The Cordova daily times., 1921-09-12
tBy Associated Press)

are as an open book to the govern ment chemists who test the products of violators of the Nolstead law.
 Evidence seized from rumrun ners and bootleggers is brought to them for examination. How the chemical tests are conducted was disclosed by R. A. Edson, chief chem ist of the government laboratory in the federal building. The walls of his office are lined with shelves filled with bottles of every kind and description containing every kind of beverage forbidden by the Volstead Actt.
 A string of stills seized in raids deCorates the top of the shelves and there is big pile of them in a. corner. In the past year more than 5000 samples of liquor, good, bad and indifferent have been tested here and the results produced later in the federal courts.
 The first thing to be done by the chemists when a sample of suspected liquor is brought in is to test it for alcohol Usually the prohibition agents try to get at least half pint of whiskey and a pint of wine for the chemists to work on. But oc- casionally an agent comes in with a small bottle of liquor which he eX- plains, is a drink of whiskey which he bought at a bar and had to hold in his mouth until he could spit it out into a bottle without being Ob- served by the barkeeper. And that is tested too
 When the sample is large enough the hydrometer is used to find the amount of alcohol present. The hydromrter is d thermometer-like in strmenr of glass with the specific grayities marked on it. It is Sloated in the sample and the markings read. Alcohol being lighter than water the hydrometor sinks farther in a mix ture of alcohol and water than in plain water The amount oI alcohol can thus be accurately determined by reading the markings.
 Small samples of booze are tested by means of the hydrometers. A measured quantity of the suspect ed liquor is weighed and it's weight compared with that of an equal quau, tity of water. By means of a few computations the amount of alcohol can easily be found
 For rapid work on beer and wine with small precentage of alcohol the ebulliometer is used The evidence is heated and the boiling point learned Water bois at 100 degrees Cenugrade and the alcohol at a much lower temperature A mixture of alcuhul and water boils at a lower temperature than water and thus the chemists can rapidly calculate the amount of alcohol
 After the test for alcohol has been completed in the ease of whiskey the color of the sample is tested Whislsy that has been held in bond for some time has color of it's own due tu the inside of the whiskey barrels being charred by fire before the whiskey is put in. The manu- featuring hootleggcr making an art ificial whiskey of grain alcohol and water uses caramel made of burnt sugar to color his product.
 The Marsh reaction shows if the color of the whiskey sample is gen uine of artificial A quantity of amyl alcohol slightly acidificd with phos- phoric acid is mixed with the liquid to be tested AmyI alcohol being lighter than ethyl alcohol as ordin- ary grain alcohol is called by the chemists. raises to the top of the mixture. If the whiskey is genuine' the color will mix with the amyl al cohol and raise to the top of the mixture. If the color is due to car amel it will stay in the bottom of the mixture. Test is made for wood alcohol if there is any suspicion of its presence.
 Mir. Edson said that 90 percent of the liquor seized by the prohibition agents and brought to the laboratory to be tested is synthetic whiskeyI made of alcohol and water and a little color or just plain "hootch."
 We can usually tell whether the stuff is genuine or not by just smell ing of it." he explained. The syn thetic stuff has distinct smell of raw alcohol which is not present in l raw alcohol which is not present in 1 genuine whiskey no matter how bad