Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1907-01-13

d. w. WILEY AND WESTERN CORN STORAGE
itate. In a mountainous country the
5yariegated scenery is sufficient to occu-
py mems minds. but on the wide prai-
ries orSin the desert people must medi-
Nearly all great reform movements
have originated in fat countries. y
In his own meditations Mr.. Murdoch
arrived at the conclusion that the high
tax on alcohol was one of the chief in
EQUITIES of government. Having been
imposed at a time when the govern
ment sadly needed revenue. it was not
an instance of original sin. but it had
become sinful because of altered com
ditions. 1T was a check upon indus
trial and Individual development.
An Inspiration From the Prairie.
Mr.. Murdoch introduced the first bin
for denatured alcohol He may be
called, therefore, the father of free. al,
cohol. 1t was an inspiration from the
prairie, q reform originating in fiat
country. 1t spread rapidly over the
hills and hollows of the nation. Every
4 The wood alcohol trust alone opposed
1T in the open because it promised to
I cripple that industry. Wood alcohol is
q poison for which there is no antidote.
! 1T has horrible odor and gives Off
fumes which produce blindness and
other serious effects upon workmen
who come in contact with the fumes.
It has been used very largely in many
of the arts and industries which re-
quire alcohol. On wood alcohol no tax
has been imposed. Its poisonous char
acter precluded it's use in the making
Of liquors or medicines p
The labor unions strongly supported
j the measure. largely because it was de
sirable to- get rid of wood alcohol In
the hat and shoe factories Of New Eng.
land and elsewhere and in the various
other industries and occupations where
alcohol is necessary. Painters, wall.
paperers and decorators are among
those whose health has been impaired
by reason Of the use Of wood alcohol
in the materials they must employ
The farmers supported the bill solidly.
led by Hon. Nahum J. Bachelor of
New Hampshire, head Of the national
grange, with $780, 900 members. #
A Still Id His Own Back Yard.
At first Speaker Cannon of the ma
ttional house Of representativ opposed
the bill, but its advocates sent into
SssUncle Joe's" Illinois district, in the
great corn belt. some agents, who visit
ed the farmers and demonstrated the
superiority of an alcohol lamp over the
Kerosene lamp. They showed that it
gave much clearer and steadier light,
did not smoke or smell, was not liable
to explosion and would be cheaper
than the old coal oil lamp if the alco-
ghol tax Were removed. But as the
clinching argument they told the farm
ers that any one of them. IL the free
alcohol bill passed, could erect still
ID his back yard or down by the creek
or duck pond and make alcohol for his
own use and for sale out Of the ma:
terials which were going to wsste on
his farm.
Il It is understood that Uncle joe,
heard from the farmers, and the bill
was no longer INSTRUCTED.
That little alcohol lamp visited many
other congressional districts. 1t shed
much light on the subject.
But after the bin became law, to go
Into effect on New Years day, It was
discovered that 1t lacked the one pro-
vision necessary to render its benefits
available to the small farmer. SO that
! he might set up his own little still
and convert his surplus crops and his
waste products into alcohol. The APP
parent intention of the trainers Of the
measure, Mr.. Murdoch and his CO.
i 1aborers, was to introduce an atmos-
9phere Of universal still life, so TO speak.
throughout the American rural commu-
miles. In Germany, for instance, there
are about 10000 stills where alcohol
kor denaturing Is manufactured under
government supervision, Very nAny