The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1906-06-15
ALCOHOL BILLS MEANING
SIGNIFICANCE OF NEW MEASURE
TO THIS SECTION.
NEW INDUSTRY WILL START

How the New Dcnaturlzed Alcohol
| BILL Which Has Now Become n Law
Through Presidents Signature, VIII
Affect Norfolk.
Now that Norfolk, with IN empty
sugar factory building, IL Interested In
the donaturiZcd alcohol proposition,
because of the recent bill passed by
congress and signed by the president,
the following Washington dispatch,
telling what the bill means, will be
of interest especially to this locality:
| Since the movement for free, dCnn-
turod alcohol began, members of con,
gross, particularly from the northwest
have been bcsioged by their constitu-
onts with inquiries as to tho details
of the bill which has now become u
law.
| The farmers, who are alike interest.
ed with producers Of the raw material
and consumers of the finished product
want to know In just what form the
benefit will come to them. Business
men, contemplating the manufacture
OF donatured alcohol, also want infor
nation.
with the tax removed from alcohol,
the question of supplying manufactur
ers is simple one, as there is wide
range OF prices at which they can use
alcohol to advantage. They have been
paying $40 per gallon for grain al
| lnnhnl niu in n
gallon for wood alcohol, a greatly In.
ferior substitute. Hence 80 or even
50-cent alcohol means q tremendous
| benefit to them. In view OF this, II IL
| altogether likely that tho regulations
Will provide for the use OF larger
percentage OF wood alcohol as a de
naturent in all alcohol for manufactur.
ing purposes. as the increased cost
would not be prohibitive.
Tax Is Wiped Out.
There is nothing in the new law
| which adds to the cost OF manufactur-
ing alcohol. The tax is wiped out,
and an appropriation Is made to en-.
| able the government to pay the entire
expense of administration and super.
vision. 1t will cost nothing to license
IA distillery or a denaturizing ware
| house.
The Importance of protecting the In.
terests of the farmers was brought to
| the attention of the president by Con-
gressman Marshall of North Dakota
and Congressman Murdock of Kansas
| The president fell in with their idea
most heartily, and Commissioner
Yerkes is also in complete sympathy.
The placing of this new Industrial
material on the market in competition
with gasolene and kerosene Is an en-
| tirely new undertaking. and everything
| said in relation to 1t Is largely conjec-
ture, although 1t Is agreed by all that
the possibilities are great.
The New Regulations.
| he regulations of the commissioner
will provide for the licensing OF distil.
leries with a daily capacity of 100
bushels of grain, or about $50 gallons
Of commercial alcohol. The small dis
tillery will be on par with the large
one. The law provides for ,lenaturiz-
| ing in separate bonded warehouse,
which simply means that the distil-
lery can have a separate room com
petely shut off from the distillery
proper, or a small building near by.
where the denaturizing can be carried
on in the presence of the government
inspector. A number of plants could
have central denaturiZing warehouse,
and small country distilleries could
send their grain alcohol to a central
point to be denaturized, provided a
transit rate could be. procured, al
though 1t is believed that the denatur-
izing can be done cheaper at the dis
tillery where the alcohol Is made, as
the process of denaturizing Is simple,
requiring no complicated machinery,
and consisting merely in the mixing
OF wood and grain alcohol by pouring
them together, with the possible addi.
| tion OF some other denaturizing ma
terial which would mix readily.
Marshall's View on Law.
81 here is nothing in the law" said
Representative marshall, "embarrass-
iH5 W IhS manufacturer, De|OHu tne
cost OF constructing a room or build
ing, which, OF course, need not be ex-
pensive. The small distillery will be
handicapped by greater economy in
manufacturing on larger scale, but
this would be largely Offset by saving
in transportation.
"Distilleres could be established at
numerous points in Minnesota, Nebras-
ka and South Dakota, which would
easily compete with the big distilleries
Of Illinois and Indiana as well as the
molasses distilleries of the far east
!. IL