A POLICE DISCOVERY

Hokitika Guardian, 16 July 1926, Page 1

A POLICE DISCOVERY

- . ,—. A STILL FOUND. )V TELEGRAPH —PEEBS ASSN., COPYRIGHT. INVERCARGILL, July 15. _ “ Good wine needs no bush,” is an idage well known, and probably very rue. One would fall into an error towever, if (file included whisky in lie saying—at any rate as far as southland is concerned. Bush of the lense New Zealand kind is common n Southland, and there is a particuarlv luxuriant growth between (Italian and Tutapere. It was here that ioine enterprising amateur distillers, laving decided that, iukt as t good rliisky needed tjie bush, sd did the lush need good (and cheap) whisky, ■et up a still in ilie heart of the virrJn forest. It is now in the hands of .lie police, and thereby hangs a tale. A short time ago, rumours were uirrent that a still was located somevhero in the neighbourhood of Pukennori. Constable Moore pursued his nvestigations, and, during the last 'ortnight, he was actively engaged in searching the bush in the district. Two officers suddenly came upon a space ndiere a number of trees had •been felled only a few months before. This was unexpected, in the heart of the virgin forest, and the suspicions of the two were aroused. Closer investigations disclosed a small opening n the mass of vegetation, where the trees had fallen. On their entry through the hole, they found themselves in a hut built of slabs, and inode the but—an illicit still. To most law abiding citizens tjlie words “ilieit still ” conveys visions of mostly and intricate apparatus, resembling anything from a blastfurnace to a separator. It was nothing like this that the police found ih the bush cabin. A copper boiler of the* "Unique” typo had been fitted with n, special tap—ennnister, from which extended a funnel-shaped pipe. This was connected with a large hogshead, by means of a copper coil. On the ground were several biscuit tins, containing crushed malt and alas—mnnj empty bottles. The still looked as if it had not been in use for some little time. The beer probably brewed by the distillers would have been placed in the copper and then heated, the- gaseous alcohol being driven through the pipe and the copper coil, where it would cool, and ‘condense into drops of ran whisky. The rather crude apparatus would probably make it necessary for several distillations to be made, and then the whisky, though potent, might have tasted coarse and smoked. The two officers had an unevinble job before them. After the Collector of Customs had been communicated with, and had inspected the find, Constable Moore and Inspector Bird carried the parts of the apparatus for five miles or their backs in the dark so that nc • prying eyes would witness the-re-moval. The still is now standing in disuse at the Police Station. From inquiries made by the police after the discovery, it is probable tlia further proceedings will shortly _b< taken in the matter. The questioi that naturally arises is: Are there an; j or many more stills in Southland