The independent. [volume] (Elizabeth City, N.C.) 1908-1936, 1925-05-08
Who Drinks In America
And What Do HeyDrnk
The Inside Of the Liquor Situation in America,
AS Seen and Outlined In Golfers, The
National Weekly
by WILLIAM q. SHEPHERD
and W. q. SAUNDERS

Whisky diStillcrs in their
best days produced no more
liquor than the almost 100000
gallons Of drinkablc alcohol, by
proof test. that arc distilled i'll
the United States every TWEEN
ty-iour hours. SiXty-cight III
duStrial alcohol plants contri-
butte to this great stream OF
alcohol; into their stills every
year are poured between 49,
100000 and 20O,0OO,OOO gallons
Of mulasscS; from the stills
come torrents OF watcr-clcar
alcohol. V5 per cent pure.
This industrial Hlcohol--Or grain
alcohol" aS the man-in-thc-Strrrt
knows iI-ScrvcS Il thousand ultill-
tartan purposes in our daily lives.
Hucr, before the war. the Germans
used to make il for us; HOW we
make it ourselves; it is Il part OF
the powerful chemical industry
which grew up here after we stop
ped depending on Germans.
Every ono OF our sixty eight
plants is licensed by the government
to produce alcohol in these prohl-
bitiom days. There is law which
makes il Il duty Of the prohibition
forces of the government 10 foster
the legitimate growth Of this mighty
new industry. We might as well
fake copper, for instance or TN,
out Of the list OF American indus
trial products as TO shut OH the
S,:rrklimg stream Of alcohol at the
.,rrut stills. For alcohol is Il key
product Of many industries.
Can we Americans III these days
of prohibition keep our parched
tongues away from this great stream
OF Stimulant: The answer is: We
arr IH,has ing tcry- we'll The great
Industrial alcohol companies. as well
aS the forces of the government,
are helping us.
The cry of the industrial alcohol
makers is: We want honest prohi-
hjtion enforcement 50 that our busl-
mess will moi be hampcrcd by q
thousand petty prohibition rcS'ila-
tiouS." They do their utmost 10
keep their states clean and yet the
business is often hampcrcd. On"
great plant. for instance. attempted
TO poison most Of its alcohol as
(, soon rs it WAS produced. FOLLOW
ing certain formulas approved by
the government, il added certain
chemical elements to its alcohol
10 render il ncn-drinkahlC. There
WAS Il petty regulation of The Pro
hibition Department --- aimed III
"lootlry-iug --.. which prescribed
that all alcohol must be shipped by
train 10 "dcnaturing' plants. This
COMPANY. capitalized at many mil
lions Of dollars and headed 10y cml-
rent business men. was forced 10
uorr its alcohol into tank cars, i'll
stead of uSing pipes. and to move
these cars Il short distance To Inc
nearby "dcnalurin=' plant, receive
Il bill Of shipment from Il railroad
official and then empty the cars.
I'm Sclf-dcfriSc and 10 avoid absurd
regulations. all of the industrial
alcohol makers have similarly tried
to the utmost TO cooperate with
the prohibition officials.
But the prohibition officials have
not succeeded in keeping some SIX
or seven million gallons of this al
r0hol from our lips. All but about
, 10000 900 gallons was dcnatlrcd
last year. That is, only lO.NO.OOO
gallons went out 'unpoiSOned:' but,
in one way or another, after The
liuid had been honestly sold into
industry. clear alcohol or "dcna-
turcd" alcohol. with part OF the
"poison' removed from it by illcGcl
rc-diStilling, reached American
throatS.
Ii is perfume alcohol or alcohol
used in toilet preparations that the
drinking men. women and, yes,
children usually fall back ON. -Four
formulas Of the ciShty-cight allow
cd by the government, -, Bob, "9c
and 10, arc the "wcttcSt:' and from
them the "pOiSon'. or dcnaturant,
is easily removed. PcrfumcrS were
formerly required to pay tax OF
$I.1S II gallon on pure alcohol; but
the tax is removed when the al
cOhol. under prohibition laws. is
dcuatured. and the cost per gallon
is now about fifty cents. This has
been Il boon TO the toilet articles III
dustry. But these iour formulas,
prepared by the government, have
also been 10 less boon 10 boot
leggcrS of industrial alcohol. The
standard perfume industry OF
America. like the alcohol manufac-
turcrs themselves, works with the
Prohibition Department to keep al
cohol in its proper channels; but of
the 100000 gallons of lightly de-
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