Republican farmer., 1920-03-19
BEDDING

Bedding, March 13-A barrel of mill where it was made may yet ac- quire an historic interest rivalling that of the geese whose cackling saved Rome or of the COW of Mrs. O'Leary which, by kicking over lamp, started the great Chicago fire. The cider was made by John H. Ma lone of this town just before Jan. 16 last, the fateful date which Con- stitutiona1 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 congealment 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. l Therefore MT. Malone wrote to 1 MT. Walsh, collector of internal revenue for this district, to learn 1 where he was at in the matter. In due time the collector replied to the i effect that as he understood the | law the owner might gain possession | of his property by obtaining a re- noval permit and furnishing a s1, 900 i bond as surety that he would make l the Volstead law. Tn accordance ! with this advice MT. Malone next l consulted Attorney S. c. Shaw about | securing the required bond. The at- 1 torney said a company he represent 1 ed would doubtless furnish the surety but suggested that inaSmuch as Col l lector Walsh might not rightly have l construed the law further informa- tion on the subject be sought from
 Julius Strennlau of Meriden. spe- l cia1 revenue agent under the Vol
 stead Act.
 Accordingly MT. Malone. who by 1 this time was getting quite thirsty, l addressed a full written statement
 of the case to Strem1au, dwelling on l 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 bevera ses. An answer came yesterday over the telephone with a l promise that the verbal exposition
 thus conveyed would be followed l with one in writing. Its purport
 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 fable to such use and behoof as he
 willed. The only method by which
 he could realize any salvage what lever from his property was to sell i
 to some one licensed to manufacture vinegar. Be the alcoholic content O.
 the cider less or more than one hal , iper cent. the law debarred any dis , position whereby it might become available for beverage purposes.
 To this disheartening edict tht agent added a supplemental chaPte'
 of statute interpretation which cast
 a far reaching and profound degre' 1of gloom over the future, makin:
 erroneous as it does the general un
 derstanding as to what the law per
 mits in regard to the making of frui . Juices into beverages solely for hom ; luse. On the supposition that sucl manufacture was lawful it was ex Il tensiveIy carried on last fall and S far, in this section at least, withou r interference of any Kind from tn
 federal authorities.
 As MT. Strem1au explained tn
 practice was condoned this year, bu
 next season cider, upon coming fror
 the press, must be denatured or a
 once turned over to parties empowere
 to manufacture vineger under Gov A ernnent license. His statement re 3 garding the situation may be regarde as authoritative, as 1t IS based o
 pfonouncements made by Commis
 sioner Roper to whom the Malone cas
 was submitted by MT. Strem1au for
 ruling.
 y A real estate transa ction of much lC , cal interest was the sale this week b Q Emory P. Sanford of his property g ~ West Bedding Station. The buildin l. is a large one and serves as the raj 70 road depot, express office and the ger
 eral store conducted by the owner, th d upper floor being used as a residenc A The purchasers are J. Beards1ey SaI to ford and John Wheeler of Seymol sr and they will carry on the store whic Iy has been maintained there by difrere1
 owners over long period. They al