The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-12-13
DEATH AND BLINDNESS FROM
 wOOD-ALCoDoL POISONING.

Thirty yecns ago poisoning from wood alcohol. naethyl alcohol, wood spirit, methyEated spirits, etc, was aI- most unknown. The disgusting odor and vile taste o6 tf1ds product were so repusnant that one would about as quickly draaE crude petroleum. About 1890. however, coInparattvely cheap method of "deodoriHngr' this iIl-smeM- ing and viie-tasting liquid was dis covered. and under various names. ned Wood Aicoh6l,s ..coloniai Spirits. standard Wood Spirits'' Cologne Spirits" Union Spirits" Eagle "Spir>-- itss'' Green Wood Spirits etc.. this violent poison was put on sale It was widely and shrewdly advertised and all sorts of virtues were claimed for it. the chief being that it was cheap and comparatively harmless suhsti- tu1te for ordinary grain alcohol. Not only could 1t be used instead Of grain alcohol in making varndsfles, linl- ments, tinctures. hair-dyes. etc, and as a fuel in lamps and stoves. but also at first it's poisonous character was denied. This last claim led to it's use not only for these purposes, but ginger, essence of lemon. liniments, alcoholic extracts. cheap whisky and proprietary remedies
 Soon, however, stories of sudden death as well as of total and incur able blindness following the use Of this horrible poison began to appear, not only in medical journals but in the public press It was not until a,-whole-- sale drug firm in Baltimore had been nau1cted for heavy damages for att tempting to turn a1 honest penny by the use of t-deodorizeN' wood spirit as 8 substitute for the four-tinas- as- expensive grain acoho1 in the manner of Jamaica ginger, that the trade be- gan 'to sit up an take notice.''
 Later, examples of wholesale poison ing began to be reported. Parties of all classes of peopie-workmen, pie nickers, bar@room 1rabitues. Indians, etc.-indulgdng in cheap whiskey and it's substitutes died or became blind. Still later, it was found that un1fortu- nate psinters, especially shellackers Of 'beer-vats. wroking in confined and un- ventilated places, were stricken with blindne ess, and on investigation it was conclUsively proved that cheap var niSh made with Columbian Sp1ritsf' costing about 50 cents a. gallon (grain alcohol is about $40 a gallon), had done it's deadly work.
 blindness Sometimes bot3l) directly traceabie to drinking, or inlhaling the fumes of "Colunsbian Spirits or some other form of "deodorized'' wood al- of the American Medical Associa taon-
 As a result of these accidents" a widespread agitation against the un- restrained sale of this poison was be- gun. Several bills were introduced into Congress providing for cheap, commercial grain alcohol which would render unnecessary and drive out of the market dangerous forms of "de- odorized" wood spirit. The success of the movement was largely due to a committee of manufacturers formed to assist in securing cheaper alcohol for industrial purposes, headed by MT. Henry Daily of New York After con- siderable discussion of the project by congressional committees and the hearing of much evidence, especially that furnished by a number of work men blinded by using Columbian Spir- it's in their ordinary occupations, the bill introduced by the Hon. S.W. Payne was passed by Congress June 7, 1906. We now have as a result of this leg islation what is known as "denatured aFcoho1,' a harmless grain or ethyl a1- cohol, rendered unfit for drinking pArr- poses by an admtxture of various in gredients that do not destroy its value purposes of commerce.
 Denatureds alcohol is cheap as or cheaper than Columbian Spirits or any other kind Of "deodorized'' wood a1co- ho1 and can be bought at drug stores wherever the 'tdeodoriDed'' poisons are or have been sale. Not only is there no longer the least excuse for the sale of -'deodorized'' wood spirits, but its manufacture should be prohibited by law, because it serves no purpose that "denatured'' alcohol will not serve and because it's existence is everywhere and at all times a menace to the pub- lie health. It looks smells and tastes so much like grain alcohol that It's very existence must ever be cha1- lenge to life and sight-
 Although for half a century Great Britain, Germany and other European countries have yearly consumed mil Hons of gallons of grain alcohol, de natured" by process similar 10 ours, yet not single instance of death or blindness has been reported from it's occasional ingestion.