New-York tribune., 1919-12-31
Whisky Kills
Twelve More
Men IN East
Continued frOt., page I

procedure. In these days OF wood alco-
hol revenue agents don't swallow the
first drink and preserve the second for
evidence, as has been done. Instead they
haul small phials from their pockets
pour the first drink in as evidence and
then seal and cork them. This move,
of course, always reveals to the bar
tender and the thirsty patrons that
they arc revenue agents.
$4,000 for Two Barrels
They winked at each other yesterday y
and set their whisky glasses back on the
bar, keeping the phias out of sight
They continued to listen and heard
the bartender say the boss" was anx-
ious to get the two barrels he had or
dered, as he had the $1,000 to pay for
them in the cash drawer.
The drayman said he would 90 right
after them and started cut. The reve-
nue. agents followed. The drayman
climbed aboard his vehicle and they
signaled taxicab, instructing the
chauffeur to trail the dray.
The dray stopped at garage some
where in Brooklyn, and when the reve-
nue. agents entered they found the
drayman pulling q tarpaulin from n
dray on which were piled eighteen
green barrels. Green is the distin-
gushing mark that to the trade and
government agents means the barrel
contains what is known as completely
denatured alcohol, 90 per cent "grain''
alcohol. which is really made out of
hlackstrap molasses and 10 per cent
alcohol, the mixture favored with par
adlnc, nauseous chemical intended to
discourage desperate drinkers.
Green Barrels Seized
Tto
drayman, seized the green barrels, and
next arrested the drayman's partner
The pair are engaged in free lance
express business on the East Side
picking up job of hauling whenever
and wherever they can
Last night Colonel Porter said the
men had about convinced him their
part in the deal was of minor i'm
portance, but that they had given him
information which he hoped would
enable him to arrest four Italians who
owned the deadly mixture, and who had
hlred the draymen last Sunday night
The draymen told him they had de.
livered four barrels to an East Side
saloonkeepcr, who. when he discovered
that he had paid $4,000 for poison, de
clared the deal off. He gave the dray.
men $15 for their trouble
well catch the leaders in this deal.
said Colonel Porter last night, "bu,
this atrocious plot should convince an,
man in his right senses that it isn't
safe to drink the kind of stuff that is
put on bars nowadays.
"Unscrupulous men, tempted by the
unbelievably high prices bootieggers
will pay for alcohol, are selling drinks
that will kill man as quickly as so
much carbolic acid. | don't think there
is saloonkeeper in the world who
would sell this stuff if he knew what
it was, but those who buy it are ig-
nOrant.
Warning to Everybody
"Many saloonkeepers confronted with
q holiday demand for whisky have left
no stone unturned to get something
that they could sell. I haven't any
doubt that those eighteen barrels we
seized to-day would have been sold
over New Years Day if our men hadn't
found the stuff. | am satisfied that
other saloonkeepers in New York have
bought similar decoctions and have
cut and 'rcctified' them until they
bare q passable resemblance to whisky.
Speaking as a law enforcing officer
ano not as a prohibitionist. | want to
warn everybody in New York that much
Of the stuff sold as whisky in New York
is rank poison
What we know as Especially denatur-
ed alcohol is | am satisfied. heing doc
tored up and sold by many saloon keep
ers. This is 90 per cent so-called grain
alcohol and 10 per cent wood alcohol.
1t is difficult for ordinary, untarin-
cd persons to detect this. unless
they drink it, After the second drink