METHYLATED SPIRITS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XII, Issue 1219, 3 June 1919, Page 6

METHYLATED SPIRITS.

drinking habit on the increase polii:k <tati:.\ikxts in kxolaxd. The drinking of methylated spirit by woiivn. described as "an increasing vice." was discussed recently by • the Liverpool Licensing Committee, with a view lo the Government taking- action. It was stated that the practice was mainly prevalent amongst women in the poorer districts, and that the conditions of things was deplorable. A resolution was unanimously passed in favour of a memorial being sent to the Home Office on the subject. Inquiries subsequently made in Liverpool showed that the evil complained of is not a new one in Liverpool, nor, for the matter of that, in other large centres of population in Great Britain. During the last 10 years there have been cases reported in several places. The practice was originally confined to furniture polishers, who use the spirit in their business, and it has spread a little in other directions. Apparently, Constable reported that the drinking of methylated spirit by women had greatly increased. The matter had been previously referred to the Liquor Control Board by the police, but the board was advised thai it had no power to impose restrictions on the sale and supply of the spirit. The Licensing Committee then passed a resolution calling the attention of the Home Office to "the terrible effect" of the drinking of such spirit, asking for drastic action, and suggesting that a regulation be made under the Defence of the Bealm Act affecting the sale, distribution, and consumption of the spirit, similar in principle to the orders of the Liquor Control Board relating to ordinary spirits. Practically nothing came of the resolution.

The Liverpool police report an increase, in the. number of cases since October, and are disposed to look upon the matter as one of some gravity. It can scarcely be gauged by the number of cases which come into the open, for most of it is believed to be secret drinking. The vice appears fn be prevalent in a nurmVr of districts, particularly in Scotland Road. Yauxhall. Everton. and about the docks, and it is the opinion of experienced police officers that the drinking is not confined exclusively to the poorer classes. In Ihe eight months ending October some 20 women were nrrcsfed in the streets in one division alone for this form of drunkenness. The women ranged in aire from is lo ■ls. and many of ihem were married and had young children. Tn one ease Hi«» arrested woman had six children. The Sale and Purchase. Insanity is one of the results of drinking methylated snirif. but before noting the erenera! effect something must be said of Ihe composition and sale of Ihe spirit. There are two kinds, mineral and industrial. Both are sold under an excise license, which give? powers of inspection, but the industrial variety can only be sold wholesale, and this particular branch of the business is entirely outside the drinking range. The mineral spirit is sold by chemists and by oil and paint dealers. Xo complaint has been made of the sale by chemists, for people who buy methylated spirit from chemists are rigorously examined and have to produce evidence that the spirit is required for a legitimate purpose. According to Ihe evidence brought before the Licensing Committee, the oil and paint dealers appear to be mainly responsible. Although under the Spirits Act of 1880 they are liable to a fine of £IOO if they sell methylated spirit as a beverage, the complaint is that they do not take proper precautions. The shopkeepers say they are told by purchasers that the stuff is required for paint, and that they do not know it is for drinking. As a beverage the spirit is a dreadful concoction. Ninety per cent, consists of alcohol, from 5 to 10 per cent, of crude wood naptha, and the remainder is nauseous colouring matter. The effect of drinking it can be imagined. "For four or five hours," said one police officer, "I watched three women arrested for drunkenness caused by this spirit writhing in agony in the cells and trying to tear themselves and their clothes to bits. The doctor was there, but he could do nothing." Some of the victims have been sent to inebriates' homes for a term of years, and several others have made attempts at suicide.

Strength of Alcohol. Why women should adopt this form of drinking is a debatable point. The popular opinion ascribes it to the high pric of whisky and ordinary spirits. A Liverpool authority says: "The reason methylated spirit is drunk is because of the d'-sree of alcohol. Methylated spirit contains 60 to 6i per cent, overproof alcohol; the alcohol in whisky js 30 per cent, under-proof. Methylated spirit is sold at 9s 7d a gallon: whisky at a retailer's cost 9s a bott!«\ and when sold in small quantities by a licensed victualler it realises 15s 6d'a bottle. This seems conclusive enough."