The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-09-17
LIQUOR SHIPPED
ITO CONNECTICUT
FALSELY BRANDED
Counterfeit Labels for Old
Crow Whiskey and Cor
don Dry Gin Seized.

When a short time ago prohibition
enforcement officers captured an au-
tomobile. containing from % two to
grain alcohol, just as it was coming
into Connecticut from New York,
they found in addition to the alcohol
ldredh of what appeared to be genuine
labels for bottles of Old Crow
whiskey and Gordon Dry Gin.
On close examination the labels
Communication with the Gordon's
Dry Gin Company in New York, and
the manufacturers of Old Crow
whiskey in Kentucky together with a
proved conclusively that the seized
labels were forgeries.
1t is thought by the prohibition
lofficers that the number of labels
seized in Greenwich represent but a
very small part of the number which
have been printed and used. 1t has
come to their knowledge that junk
dealers are doing a large and profit
able business in and around New
York, down in New Jersey, and some
parts of Connecticut gathering up all
the bottles which can be found which
have originally held whiskey or
spirits. 1t is believed that these
bottles eventually find their way into
the hands of INSCRIPTIONS persons
who fill them with fake liquor, affix
these forged labels, and then sell
!.
There are a number of formulas
for this fake liquor but the stuff
most likely to fill the bottles with the
fake labels is thought to be made by
taking the high proof grain alcohol
reducing it to make three or four
gallons and coloring it with prune
Juice. What the effect of boozing on
this alcohol water-prunejuice COM
bination is can be judged from the
statement that the doctors claim that
the many cases which are being
turned into the pschycopathic wards
of the hospitals are worse than ever
due to the bad quality of the drink.
The officers believe that there has
been a very large business done along
this line and not confined to any one
section of the country but one thing
which makes it difficult for them to
btrace the fraud is the fact that under
1.-THE present law the man who buys
the bottle Of fake liquor is equally
kguilty with the man who sells it and
NATURALLY does not. care to go to the
officers about it. 1t is thought that
much of this imitation liquor has
brought prices ranging from fifty or
sixty dollars a case to as much as
"a. hundred and twenty-five.
An official of the Gordon Gin
Company is authority for the state
ment that just prior to the liquor
act going into effect the total amount
of gin which they had on hand was
In the neighborhood of five thousand
barrels of from SO to IS gallons
capac1ty eacn IIllS WHo1e amount
was shipped out of the country and
practically none of it was ever
brought back, nor have they been
manufacturing any. This means that
since prohibition became effective
that all the Gordon gin there has
been in the country was the private
stocks and what the dealers had on
hand
Recently ,thexs Gordon people have
put up pg and made the
necessary arrangements to manufac-
ture enougnNbf their gin to supply
the demand for strictly medicinal
purposes but the manufacture did not
begin until the first of the present
month and none of the output can be
bought by those having the proper
PERMITS