The Prescott daily news., 1914-02-19
CARL vICKERS
 End. Door West of ScOtt's Market Ph0ne 3Z4
SOME PUBLIC ASPECTS OF THE
 WOOD-ALCOHOL INDUSTRY

SOME PUBLIC ASPECTS OF THE
 WOOD-ALCOHOL INDUSTRY
 Nearly thousand cases of poison ing attributed to wood alcohol (most- ly due to drinking it) have been re- ported since 1893, when methyl all cohol was placed on the market, un- der the trade names of Columbian Spirite" Colonial Spirits," "Manhat- tan Spirits" "Pro Spirit" etc. The business involves the annual produc- tion and use of about ten million gal Ions of the substance with a capital investment in this country of about twelve million dollars in the industry, which employs over three thousand working people, It is interesting to note the attitude taken by the manu- factuNers toward the agitation for the control of this dangerous preparation We are reminded that since man be- gan to handle fire he has been utliz- ing dangerous substances to his own good purposes, and that many of the most useful substances are dangerous and poisonous. Deadly cyanids are used for extracting gold; poisonous strychnin is employed as a heart stim- ulant; toxic phenol finds wide appli- cation as a disinfectant, and corrosive acids are used in multitudinouS oper- ations. But says The Journal of the American Medical Association. there are in all the cases mentioned either an adequate understanding of the great dangers involved, or the appli- cations are in the hands of experts who may be trusted to prevent un- toward results. It is contended that methyl alcohol is used extensively as a valuable solvent and in the manu- facture of many important materials, and that it's legitimate use should not be prohibited. We may agree with these contentious and still raise the question whether existing legislation is adequate to prevent accidents. Wood alcohol presents unique case for legislation, not only because of it's general resemblance to methyl alcohol but because the word "alcohol" is as- sociated in the lay mind with drink" The dangers, however, are by no means limited to the possibility of in troducing methyl alcohol in foods or drinks. When, in 1906, the agitation for a tax-free, denatured ethyl alco hol brought about hearings before the committees of Congress, the injurious action of wood alcohol on the general health and the eyesight of working people handling it in the industries was strongly emphasized by manufac- turers employing it, workmen and eX- perts. A pamphlet on wood alcohol prepared for the New York State Fac tory Investigation Commission by Charles Baskerville, chairman of the Committee on Occupational Diseases of the American Chemical Society, states that there are at present sixty three manufacturers of wood alcohol in the United States. Workmen are liable to come into contact with the vapor in filling the containers. Ample ventilation should meet these difficult ties. In the industries in which wood alcohol is employed it often serves as solvent Here is can produce pois- oning if the workmen CD inhale the vapor; CD dip their hands and arms into the liquor, or (S) drink it. Ample ventilation will avert the first danger; impervious gloves will prevent the second; only education can ward off the third. The New York report makes the following recommendations as to laws which should be enacted:
 l. To prohibit the presence of wood alcohol in any form of material in tended for internal use.
 ?. To prohibit the presence of wood alcohol in preparations intended-for external use on the human body.
 3. To require ample ventilation in works in which wood alcohol is made or used in manufacturing products wherein wood alcohol remains as such; the same law should apply where the products containing wood alcohol are used up, as for example, in vanishing vats in breweries.
 4. To require containers in which