The New York herald., 1922-01-28
BLINDED BY HOOCH,
SUES FOR $4,000
Tugboat Engineer Is the Thir-
teenth Recent Victim in
Hoboken.
ONE DRINK FOR COLD
Vender is Held Under Poison
Law Of New Jersey, Not
for Dry Violation.
one DRINK FOR COLD

Somehow bootleggery and uninforced
prohibition did not seem very funny to
the crowd in Recorder Carsten's court
room In Hoboken yesterday They saw
blind man led into court by his wife
a man who holds a license as first
class tugboat engineer. who has baby
and a mother as well as a wife to support.
and who went blind after taking one
drink of whisky In Hoboken saloon.
Wood alcohol has knocked out thirteen
men in Hoboken In the last few weeks.
Twelve died. The thirteenth has merely
lost his sight
The tugboat engineer Is Eugene Finkle.
He lives In clean third floor flat at
10 Second street. His baby, boy, is
two years old. The man who he says
sold him the wood alcohol is Louis
Wenz. proprietor Of q saloon at 100 Gar
den street The Hoboken authorities had
a time deciding what to do with Wenz.
First he was arrested and held in $500
bail on a charge Of atrocious assault.
Then when he and the blind man stood
together before Recorder Carsten he was
charged with willfully supplying another
person with a deadly poison. This ac-
cusation has nothing to do with the
Volstead act. II Is made under Section
Ill Of the New Jersey Crimes act Wenz
waived examination and was he'd in
$4,000 ball for the Grand Jury. This Is
the first application Of the regular anti
poison law in the case of man accused
Of selling bad liquor. 1t hardly could
have been tested in the other cases of
wood alcohol poisoning, for dead men
are not competent as complaining wit
nesses
Starts Civil Suit.
Ffnkle also says that he has asked
Hoboken lawyer. William Hanley, to
start civil suit against Wenz for
$4,000 damages for loss Of eyesight.
Finkle bought the whiskcy Sunday
evening. The same evening Walter
Rohde. who owned the saloon until
month ago, when he sold It to Wenz,
died. In: an. ambulance. of wood alcohol
poisoning. He got $500 Tor the saloon
and spent good deal OF 1t on drinks
for himself. His widow says he bought
the stuff that kilicdehim in New York
On the same night wood alcohol caused
the death of another man, who lived not
far from Wepz's saloon.
Finkle saws he has never been any
thing gore than a casual drinker. His
wife, agreeing witt, him.. says he has
always been a good provider. On Sum
day evening they took a walk down
First street. On the way home Finkle
said: II feel a sort of cold coming on.
think I'll go in here and get little
whiskey." Mrs. Finkle waited outside
Wenz's saloon. Finkie paid fifty ccnts
for his drink and rejoined his wife. They
went on home. In half an hour Finkle
was very III. He vomited. That. he
knows. saved his life. The next morn
ing he felt bad. but went to work. He
bas recently been In charge Of machinery
At the Chocolate Meunier plant. In the
evening he fell into bed as soon as he
got home. His wife called DR.. Living
stone Lewis. Finkle then learned that
he had swallowed wood alcohol and was
lucky to be alive.
Stricken within 4s Hours.
On Tuesday morning he could not see
the medicine glass which his wife handed
to him. Mrs. Finkle led him on Wednes-
day to an eye specialist. Dr. George
Sullivan. Finkle could barely distinguish
light from darkness. That is his condi-
tion now. DR.. Sullivan said last night
he didn't know whether there would be
Improvement or not. but he had hopes.
Even in this plight. Finkle said he
didn't want to ''squea" on the man
who sold him the whisky But the
Hoboken police arrested Wenz and found
in the saloon twenty-three bottles Of
substance which they call whisky. Ac-
cordlng to the police. Wenz had in his
own pocket a leather. silver lined flask
which he referred to as a coffee bottle.
The police verdict on it's contents Is that
this personal stock was above suspicion.
F'inklc was born and schooled in Hud-
son, N. Y. He worked for the Lacka-
wanna Railroad up to the time of the
most recent tugboat strike. He is 40
years old.