ADULTERATING THE ATLANTIC.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXII, Issue 4322, 26 September 1921, Page 1

ADULTERATING THE ATLANTIC.

Liquor—good, indifferent, and very very bad —the value of which, at the rate charged by illicit dealers, is estimated at £40,000,000, is about to be spilled into the Atlantic Ocean by the authorities to get rid of it, reported the New York correspondent of the Daily Chronicle on July 14. It has all been seized in the process of enforcing the prohibition law. Rubbish barges laden with the strange cargo will be to,wed far beyond the outer" harbour,, and the crews, under policesupervision,- will unite u; the mixing of the most stupendous cocktail in history for the delectation of Father Nep,tune and Davy Jones. If in the next week or so parsing British mariners should note disturbances somewhere in the Atlantic, and the ozone they breathe should have a peculiar yet strangely familiar flavour, they will know that it is not because the 108,999,999 inhabitants of this country are celebrating the revocation of the dry law. About the time , this reservoir of ardent spirits is being thus disposed of 'the. authorities will sell the containers and vehicles in which it was seized. At present these and the liquor are cost ing the city hundreds of pounds a day for storage in warehouses, unused buildings, and other structures. These containers and vehicles range from fountain pens, hollow canes, and bogus cigars tp huge casks, and the vehicles from a perambulator to motor lorries and a Rolls-Royce.