POISONED PAUPERS.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume II, Issue 122, 8 May 1912, Page 4

POISONED PAUPERS.

The poisoning of a pauper or two does not apparently count for a great crime in Germany. It will be remembered that a number of paupers who were being entertained at a dinner at Christmas time developed symptoms of poisoning and a number of deaths resulted. As a result of the investigation it has been proved that the deaths were caused by supplying adulterated schnapps to the diners. The liquor was said to be two parts methylated spirits and one part schnapps. The man primarily responsible for this outrage, which killed several old people, got off with a sentence of five years. Had the same man in the height of passion struck a man and killed him he would have received a life sentence, but after practically murdering poor old people to satisfy his commercial greed he is let off with five years’ imprisonment. This German outrage brings to notice the fact that there is a great deal too much adulteration of drink allowed. We hear frequently of a man being brought before the court for putting water in his milk or other “help outs” to the ingredients which he sells, but we canpot ever recollect a man ever having been had up for selling bad whisky. That such liquor is sold freely and openly every day in New Zealand is beyond dispute. Respectable publicans, we know, would not dream of adopting vicious adulteration, but there are men who do this, and when the licensing poll comes round the honest man stands in to suffer with the wrong doers. Only the other day we heard a rather amusing story in connection w:th this matter. A well-known man went to a hotel and asked for a whisky. After swallowing it he gasped, “Good heavens, man, what have you given me The publican had a look and remarked, “Oh, blow it. I gave you the Maori bottle !” The rest of the conversation need not be repeated. Possibly the Health Department travels on the principle that all whisky is good, but a test of this accepted statement now and then might lead to the knowledge that some whiskys are a long way better than others.