PROHIBITION DEATH ROLL DAILY MOUNTING.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 9 November 1928, Page 7

PROHIBITION DEATH ROLL DAILY MOUNTING.

238 TO ONE HOSPITAL IN ONE WEEK. 1 (From “The Times’ 7 correspondent, Now York, October Bth, 1028.) Twenty deaths yesterday and to-day in New Tork 'City, and 50 eases of illness treated in the Psychopathic Ward of Bellevue Hospital are attributed in the police reports to poisonous liquor. Dr. Charles -N orris, Chief Medical Examiner, has ascribed the increase in the number of deaths from this cause to an increase in the number of private stills in the slum districts, and the (growth of the habit of drinking “smoke 77 or raw alcohol to which nas been added a chemical or flavouring to lessen its burning effect on the, throat. Dr. Norris said vestreday, that practically all the liquor now sold in New York' was toxic. It was “cut, 77 that is, diluted with denatured alcohol, which is re-distilled but still contains a 'trace of adulterant. This liquor, however, was not rcsponsble 'for the deaths from alcohol in the east side and waterfront districts where most of the dead were picked up. Such liquor is to expensive for those who live m that part of New Y r ork. They drink instead alcohol distilled from commash, potatoes, fruit, and so on, which Dr. Norris said was not poisonous in the ordinary sense of the term. An ounce or two of it had, however, an effect upon the heart equal to that of a quart of properly aged spirits, because the toxic elements had not had time to oxidise and become inoperative. Drink of this sort was being sold for five to ten cents (2M to od) a glass on the east side. . , . Two hundred and thirty-eight patients were admitted last week to the alcoholic ward -of Bellevue Hospital. Prevent poisonous substitutes replacing pure stimulants. Vote Continuance,