The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1921-01-25
LURKING DEATH IN
MOONSH|NE BOOZE
(From the Elko independently

"A Talk WIN Snef1ft Harris last
Thursday opened our editorial eyes
about eight inches further concern
ing the moonshine whiskey situation.
We had known generally, of course,
the health sapping eyesight destroy
ing. possibilities of this brand of
insanity producing concoction, but
never before have we heard such de-
scriptions of filthy conditions, such
startling possibilities of lurking death
and flirtings with blindness, and new
er have we seen and smelled such dis
gusting mixtures as lie under lock
and key in the official cellar of the
county of Elko.
The sheriff says he is positive that
all bonded whiskey and liquor made
under expert and sanitary conditions
that was on hand when the big dry
law took effect has now been disposed
of and that the only stuff with the
kick" SO sought by alcohol addicts
is of moonshine origin. In the county
cellar is held total confiscation of
some fifty gallons of the class of stuff
ranging from the stuff gnown as
"jackass" to that bearing the appella-
tion white mule"
The "jackass" article is nothing but
white mule" colored. white mule"
is as clear as crystal. 1t cannot be
differentiated from water by the use
of the eyes alone. But when the nose
comes into action one is convinced.
1t has a smell somewhat similar to
rotten vinegar, if you have ever had
the misfortune to smell such stuff.
"Jackass" smells about the same, per-
haps milder, but the odor has the same
characteristics. This latter brand of
poison is colored with little brown
whiskey. If it is held to the light the
observer finds a thick, yellow sedi-
ment lying on the bottom of the bot
tie or demijohn containing it. This
sediment is nothing but pure dirt. ac-
cumulated in the stuff in the process
of distillation. white mule" some
times carries sediment: sometimes
| the maker of the stuff has succeeded
| in turning out fairly clean product.
But in the case of both products the
net result is the same, a poisonous,
deadly mixture.
Sheriff Harris told the writer that
| in every case where he had made a
confiscation of mash used in manu-
featuring "jackass" and white mule"
| he found the stuff in huge barrels.
The mixture resembled nothing more
closely than swill fed to hogs. All
about it were flies, house-flies,
horse-flies, and every other brand OF
germ carrying insect that could be
unearthed through a naturalist's note
reader. from which "jackass" and
white mule" was later distilled and
| sold for from ten to twenty dollars
per quart, or seventy-five cents a
drink, to alcohol craving individuals.
Now as to the direct result of drinking
this class of poison. No moonshiner
or operator of the ordinary illicit still
has ever been able to solve the real
technique of making whiskey. In the
first place his apparatus is nothing
but a makeshift affair, usually manu-
| fssctured by himself out offnld milk can
wash boilers, or any other available
sort of utensil for purposes of con-
densation. If you have any doubt
about this statement or if you want
to know what a still looks like, visit
the sheriff. He has ten samples on
hand, ranging from size from quart
milk can to fifty gallon affair which
he confiscated near Wendover. The
obstacle that has always stood in the
way of the bootlegger of moonshine
is fusil OIL He has never been able
to get the fusil oil out of his product
Fusil oil is one of the most deadly
poisons known to science. Its most