The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-03-13
BEDDING

Bedding, March 13-A barrel of l frozen sweet cider now at the Bethel | mill where it was made may yet ac- quire historic interest rivalling that of the geese whose cackling saved Rome or of the COW of Mrs. O'Leary which, by kicking over a lamp, started the great Chicago fire. i The cider was made by John H. Ma lone of this town just before Jan. 16 i last, the fateful date on which Con- stitutional Prohibition went into ef-
 feet. A cold wave converted the
 cider into solid ice before it had a
 chance to work and while it was in
 this state of congea1nent the owner
 undertook it's removal to his home.
 MT. Ferry, the mill owner, objected
 to it's removal on the ground that by
 consenting he might become an ac-
 complice to a violation of the law. Therefore MT. Malone wrote to l MT. Walsh, collector of internal ] revenue for this district, to learn where he was at in the matter. In
 due time the collector replied to the
 effect that as he understood the
 law the owner might gain possession of his property by obtaining re-
 mova1 permit and furnishing a $1,00O l bond surety that he would make
 no use of the cider not sanctioned by
 the Volstead law. Tn accordance
 with this advice MT. Malone next
 consulted Attorney S. c. Shaw about
 securing the required bond. The at-
 torney said a company he represent
 ed would doubtless furnish the surety
 but suggested that inasmuch as Col | lector Walsh might not rightly have
 construed the law further informa-
 tion on the subject be sought from , Julius Stremlau of Meriden, spe- cial revenue agent under the Vol
 stead Act.
 Accordingly MT. Malone, who by
 this time was getting quite thirsty,
 addressed a full written statement
 of the case to StremIau, dwelling on
 the fact that the cider had not de- veloped the one-half of one percent
 of alcoholic content which, under the
 Eighteenth Amendment, is the dead
 line in beverages. An answer came 1 yesterday over the telephone with a
 promise that the verbal exposition thus conveyed would be followed . with one in writing. Its purport l brought no consolation to the party of the first part. Quite the contrary, No, the law did not allow MT. Ma ,. lone to transfer the cider to the place of his abode there to become avail l able to such use and behoof as he l wil1ed. The only method by which
 he could realize any salvage what ] ever from his property was to sell it
 to some one licensed to manufacture = vinegar. Be the alcoholic content of ] the cider less or more than one half e per cent. the law debarred any dis ? position whereby it might become y available for beverage purposes.
 n To this disheartening edict the e agent added a supplemental chapter <. of statute interpretation which cast: = a far reaching and profound degret 1 of gloom over the future, making . erroneous as it does the general un
 derstanding as to what the law per
 rnits in regard to the making of frui
 juices into beverages solely for home -I use. On the supposition that sucI III manufacture was lawful it was ex Il tensively carried on last fall and SC II far, in this section at least, withou H interference of any kind from the Il federal authorities.
 II As MT. Strem1am explained the Il practice was condoned this year, but l next season cider, upon coming from Il the press must be denatured or al II once turned over to parties empowered l to manufacture vineger under Gov i ernTn ent license. His statement re- | garding the situation may be regarded 1 as authoritative, as it is based or H announcements made by Commis- l sioner Roper to whom the Malone case | was submitted by MT. STemlau for | ruling.
 A real estate transaction of much To- 1 cal interest was the sale this week by 1 Emory P. Sanford of his property al l West Bedding Station. The building 1 is a large one and serves as the rail | road depot, express office and the gen l eral store conducted by the owner, the l upper floor being used as a residence | The purchasers are J. Beardsley San ! Nf 0NII1 l and they will carry on the store which l has been maintained there by dineren l owners over a long period. They arc l to take possession about the middle O. 1 April 9The consideration in the dea | has not been made public.