“BLINDNESS-!"

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXI, Issue 19009, 9 May 1924, Page 10

“BLINDNESS-!"

DEADLY DRINK CRAZE. HORRORS OF METHYLATED SPIRITS. HABIT PREVALENT IN N.Z. The insidious practice of methylated spirit drinking is sufficiently prevalent in New Zealand as to Occasion grave concern, and as a police o cial stated yesterday, the time has long sinco passed when legislation should be brought down that would act as an effective deterrent against the pernicious craze. The courts throughout the Dominion are daily meting out penalties for those unfortunates who have suffered themselves to come within the vice-like grip. Men and w’omen both old and young, the authorities say, have shown themselves to be susceptible to the lure of a most degrading habit. In Christchurch alone there w’ere several cases before the Police Court last week. In one instance the victim w*as a girl of tender years. Christchurch is not the only city, however, where this pernicious habit is rife, for the menace is just as prevalent in the other centres and also in the smaller towns. Senior-Sergeant Lander, in the course of a recent case before the Police Court at Wellington remarked that the drinking of “methy” was extremely common, and, indeed, demanded immediate attention. Something should be done, he said, to put a stop to the deadly practice. Of the thousands of gallons of methylated spirits that pass annually through the Government Bond, it would be interesting to know just what amount is devoted to human consumption. It would probably be a very small proportion but not so small as some might be inclined to believe. WHY IS IT DRUNK? The question naturally pushes itself forward, “Why is it drunk?” There are of course those who cannot afford to pay the exorbitant price demanded for legitimate spirits, and who feel themselves forced by circumstances to drink the baser liquid, even at the risk if losing their sanity. This class, however, is small in comparison with those who drink “spirits” because the law prevents them from drinking anything else. Prohibited persons arc the main offenders, for reasons that are obvious. These men and women, who arc debarred by law from drinking the product of the brewery or distillery, find sufficient crave satisfying properties in methylated spirits to cope with the demands of their perverted palates. The law dees not prohibit them from drinking “spirits,” which is procurable at any paint shop or grocery store. “Those who drink the wretched stuff at all, invariably drink to excess,” said a police officer, “with disastrous results, but it is only when they overstep the bounds of sobriety that the ‘meth’ drinkers come within the reach of the law.” PREVENTATIVE MEASURES. Pure spirits prior to methylation is virtually alcohol and is received in bulk by the manufacturing druggists, but it is entirely under the control of the Customs authorities until it has been methylated to the approval of the officials. This of course is a preventative measure—if an ineffective one—against the using of the spirits as a beverage. It is required by law that completely denatured methylated spirits should be mixed in the following proportions: Rectified spirit 100 gallons; approved wood naptha 5 to 11 gallons, approved pyridine 2 to 14 gallons. Pyridine is a liquid with an exceedingly insistent odour and the presence of this in itself should be sufficient to restrain most people from drinking the liquid. During the war period, owing to the scarcity of both naptha and pyridine, the use of benzine and the like was permissible as substitutes. There are even now instances where “spirits” may leave the Bond without having been fully denatured. Furniture manufacturers, for instance, who require “spirits” for polishing purposes, may secure the liquid with merely the addition of naptha, the pyridine being omitted. In such cases, however, a special department on the purchasers’ premises is necessary for the storage of the “spirits” and Government officials make periodical inspections of the stock which must be accounted for. EFFECTS OF DRINKING. Blindness, insanity and general physical decay are a few of the ills w’hich invariably befall those unfortunates who are addicted to the drinking of “spirits.” “There is no form of liquor—if it may be classed as such —which is more conductive to delirium tremens than methylated spirits,” said a prominent pharmacist, when interviewed. “There is no restriction on its sale, with the exception that every bottle sold must bear a label with the following inscription: ‘Methylated {Spirits—Poison — Not to be Wiken internally. If so taken may cause blindness or other ills, and will induce general physical decay.’ That in the face of these facts any human could be so perverted as to deliberately drink the stuff seems incredible,” he continued. “This is in itself a clear evidence of the manner m which the unfortunate victims are gripped by the tentacles of the craze.” It would indeed be hard to dispel all hope from the unfortunate victims who have striven to tear themselves from the deadly habit, but it must be said

that once the craze has developed, he who would restrain from drinking rhe liquid is setting himself a difficult task. FIVE MEN, A KEG AND A TIN. A police official stated that he had know of as many as five men being brought in on one occasion as the result of becoming intoxicated through drinking methylated spirits. “They were not merely drunk,” said the offi cer, *‘they were in the D.T. ’s, the whole five of them, and they had to be remanded for seven days for medical treatment.” The accused had been found in Hagley Park drinking from a keg of “methy” and using a tobacco tin as a receptacle. “I once asked an inveterate drinker what he saw in the wretched stuff wh« n there was plenty of whisky available,” said another police officer, “and he replied: ‘There is a big saving i.i drinking “methy.” I can get drunk for Is fid this way ,and it would cost me 18s with whisky.” A MINER’S REMINISCENCE. During the Gascoigne gold rush in Western Australia, some thirty years ago, over fifty men from one of the camps were in the D.T.’s for over a week as the result of drinking methylated spirits. The story was related to a reporter by an old miner recently. Two lorryloads of spirits and beer were brought to the camp, but within a few days the whole consignment had been consumed. For a fortnight after, however, every man in the camp was drunk. That they had been drinking something considerably stronger than mere beer, or even whisky, was evidenced when some of the miners began to rush around the camp like lunatics, com pletely divested of their clothing. “There wasn’t a man in the camp who was not in the D.T.’s, and there wasn’t a public house within 500 miles of the camp,” said the miner. The people round about were naturally perplexed, but the mystery was elucidated by the discovery of an almost empty cask of methylated spirits that had a few days before been unbroachcd. AN EFFECTIVE CURE. The Melbourne police have devised a very novel but effective means of putting an end to the habit with those “methy” inebriates who come within their reach. The method employed is to place the offender in a pool of “spirits” and apply a match to th* liquid. “The coloured flames flare up all around the victim and into his drink-sodden soul the fear of Hell is instilled.” said a detective in a Melbourne City Court recently. The effect of the treatment can well be realised. “We have found this method very offi cient,” continued the detective’, “and I have not known a single case where an offender has returned for a second treatment. ’ ’—Christchurch Star,