The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1907-04-11
As TO WHISKY


portance than any question now before
the Department. The Department ha:
whisky is something distilled in the old.
fashioned way. with stills set directly
over the fire and the product stored il
| barrels and tanks until the offensive
| fusel oils have been ripened by age into
| fragrant essences and eth-rs. As Il
! matter OF fact, probably not more than
| two or three per cent, certainly not
| over five per cent, Of the so-caiied
| whisky drank in this country is of this
| description. 1t is possible that the total
amount is not over one or two per cent.
a great deal of the whisky which claims
TO he the "old-fashioned, handmade.
sour mash whisky" and which is adj
vertised all over the country under GER
tain taking names. has really only a
! small portion of the genuine article in
it. The remainder is = strong dilution
of this. 1t is extended" as the dealers
and rcctitiers would say That is. q
pint of the whisky is put into several
| pintS of Peoria alcohol. diluted with
water to the strength of whisky, and
colored with caramel Fully - per
| cent of the so-called whisky sold over
| the bars never was within a hundred
| miles of the old-fashoned distilleries.
In every town of any size in the coun-
try there are so-called "recIiliers'' and
blenders" who buy the Peoria alec
| hoI and let it down with water. color
it with Drowned sugar. and add tinc>
lures and essences 10 initiate the flavor
of whisky. Peoria alcohol can be
| bought at in the neighborhood of 50
| cents a gallon, plus the tax. which is
$3.50 barrel. Thus. when it is 'let
down. with water until the liquid con-
| tains only about 40 per cent. of alcohol
the usual strength of WHISKY. The cost
is somewhere under s1.h9 a gallon.
This is sold to the saloon keepers and
| other retailers at any prc. from 81 {:
gallon up, and the profits are enor-
nous. In no business is there such a
| large margin of clear gain as in this
of buying alcohol and making it into
So-called whisky. The business is
largely in the hands of the jews as is
also the oid-fahioned whisky and be-
tween these two factions there is now
4 bitter fight. The Jews who largely
own the Kentucky and Maryland dis
tilferies, which make what is claimed to
be the real whisky, are in bitter hOstil-
lily to their brethren who are the recti-
fiers. blenders, etc. The Agricultural
Department carried confusion into the
ranks of the latter by a recent ruling
as TO blended" WHISTLES. That is. it
decided that where alcohol and water
alone had been put to the genuine
whisky. that it could not be sold as
blended" whiskies, since there was
but one whisky in 1t. Now. Will it go
further and refuse to allow anything
labeled as such? If this is done il will
carry ruin to the Blenders and rectiiiers
everywhere. destroy business in which
there are millions every year. and make
no end of trouble: There does not seem
to be any name by which the imitation
satisfactory to the consumers a man
goes into a saloon and asks for ''whis-
KY" or he goes to one of the bottle
houses" and asks for a bottle of whis-
ky. At present the saloon keeper sets
out before him a bottle containing the
imitation whisky. which satisfies him
just as well: or the keeper of the bot
tie house" gives him bottle of the
same stuff. and he never knows the diff
ference. If the Department shall rule
that nothing but actual whisky shall
be sold as whisky" all this must be
for the stuff that will be acceptable to
the consumer. In Great Britain the ordi-
| nary drinker asks for Spirits If our
drinkers In this country could be edu-
Gated to that IT would make 10 differ
ence what was given them, but they
do ask for whisky and whisky alone,
and there's where the trouble comes
The National Tribune is perfectly in
different to the troubles which threaten
the whisky trade. In spite Of all the
CHATTER that is kept up In the papers
and elsewhere, there is very little Diff
ference in Whistles. Neither one~ is
appreciably better or worse Than the
other. 1t is the alcohol In them that
Is the devil, and it works all the ruin
The old-fashioned handmade. sour
mash, fire-distilled whisky is just as
violent in its effects and no more so
than the imitation whisky made Of Peo-
| ria alcohol. The latter is just as bad.
no worse. no better, than the stuff COM
ing from the crudest still I'm the Cum
berland Mountains.
Between the one set Of Jews who are
madiy shrieking over the superior fla
yors of their sour mash. handmade
goods and the other set OF Jews who
are making millions every year out of
! very good limitations of whisky we have
no choice. The whole business Is bad.
immoral and is working incaicula BILE
| injury to the country.
| The successful war ON the moslleto
has had Il decidedly high monetary
value. All around New York City. and