The Washington times., 1919-08-17
South Turns to Shoe
Polish and Hair Tonic
As Thirst Quenchers


Baltimore and elsewhere in the new
" created desert there are thousands
Of private stocks, and the real pinch
has not been felt BY the jovial chap
who Graves q juiep these August days
OF BY the tired business man who
would regard that day lost did he not
have his customary nightcap. but Il
Is differentain dry Virginia or Caro-
linas>
BootleEsers stHl Bnsy.
Inquiry among Baltimore traysling
statesmen recently IN from the south
brings the information that bootleg
gers are stili plying their trade IN
some sections oG Dixie, but their
source OF supply has been more or
less effectually cut on by nationwide
or so-called wartime prohibition. AS
the whiskey transporters are supply
ing their eager CUSTOMERS, with dif-.
ficulty the price or their wares has
scared Where the price was former
" from 81 to S14 quart, according
TO the distance from a wet market,
4 Is now being sold At from SIS 20
$50 a quart. Some Is reported aFH7l-
able IN Virginia and West Virginia
at from SIS 70 so and in North Caro-.
EIfna I is understood to be obtainable
at from $50 TO $3.50, the price ad-
vancihg farther South.
With such prohibitive prices pre-
vailing for the genuine article. the
thirsty have turned toward the Blue
Ridge mountains. whence "moon~
shine and white lightning hoW.
But United States revenue officers,
aided by the prohibition agents Of
the various States, arc alert and the
Illicit distiller is kept pretty much
on the move. Corn liquor from the
moo6shine country, which a few
years ago could have been bought
for a few cents a gallon, is in de-
mand today at SIS a gallon.
Monkey Rum in Vogue.
Next in popularity comes monkey
rum" This beverage is said to be
guaranteed good for one fight, two
pink horses with yellow boards and
one calico crocodile. Monkey rum"
Is distinctly a prohibition product.
Molasses forms a base for this con-
coction and the formula seems to
have gained wide circulation, ANA
teur distillers working day and night
on It.
Corner drug stores are always
among the first institutions fully TO
appreciate the meaning of prohibition.
They are called upon to supply bay
rum, cologne. and various patented
remedies which contain alcohol.
Reputable druggists, however, frown
on this trade, which they regard as
highly iliegitimate. Nevertheless, all
have had some remarkable experiences
in unwittingly meeting the demands
OF the thirsty.
At the BelVedere Hotel a few nights
ago a group of travelling men were
discussing prohibition and the re-
marks swung around to various sub
stitutes now popular in the South.
Shoe polish as an intoxicating hever-
age was reported by a representative
OF a wholesale drug house. Here Is
the way he told the story:
''I had sold an order to a retailer
in a small town in Virginia and our
gossip turned to booze. The drug
gist told me that during the war his
entire stock of shoe polish had been
sold to soldiers, who occupied a small
camp near bXSyfIt developed later that
the shoe polish stock Of the general
store in the community had also been
exhausted. According to the drug
gist, there was talk that the soldiers
were getting drunk on shoe polish,
but little attention was paid to II.
When the camp was abandoned, empty
shoe polish bottles, which filled bar
rel after barrel, were discovered. J.
was told that II would have been an
impossibility for the soldiers to have
used such a quantity Of polish for
their shoes.
This incident was related by a lum-
Der salesman who had just returned
from North Carolina town:
Just q Limeade.
81 was enjoying a limeade, nothing
stronger, I assure YOU" he said, with
a wave OF his arm about the group,
"at a drug store fountain. A we'll
dressed chap came in and also or
dered a soft drink and was served
by the boy behind the counter. lie
half-finished his drink, walked to the
stores rear and inquired Of the pre-
-scription clerk whether a certain
brand of cologne was kept in stock.
Informed that 1t was. he bought and
paid more than a dollar for q bottle
of the perfumery He had been hold
Ing his partly finished drink in his
hand. Returning TO the fountain, he
placed the glass on Il. and then
leisurely opened the cologne bottle
and dumped its contents into the half |
empty tumbler. Then he drank il ali |
and walked from the place. I found |
out from the drug clerk that the