Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1921-08-11
BEWAREOFTHE
PRODUCTS SOLD
BY BOOTLEGGER
Insanity, Blindness, Death
Lurk in PoiSOns Found
by Analysis.
U. S. CHEMISTS WARN

every DOLL4e OF OlStlAleu liquor bought
from bootleggers today, according TO an
official statement of Government chemists
who have been engaged in Analysing
seized samples.
Wood alcohol. ether, cologne, hair
tOnics and spirits OF nitre are among the
many poisons which the Government has
found In its analyses of Illicit concOctions.
This does not mean that all OF even the
major Part Of the bootleg liquor now
flooding the country is mixed from these
eath-dealing materials. A great part Of
it is real whisky, brandy and gin. Much
more Of II is c0lored and favored grain
alcohol. which is not a poison essentially,
although Il works havoc with internal
organs.
But the really dangerous liquor is in
wide circulation, too, and, any given
bottle Of supposedly safe liquor obtained
through unlawful channels may contain
4 deadly poison.
REVENUE STAMPS
COCNTERFEITED.
Revenue stamps and impressively lith-
ographed labels OF vel known brands
are no protection. The hootleggers have
counterfeited these marks. The Gov
eminent has seized thousands Of them.
Records at headquarters here show that
in New York alone nine men are under
indictment and await trial for having
manufactured and sold these counter
feited labels and stamps.
The Government has no complete rec
ord Of the number Of deaths caused by
illicit whisky, but the total is known to
run to thousands. One bCotlegger alone,
Csrmine Lizenviata. who now is serving
an efghteen-year sentence in Sing Sing,
sold wood alcohol in tie Connecticut
River valley. which. according to reports
caused the death Of more than 100 per
sons and brought blindness to many
more. The man escaped the electric chalr
univ because it couldn't be proved he
knew the true nature OF what he was
selling.
Every city in the United States has It's
oUn death lfst-lsrge or small Repu-
tab1a nbvsicisns say that more insanity
and debility have been caused by drink
ing Illicit whisky than were caused by
she'll shock in the World War
NOT SKILLED
N REDISTILLISG.
Few men are wicked enough or fool
harly enought deliberately to sell deadly
poisons as a beverage. How then is this
murderous stuff circulated? il is ex-
planned simply by Governmental experts.
Certain kinds Of ethyl alchol wood
alcohol and similar polsons) and Ger
tain commercial spirits. like spirits of
nitre. can be redistilled. with proper
knowledge and scientific apparatus, TO
yield a low grade Of non-poisonOus
alcohol
Rootlegrers obtain the commercial
liquid in its poisonous state and pro
coed with their own crude efforts to
eliminate the poisOns by dlstillatiOn. But
they haven't the paraphernalia, they
haven't the knowledge. to do II effec
lively. A corcoctiou results that IS ION
the border line" One drink, two drinks,
may not do great harm. But a half
bottle Of the same stuff may be deadly.
Aside from the pOisOns at the one ex-
IRENE and the real imported or bonded
liquors at the other extreme. the great
bulk Of the Bookkeeping liquor now be
ing foisted upon the American public
at robbers prices is composed, by Gov
eminent analysis generally. as follows:
Rye WHISKY part ethyl (grain)
alcohol. one part to two parts water,
caramel coloring, burnt sugar, fusel oil,
rye favoring.
"Gin'-One part ethyl alcohol, one to
two parts water, a minute quantity OF
juniper oil.
BEAD" IMPARTED
BY FUSEL OIL
To make fake bourbons, runs and corn
whisky the same formulas are followed,
except that different 1avoring extracts
IRE used The fusel oil is added delib
erately to impsrt the oily body" and
the bead which real liquors acquire
from aging in wood.
The harmful element in these concoc-
lions (Which are not pOisonS) is the
crude alcohol. 1t usually is comparu-
lively new and raw. Il is poisonous,
strictly spea king, only when consumed in
large quantities. but II drunk regularly.
even in smaller quantities, Il works
havoc with the stomach and digestive
apparatus. Erosion, Inflammation OF the
mucous membranes, paralysis of the flow
OF gastric juices with resulting gas
tTitis. are a few of the specific things
It does.
Another trick Of the bootleggers which
the Government has disclosed is the adul-
teraHon OF wines. They acquire quaint
strength and body" to 1t. They then
sibly for medicinal manufacture. and add
to Il u to Is per cent OF the cheapest
grade Of commercial alcohol. TO give
strength and body" to II. They then
filter it and sell it to the public at high
prices as high grade old wine.
The Federal prohibition bureau also
has had experience in the analysis OF
"hOme brews' and the domestically made
beverages which go by the slang name
Of 'hoOtch'
IN most Of these mixtures the in
gradients themselves are pure. Their
pathological harmfulness comes from the
development of bacteria due TO lack of
laboratory cleanliness and to improper
sterilization. To make fermented drinks
a sterilization process impossible 70 carry
out except with the proper surroundings
and equipment is essential. Consequently
''home brew usually IS swarming with
indigestion producing bacteria and oc-
casionally with dangerous ptomaines-
It is principally by such mixtures as
those outlined in this article that the
bootleggers are robbing the pOcketboOks
and running the stomachs of large classes
of the American public.