Omaha daily bee., 1906-07-29
ABOUT DENGTURED ALCOHOL
Information that Ansvsn Many Questions
People Are Now Asking.
POSSIBILITIES AND PROSPECTS OF LAW
How Far the Fuel Alcohol May ne
Used for PrOpeIIInE Power
and In the Mechanic
Arts.

trade papers regarding the recently enacted /
Free Denatured Alcohol law, II seems 4
that the public at large is very much in /
the dark regarding the purpose, operation |
and probable effect Of the new law. II |
will depend somewhat upon the rules and !
regulations to be formulated and announced |
by the commissioner of internal revenue !
sometime before January l, when the law |
becomes effective for its operation.
Let 1t be understood FIRST that tax free !
"denatured" alcohol is regular every day /,
alcohol to which "denaturing ingredients !
have been added substances which so
change its taste and odor that It can never !
be used in beverages, medicines or for
other internal consumption.
The present revenue tax is S1.1O per gal
Ion of 100 degrees strength, and as a gal
lon Of alcohol has 1ss degrees, the internal
revenue tax on 1t is s2.06s, and all alcohol
for whatever purpose now consumed IN this
country. whether distilled from grain or
molasses. pays that tax, excepting an in
significant amount used by educational in
situations. such as colleges, which the gov
eminent permits to be withdrawn from
bond free Of tax.
The passage of the denatured bill, be-
lieve, was helped along materially by the
! alleged opposition Of the Standard OIL peo-
PIE II may Dt uOuDltQ WnttueI any HuCn
opposition was ever exerted The popular
belief that untaxed grain or molasses
alcohol can compete with gasoline. or for
the purposes for which gasoline is used,
| may prove a disappointment. Gasoline is
selling for Is cents per gallon, including
| cooperage. Grain alcohol, at present cost
| Of corn, cannot be produced even under
! most favorable conditions at less than
twice that price. 1t stands to reason that
! no article can be an active competitor Of
another similar article costing only half
as much, especially when the latter has
| 10 per cent more efficiency. Recent expert
ments at the State Agricultural College of
Missouri seem TO have demonstrated that
it requires / 4-10 pounds alcohol to equal
one pound Of gasoline.
! Advantages of Alcohol.
There is no question but what alcohol is
much cleaner and safer TO handle and use
than gasoline, and for that reason will be
preferred in many ways, even though it
costs more than gasoline, but to what ex-
tent It will replace gasoline as domestic
or motor fuel, from which so much is ex-
pected. remains to be proven.
The distillers who will come nearest COM
peting with gasoline are those who are
manufacturing either from beet or cane
molasses, either of which will produce al
cohol very much more cheaply than grain.
even when grain is much cheaper than It
is now.
Strong opposition to the passage OF the
free alcohol law was supposed to have
been exerted also by the manufacturers
Of wood alcohol, which has had the ad-
vantage to go untaxed ever since the
process of making It was invented. But it
costs more than grain alcohol to produce
besides being poisonous and undesirable
for other reasons. Free grain or molasses
alcohol would have the effect of running
wood alcohol out of the market were il
not for its use as a denaturing agent
Grain or molasses alcohol under the new
law will in all probability be denatured by
the addition OF from to 10 per cent of
wood alcohol the same as in England and
Germany. AS the wood alcohol people pro-
duce only 100000 gallons per annum, which
quantity would be eventually required for
denaturing purposes. they must have felt
fairly secure that their industry would
not suffer from the free alcohol law.
The use of free alcohol for fuel, mo,
chanical and similar purposes may increase
its consumption enormously, and yet It
may be disappointing. Much will depend
upon the regulations to be promulgated
tho commissioner of internal revenue.
While he may be entirely in sympathy
with the sponsors Of the law and its sub
Z jects, he must, on the other hand, pro-
tect the government against fraud. The
high internal revenue tax on spirits will
; prove to be a great Incentive for the
D illegal or fraudulent use of denatured al
E cohol, which the commissioners rules must
D seek to prevent. He will in all proba-
= billty require the dealers in denatured al
e cohol to take out a license at a nominal
cost for handling that product. similar to
a dealers in oleomargarine, and require them
\ to keep accurate records of all purchases
! and sales of all quantities above. say hve
e gallons, so that the officers of the internal
o revenue department may at any time trace
= every gallon Of free alcohol from the dis
e tillery to its final destination.
Materials for Manufacture.
In theory alcohol can be made from corr
5 stalks, but the machinery for making them
o available for distillation has not yet beer
invented and may never be. Whether
o sorghum can be raised to advantage foi
purposes OF distillation will depend some.
what on the locality. Alcohol can be made
here as in Europe from potatoes. but 20.
tatoes are an uncertain crop and their av,
= erage market value Is above the proper
3 tionate value OF grain. Possibly in po
talO states, IKE Atdn ana COLORADO, WhenCt
freight on both eastern alcohol and gaso
line is also high, alcohol may be produced
: from potatoes TO advantage. at least to
i limited local extent. The Department Of Ag
. riculture, with view of pointing out thu
= !, advantages TO be gained by free alcohol, IL
= coming jamestown exposition, demonstrat
. ing from what material alcohol can be pro
duced and 10 what uses II can be put
. and to what uses il can be put.
An important item in the cost OF al
- cohol is the cooperage. Barrel stock 4
becoming scarcer every day and Il is 4
be hoped that the commissioner will provld
for handling denaturiZed alcohol in tank
and tank cars so as to avoid the exDens
OF the barrel. which is between and
- cents per gallon.
Another important item is freight an
the railroads should be induced to trans
port denatured alcohol at the same rate a
gasoline OF nearly 50. II would be unjus
|, 10 charge on a commodity worth 80 cent
a per gallon the same rate as on tax pai
\ alcohol worth 800 per cent more.
. / do not believe that the new law vii
70 curtail the sale OF tax paid alcohol. o
In reduce the revenue derived therefrom
d There will probably be as much tax PAL
alcohol consumed as before, because tn
N use OF the denatured product will be 5