Evening star., 1923-02-04

very small fraction Of the money he
receives for each bottle
"The question has been asked
several times as TO the disposition
OF automobiles. trucks and other We
hicles used in the transportation OF
liquors. In the majroity OF cases the.
owner gives bond while his case is
pending In court and the machine is
returned to him. but if he is convicted
the vehicle is subject to the decree
OF the court and can be sold by
United States marshal. When the
machine Is finally sold, however, il is
far from the condition it was when it
was seized, for the convicted boot
logger has, in the meantime, sub
jected 1t to hard usage. so the gov
ernment is a loser But I think we
are working on plan by which the
government will not lose by the de-.
terioration, in case the party ar
rested is convicted.
"a rather interesting case came up
the other day when a man was fined
$1,000 for having purchased a quart
OF whisky. and 1t is more than like
ly that the Judges throughout the
country will, from now on, impose
similar fines. II you stop and think
for a moment Of the risk you are
running when you purchase this kind
of stuff. you will realize more than
ever that 'Barnum was right"
an the fourth floor of the Treas
~ ury building Is the laboratory
where seized liquors are tested. The
head of this division is ]. NJ. Doran
and the chief chemist is DR.. w. V.
Linder. who has as his assistant Ed
ward l. Wilcox. Under the direct
charge of these officials thousands
and thousands OF samples are an
alyzed and held as evidence. AS you
view the laboratory. with its nu-
merous and complicated pieces of ap-
paratus, you will understand how
futile II is for layman to attempt
to learn whether the stuff he has
purchased contains poisonous matter
or not.
1t was through the activity Of this
branch of the service that a quietus
was put on several persons, who
made q speciality of selling, to the
one who would test his own liquor.
pocket apparatus, the prospectus of
which gave the thought that every
man could be his own chemist. These
home-testing sets were known to the
officials as boob SETS" for, as one
explained, no one In the world but
boob would buy anything like that.
While It is true that some of the
concoctions sold do not kill imme-t
dtately. the majority of them contain
sufficient poison to cause several.
gastric disturbances and to bring
about Rrights disease and other af-
flictions Of the kidneys.
Take, for instance, many of the
bottles Of liquor known as synthetic
gin. In order to give 1t the taste
Of the old-time product, the bootleg
ger adds quantities of the oil of
juniper, and in his manner of making
it he produces, not gin, but, rather.
a turpentine drink, which raises
havoc with the kidneys. In fact, il
you look at some of the Jars in the
laboratory and evidence room, you
will find a sediment in the bottom
Of these so-called synthetic gins that
is Of q character that precludes tho
possibility of it's elimination by the
strongest pair of kidneys. These
gins and other spurious liquors, after
a time. have q sediment that, when
the bottle Is opened, gives an odor
and taste that cannot be described.
Y y X
THE offidals In the laboratory are
l. responsible for the statement
that 1t is impossible for any one to
concoct q really healthy homo brew.
and also, that the wines made by
private individuals are hardly At to
drink, unless they have been kept for
months and during that period OF
time have been treated in a manner
similar to that employed by the pro-
fessional wine maker Of other days.
Several specimens OF Scotch that,
from outward appearances. bottle,
label and all, appeared to have come
from the land OF the heather, were
pronounced by the chemists to be
merely an inferior grade of alcohol.
touched up with liquid creosote in
genuine Scotch whisky might be
counterfeited.
The photograph Of the still, shown in
this article, was recently captured in
an apartment house and is considered
by officials to be one OF the finest made
for apartment house use. It's estimated
cost was $500. 1t was possible. by the
use Of this apparatus, to make liquor of
a hundred or more proof.
There are several exhibits also In
this part OF the prohibition ONCE that,
are OF Chinese origin, numerous at
temps having been made to secure their
entry into this country under the guise
of medicines. The majority OF these
had an alcoholic content of 4S per cent.
and the labels on them read: "A remedy,
for the overcoming of lassitude and gen.
eral debility" Forty eight per cent
would undoubtedly give at least a
temporary kick.
AS you left the laboratory and the
evidence room, each containing thou
sands Of samples of the stuff that had
been sold as genuine liquor, the words
of Col Jones would ring in your ears:
''Barnum was right-and they paid
twelve dollars bottle for that stuff"