the whole question. It Is in the hope of answering as many as possible of these tnoulrles that this article Is written.f i 1 shall try to enumerate the materials from which alcohol may profltably be produced. to describe briefly the pro- cess of manufacture and to give the prospective manufacturer an idea of the essentials to be most considered in making hIs plans.
 NOT A NEW INDUSTRY
 One thing should be thoroughly un- derstood. that the manufacture of de- natured alcohol Is not new industry. The Free Alcohol Bill did not open the market to a new product; 1t merely enlarged the market of an old one. The manufacture of denatured alcohol Is only the manufacture of alcohol. The process of denaturing Is no more complicated than the process of putting cream Into coffee. The government decides on a suitable denaturlng agent. probably wood alcohol. and the manu- facturer mikes 1t with hls product un- der the supervision of revenue offic- CT. In view of this fact, 1t Is obvious that the man who enters this field must be prepared to meet the organized competition of the distillers. Worse. 1t Is even rumored that Standard oil Is to take over the large dlstllleries and attempt to control the alcohol market. However. the raw material Is so abun- dant and so varied that no such thing as cornerIng It Is possible. Roughly speaking. any material containing starch or sugar Is source of alcohol. Many processes have been patented for pro- ducing alcohol from cellulose, which includes wood fiber, straw, leaves. etc. but none of them have been success fully operated. although 1t is said that a company In the south Is now producing alcohol from saWdust It is, however. safe to say that this method will not affect the alcohol market for many years.
 SOURCE OF ALCOHOL
 The great source of alcohol in this country Is corn. and there seems to be little reason for believing that 1t will not continue to be. On this account. it will be taken as type. and the pro 4 .f--- A