WHISKY THIEVES

Hokitika Guardian, 12 April 1921, Page 3

WHISKY THIEVES

A few weeks ago a bonded warehouse in Belfast was forcibly entered in the early hours of the morning. The robbers rolled three casks of whisky into the street, placed them in a van and drove away. The excise duty on the stolen spirits amounted to over £SOO. Jn another recent instance the officials in a bonded warehouse were mystified by the frequent disappearance of wines and spirits. A close watch was kept on. all the employees hut without result. The mysterious robberies continued, until one day a lynx-eyed officii" discovered that an entrance to the warehouse had been effected by removing the bricks behind a large whisky vat The bricks were carefully replaced after each robbery.

It is undoubtedly the case that since the high duty of 72s 6d a proof gallon made whisky such a valuable commodity, robberies have taken pi on a comparatively large scale. Spirits sent by rail or sea frequently pay a heavy toll. “Sucking the monkey” is a common dodge. A neat hole is drilled in one of the staves and a straw <lr rubber tube inserted. Tbe spirit is then either sucked or drained into a can. A small peg is then driven into the hole and outwardly the cask appears to he in good condition. However. when it is examined by the con signee the quantity abstracted may lie found to he anything from half a gallon to five, gallons. ***** Even empty spirit casks are not immune from the attentions of the whisky thieves. The casks are rinsed out with water. The rinsings contain a small per centage of alcohol. Rinsing casks or “grogging” is an offence against the Revenue laws. A spirit merchant recently told me that at least 5 per cent of the whisky which he sent to his customers invariably disappeared on the journey. Cases | frequently arrive with five or six bot- ! ties broken or missing. Occasionally i the bottles are emptied and then filled 1 with water. The object of this dodge ! is to prevent detection, before the good? ! are delivered to the consignee; if tin 1 gross weight of the, case is normal it i> | as sin met! that the contents! are all right. I have heard of bricks beinp 1 used to make up for the weight of th< “departed spirits.” I Last year in n Liverpool side street I saw a carter “accidentally’ dropping ; | case of brandy. With great presence r j mind he held the case sideways an< i let the spirits drip into his tea can j Now that the price of whisky at 3 1 per cent, under poof is 12s 6d a botl ■ 1 there is certainly a strong tempt.' l . to steal strong whisky and sell it t , | “shebeen” proprietors or dishonest put . Means. In wholesale whisky bottling estal ' lishments the losses from pilferage at very great. On one occasion a worl ’ man was detected unconcernedly shi , J veiling several full bottles into a ba 3 row of broken bottles. ’ ! Women are adepts in the art of stea ing spirits. Their clothes of cours ! ‘ give them a better opportunity f< ’ camouflaging bottles. f < ummmammmmmmmmmmnx