LATE MAIL NEWS.

Hokitika Guardian, 9 July 1920, Page 1

LATE MAIL NEWS.

“ SQUIRREL ” WHISKY.”

A DOCTOR’S STORY OF DEADLY MIXTURES.

LONDON, May 3

Tho “ squirrel whisky ” of the United Stutes'miiiin£ camps, so called because its consumers are said to be Idled with the desire to climb trees, has its counterpart in equally poisonous mixtures which is being sold in England to-day as “Scotch” and “Irish.”

“ Some of these whiskies,” said a doctor yesterday, “ not only contain fusel oil, but I have discovered that their constituents include directly poisonous substances, such as arsenic. Consumers react very quickly to these blends, whose effects are very bad, in fact, poisonous without o doubt. All sorts of most deleterious substances are being put into mixtures which are being sold to the public as whisky, and people who drink this stuff are very badly and. very quickly upset.” This practice of blending inferior foreign spirit with a small quantity of native spirit," itself often of the very poorest quality, is difficult enough to check even when the poison whisky is bought by the bottle—usually with a highly coloured label on which there is no distiller’s name—but it is quite impossible for the consumer to lie on his guard when the spirit is sold in “ nips ” over the counter.

Apparently some of the vile American whisky has reached England, which was described by a senator iu the United States Parliament as being so strong as “ to make a rabbit stand up on its hind legs and spit iiv a. bull-dog’s face.”

POWER-HOUSE ESCAPADE. BOY WHO GOT UP STEAM. LONDON, May 3. Alter breaking into the of the Leeds Fireclay Company’s pit- in Whitehall-mul, Leeds, on a Sunday, and examining the plant, Hector Smith, aged l(i, a llolbeck plumber's apprentice, proceeded to get up steam in order to see tlie machinery in motion. He was just on the point ot starting the engine when the manager appeared. Charged in the police court yesterday with breaking five of the company’s windows, Smith said lie thought lie could operate the plant without doing any damage. He admitted that it was a mad idea, but lie did it to obtain knowledge. , The '.youth’s mother said lie was always studying. He obtained hooks on engineering from a public library and was busy drawing at all hours ot the night.

Sir .George C'ockburn, the presiding magistrate, commended Smith’s desire for knowledge, but said he was afraid tliis did not justify bis conduct. He was bound over and ordered to pay £2 damage.

AMMUNITION DEAL. LONDON, May 3. A big purchase of loaded ammunition from the Disposals Board is being arranged by a syndicate of business men. A member of the firm of Messrs Geo. Cohen, Sons, and Co., scrap iron merchants, of Commercial road, London, E., who are acting on behalf of the syndicate, said yesterday that the deal, when completed, would amount to several million pounds. Up to the present 200,000 tons of ammunition of all kinds has been bought, but 't ™ expected that when the contract has been completed 500,000 tons will have been asquired. The names of the members of the syndicate are not disclosed.

The ammunition will be broken down at three factories, which, will be located in the provinces. Tt is stated that there is nothing dangerous in the process, so perfect are the methods now in use. The cordite will be burned, but there aie other valuable chemical constituents which will probably be utilised for fertilising purjxrses. The steel and copper will be sold to metal factories for manufacturing purppses. Messrs Geo. Cohen, Sons, and Co. already have a contract for breaking down ammunition found on the battlefields of France and Belgium. The total number of . dumps, depots, and camps in France which are being guarded is 930, of which 333 depots and dumps and 427 camps have been sold to, and are in process of transfer to, the French Government. The total number of unsold dumps and depots is therefore 170, stated Mr Hope in Parliament yesterday. There are 140 officers and ,2,400 soldiers and civilian caretakers of the dumps.