Evening star., 1926-11-15
WHISKY RUNS LOW;
ANDREWS WILL ASK
MORE OF congress
Dry Chief Wants Supply Man.
ufactured to RepIenIsh
Medicinal Stock.
WAREHOUSES NOW HOLD
SOME $1,000, 900 GALLONS
Prescription Consumption Rises and
Number Of Authorized Physi-
clans Is Doubled.

clans Is Doubled.
The good whisky" supply of the
country is running 80 low that manu-
facture must be resumed to insure
adequate stock for legitimate medlci
nal use, Gen. Lincoln G.. Andrews.
Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.
in charge Of prohibition. announced
this morning.
To meet the emergency" he Is pre-
pairing to seek legislation at the forth
coming session Of Congress. the dry
chief said. adding In this connection
that the amount Of medicinal liquor
consumed is showing a sharp increase.
and that there is only about five years
supply now on hand. In order that
the new product may have ample time
properly to age, it will be necessary to-
start manufacture very soon, he EN-
phasized.
OneThird EvapOrates.
At present the demand for Iegiti-
mate medicinal liquor is running
something over 100000 gallons
year, 1t was said. When the distiller-
les start running again. they will in
all probability be permitted to make a
total of about 3.000,000 gallons a year,
which would allow for the natural loss
by evaporation of about one-third over
the f1ve-year aging period:
The medicinal liquor under control
of the Government Is now concentrat-
ed In 81 warehouses. Restrictions have
been thrown about this supply. in
order to protect 1t from leaking into
the bootleg trade, and Gen. Andrews
estimated today that there was now
less diversion of liquor from this
source than at any time.
In admitting today that the amount
Of medicinal liquor used has been on
the increase, Gen. Andrews disclosed
for the first time that the number of
doctors who can prescribe for the use
OF such liquor has more than doubled
in the past two years.
Treasury Plans Bill.
AS the law not only lays upon the
Secretary of the Treasury the respon-
sibility for enforcing prohibition, but
also for replenishment of the addi-
tional supply Of medicinal liquor need
ed for the country, Gen. Andrews
characterized the present situation as
nothing short Of an emergency"
The Treasury will present this
emergency to Congress in the form Of
a bill designed to set up a plan for
the manufacture of a new supply.
Details of the plan are withheld, but
it Is expected to be disclosed within
q week and will be ready for sub
mission to Congress when it meets III
December. This same measure Is ex-
pected to contain additional safe
a f0z.h hrt,
Gen. Andrews recently said were nee
essary.
Two important features of this
legislation naturally will be the speci-
flying of just how much liquor the dis
ttllerteS may turn out and over how
long period they may operate and
the designation of the distilleries
which will be allowed to resume work.
To Hold Inventory.
The manufacture of whisky for
medicinal purposes was continued un-
der prohibition until shortly after the
passage of the Willis Campbell act,
approved November %, 1921. There
were at that time only two concerns
manufacturing whisky, the Larger dis
tilling company at Pittsburgh and the
Gwynbrook distillery at Baltimore.
These concerns. under. the law and
regulation Of the Treasury, were al
lowed to complete distilling the whisky
they had in process.
At that time 1t was estimated by
the Government that there were on
hand about $4,000, 900 gallons through
out the country. According to records
kept of the amount entering the dis
tilleries prior to that and the amount
leaving them legally since, there
should be on hand in the 81 distillery
warehouses about 100000 gallons.
But owing to shrinkage, evaporation
and ABSORPTION, it Is estimated by the
Government that the present supply
may be but IA or 5 million gallons.
On account Of the large amount of
effort and expense required, a check
up against the exact amount in stock
has not been made for some time, but
it is planned to have a scientific gaug-
ing Of the whole supply as soon as the
new legislation is passed.
The medicinal whisky is now stored
in barrels in the Government ware
houses. from which it is bottled In
bond by the owners, in bottles of one
fourth. half and pints.
Some States Prohibit.
In the early days the liquor was
sold in barrels to druggists, but the
Treasury found that 1t was being
''cut" by the druggists in bottling to
4 weaker solution. Taking steps to
prevent this practice Of the druggists
in selling to the public cut product
the Government in 1922 required that
the druggists may buy and sell only
the original packages bottled in bond
at the warehouses under Government
supervision. At each Of the 81 ware
houses the Government had stationed
a storekeeper gauger, whose RESPONSE
bility is to see that all Government
regulations are carried out in the
warehouses.
Medicinal liquor is used legally
in only 2s States of the Union as State
laws prohibit it in the other % States
Colorado stipulates 1t may be sold
in only quarter-pint bottles. Some
others, including Ohio and Michigan,
restrict the size to half pints, but the
pint bottle Is prevalent in most
States where it Is legally sold.