The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-10-17
Alcohol is KING
Of BROAD REALM
SCIENCE AFFIRMS
Tabooed Spirit of Evil Win
Take Place Of Gasoline in
Power World and Fill Out
Many Other Purposes.

NEW YORK, Oct. fixing Alcohol
IS nailed as a new monarch of the realm
OF power by the New York section of
the American Chemical society. The
I'VE Well-known chemists who addressed
the section told of more new sources
OF alcohol which could be tapped and
lndlcated many new uses for il.
B.. X. Tunison says that probably
ten times as much aIcOhol as was CON
sumed before prohibition days would
eventually be utilized by the American
people, albeit, they have decided to dis
pehse with It as a beverage. In a nor
maj year the United States drank $780,
VOO, 700 gallons OF alcohol and used az
proXlmately 100, OO0, 600 gallons in the
various arts,
Among the sources which could be
developed Is the nipa palm which flour
lshes IN the Philippines and other tTop-
zeal countries and Yields, SAYS Mr.. Tun-
ison, about Is per cent OF sugar which
could be t%ernented, FROM that source
alone 80, 600, 900 gallons a year could
easily be produced. The Mexicans brew
a llery beer from the sotol plant, "A
variety of agave which exists in very
large quantities in their country from
which millions Of gallons could be dis
tllled. BY changing the %cellulose of
sawdust and other wood waste into
sugar and then fermenting that sub
stance, plenty more alcohol can also be
obtained, 1t is Identical with that de-
rived from grain and is quite different
from the methyl or so-called wood al
cohoi of the Pink Elephant" brand
which is made by another process. Con-
siderable alcohol can also be derived
from the~waste of gasworks.
IN order to bring all these alcohols
within the domain of the law, however,
they have to be denatured or treated
In such a way as to make them unfit
for human consumption. There are now
about forty denaturtng formulas which
are approved by the internal revenue
bureau. When alcohol is used simple
OF itself as honest John Falstaff used
to say of sack, the government puts
on a tax of $4.15 a gallon. evon If en-
ployed for industrial purposes.
These ~undrtnkable alCohols are used
extensively as solvents in the various
chemical industries, and especially in
the Development of the rapidly growing
| dye industry. They can serve we'll in
the manufacture Of rosins as a solvent
and by their use a perfectly transpar-
ent product can be manufactured.
Mr.. Tunison predicts that as the pc
troleum supply decreases and the price
Of gasoline Is therefore raised, alcohol
viii come into greater use as a motor
fuel. Denatured ethyl alcohol, identi-
cal in composition with that distilled
from grains, is now cheap in carload
lots, and there are compounds of it
which are sold even now for only a
few cents more a gallon retail than
the price of gasoline. Mr.. Tunison said
| that these new alcohol fuels yield more
power to the gallon than does gasoline,
and do not clog the carburetors, =
There Is also a demand for the So
called solidified alcohol which is made
by adding paraffin and such substances
to spirits.
DR.. f. W, Kressman gives details
concerning the manufacture of Ethyl
Alcohol from Wood Waste"
Dir. G. f. Richmond tells of the pos
sible increased use of the so-called
Higher Alcohols" which are employed
in the manufacture of extracts and per-
fumes.