South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1922-06-25
DISCOVER LIQUOR
SAMPLES TO BE
RANKEST POISON
Synthetic Gin, Moonshine and
Doctored Whisky Reveal
Deadly Mixtures.
toopyriEh. 1saa. by - serrice.l

are drinking rank poison.
The Newspaper Enterprise As /
ISOLATION has established this by /.
chemical analysis OF 80 samples OF 4
bootleg bought in Is cities scattered I
throughout tho nation.
The samples have been analyzed /
by government experts.
Only two OF the IS samples proved !
20 be whiskey Of pre- prohibition /
quality. One OF these was purchas- /
ington.
Two more were synthetic gin
held passable. One Of these samples /
was from Cleveland, the other from
Los Angeles.
But bootleg consumers IN Boston, I
Washington. Cleveland and Los
Angeles need not jump to 'the con-
clusion that because these samples
were passable. all bootleg in these
cities Is safe. For other samples
bought in these places proved dang
erous
Where Samples Were Collected.
OF the remaining "a samples. / 5
were doctored and diluted WHISTLES
or whistles produced from an alco-
hol base and artihclaIIy coIored and
favored; II were nav mOonshine Of
varying degrees OF rankncss; one
was poor beer. containing wild
yeasts; and one was a distilled wine
of poor quality.
Samples were collected from these
widely scattered cities: Dallas, Tex.
Memphis Tenn: Denver. Colo;
Norfolk. Va; Oklahoma City, Okla;
Birmingham. Ala: Cleveland: Chi
cago; Seattle, wash; san Francisco;
Los Angeles: New York: Providence
r. l.: Boston and washington.
They were bought from a wide
range OF bootleg channels and ana
lyzed without selection. They came
from drug stores, bell boys. boot
blacks. BARRIERS porters. milkmen.
near-beer saloons and similar chan
nels Of the trade, with a few seized
IN official raids.
"Aldehydes" PeTilOuS TO Health.
The samples were assembled in
washington. and analysed for the
NEA Service by government chem
lists in government laboratories.
The analyses showed that when
you buy bootleg you get nearly al
ways dangerous concoctiOn OF
colored and disguised alcohol or a
raw distillate FULL OF aldehydes and
volatile poisons that will leave you
with an awful head the day after
drinking. and a wrecked conStitu-
ton after repeated doses.
The "aldehydes" found in the
moonshines and dOctored WHISTLES
are elements intermediate between
alcOhols and acids. They are deriv-
ed from the higher alcohols by the
oxidation and removal of a certain
hydrogen content and the addition
OF a very small amount OF oxygen
converts them into active acids.
Breaks Down Vitality.
The effect of these aldehydes.
s&ys William V. Under. government
chemist, is To knock one out much
more quickly than would high-grade
whisky.
Their consumption over any con
siderable period undermines the gen
ersl constitution 20 a point where
II seems much more susceptible to
many diseases.
while not Immediately poison
Gus. causing sudden blindness or
death as does methyl or wood al
cohol. their effect is definitely and
cumulatively harmful"
The dangerous elements in moon
shine and doctored whiskies, for
most part. Under explains. are due
TO the unscientinc distiliinR and
blending, and 10 the unsanitary sur
roundings in which most OF the op-
erations arc carried on.
Dangerous Elements I'm Moonshine.
'Moonshdne, says Linder. Is
produced for most part under the
most unscienufc and unsanitary
conditions. The mash IS fermented
in barrels or tubs, usually in the
open backwoods or in musty cellars.
Under such conditions, the develop
ment Of wild yeasts and unwhole-
some denominations are common.
Many mocnshines show evidences OF
active putrefaction.
In distilEng. TOO oil the volatile
elements come over. Ia commercial
distiling. for the production Of high
grade whiskies. II was the custom to
discard what was known as the
heads. or first run. containing the
high alcohols and the more volatile
oils. and the tails or the last run.
Only the middle run was retained.
MOOnshlner Uses All Elements.
The mOOnshiner. however. runs
81 al in-heads, tails and middles.
The elements that the commercial
distliler carefully eliminated, there
fore. remain I'm moonShine.
''Moonshfac. moreover. normally
receives no aging Hence 4 retains
all the injurious qualities inhering
10 raw dis,Ilate containing hICh
alcohOls aldehyjcs and fusel OIL
and also whatever a5d.tioraI poisons
or Injurious chemical elements NAV
have accumulated through improper
and unsanitary fermentation and
unscientifc disrlnng.
'All these elements. even saclud-
ing IN one case signs Of putrefactlon
were present in the samples in this
test E"
Have Serious Effects on Body.
Aldehydes. high alcohols and
volatile oils IN mconshine have a
directly injurious effect on the cir
culatory. kidney and nervous sys.
TENS. according TO Reid Hunt. form
sr chief OF the Division OF Pharma
cology. HYGIENE Laoratory. L s
Public Health Service.
Also they result in "an increased
liability 10 contract diseases or "a
contract them in especially severe
form"