Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1919-12-22
Be Careful
What You Drink
BY Frederic ]. Hnskin

IN al parts OF the country report
greatly increased demand for these
chemicals At the same time. many
cases have come to the attention OF the
Internal Revenue Bureau IN which
denafurcd alcohol or wood alcohol have
been used as beverages. Just n few days
ago whole party Of would-be merry
makers in Virginia were overcome as the
restit of drinking denatured alcohol.
Not long ago man drank pint of wood
alcohol and died promptly Many pe--
sons have been blinded by drinking
wood alcohol And yet there - every
evidence that the drinking Of this fatally
poisonous alcohol still goes on.
This drinking Gf posons m the form OF
beverages promises to be one Of tho most
serious problems created by prohibition.
Everyone should be apprlsed Of the risk
he runs in drinking alleged alcoholic
beverages. the purity of which is IN no
way guaranteed. You may know better
thnn to drink wood alcohol, and yet you
NAV be deceived into drinking IT Either
wood alcohol or denatured alcohol can be
bought by anyone for about Il dollar
q gallon Pure wood alcohol both looks
md smells much like ethyl or grain
alcohol. A chemist can tell the difference
by the odor, but few laYTnen ran do so.
Wood alcohol may readily be fiavOred
and coIorcd tn resemt'e whisky, and
preparations for the purpose OF con
verting aclnhol into whisky have even
been put on the market. 1t - evident
Tint boot-legger, buying wood alco hol
at dollar gallon, making 1t look IKE
whisky and selling il for twenty dollars
A gallon. would have much more
lucrative business than the boot-iegger
of honest booze He wouid also have
safer one. for the prohibition Inv would
not appiy 20 him At least it has been
generally held that the wOr5 alcohol
as used in that measure refers only To
ethyl or grain alcohol OF course, the
man selling the wood alcohol preparation
would be committing fraud, selling an
impure product, and possibly committing
murder But the point IS that II would
be easier for him to get and sell hrs stock
II should be understood that the aico-
hol which was found in all alcoholic
beverages before these became extinct
was ethyl or grain alcohol. Wood alcohol
is the only other alcohol which rs common
in commerce, and it IL known technically
ms metbyl alcohol So called denatured
alcohol consists Of mixture OF these two
and Of keroaenc lsuaily the ethyl al
cohol is about ninety per cent, the kerosene
perhaps one half Of one per cent, and
the reat rnethyl alcohol. MethyI alcohol
is the deadly element. just why II u 50
poisonous the scientists do not know.
They do know that when It oxidizes 10
the body II forms formIc acid, and this
destroys the optic nerve, causing blindness.
woop ALCOHOL RANK POISON
There seems to be superstition cur
rent in some sections that methyi or wood
e rr4xgert zxtth r1ItE
but there is no truth IN this, according 70
Dr. A. r. Adams, chief of the division
Of technology of the Internal Revenue
Bureau
Dr. Adams is tho man who has 70 pass
upon all the applications for the ne Of
non-beveraee alcohol, and to anayze All
the dopes and noetrtins which are sent 70
HIM as suspected violations OF the prohi-
bitlon law A visit Ia Dr. Adams latoTa-
tory and store room gives one powerful
impression Of the size Of the Job which the
government has undertaken in the en-
forcemcnt of the prohibition measure
For example. permits have already been
granted 10 sevcnty-thousand hrns Tor
the iise of alcohol for non-beverage pur-
ne,9es Some OF these firms are large ones
which put out many different produetS
so that the total runs INTO hundreds OF
thousands The number Of hair tonics
alone is in the neighborhood Of ten thou
sand The Bureau OF International keve-
nue. has passed upon each q these, ana
lipon tens of thousands OF HaVoring eN-
tracts, soda fountain syrups, patent
medicines, and lnnunera6le other con
eoctious, and has decided that they are
legitimate, and cannot well fe used Tor
beverage purposes.
The method which the Bureau recon-
mends for the making OF these things IN
drlnkable IS To rut III each oi them cer-
tam qlanity OF some strong emetic. ms
would not only destroy their value as
beverages, but would also keep them from
dong much harm as po.sons. lhe
Bureau has not the power, It appears, to
enforce the use OF enletlcs TO make these
substances undrinkable, but It suggests
the use OF them. II the manufacturer
does not choose 10 accept this method oI
making his product non-beveLage, ne
must suggest another one equally good.
Therefore bibblers of hair tonics and per
fumes should not be surprised # these
substances refuse to stay where they are
put In the human system.
PERMITS NEEDED TO hoy.
By its control of the distribution OF
alcohol the Bureau OF course Is apie 70
control the legitimate manufacturer pretty
effectively. No one can obtain the Al
cohol with which 10 make hair tonic or
fruit syrup without a permit from the
Bureau. On the other hand, il is quite
evident that the forces OF the Bureau are
not sufficient to insure what Is done with
the alcohol after the manufacturer has
got it There was recent case III New
York IN which man got a very large guam
tity of alcohol for the manufacture Of hair
tonic His formula for this purpose
was all right But the Bureau was unable
to find that nc had made any hair tonic,
which III barrels OF the alcohol had disap-
peared In two weeks.
The enforcement of the proper use o.
alcohol by those who obtain it under per
nit will devolve largely upon State and
local authorities, and so also will the pre-
yention of all sorts of illicit operations
OF course, anything made and sold with