18 



USE OF TJNDENATURED ALCOHOL FREE OF TAX. 



Under laws other than the denatured alcohol law, alcohol may 

 be withdrawn from the distillery warehouse free of tax for certain 

 purposes. Among these may be mentioned its use by the United 

 States Government, its use for scientific purposes under certain 

 conditions, and its use in the manufacture of sugar from sorghum. 

 During the year ended June 30, 1905, 2,112,830.9 gallons of spirits 

 were withdrawn for these purposes. Details in regard to such with- 

 drawals can be obtained from the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 

 whose annual report for the year ended on the date mentioned fur- 

 nishes valuable information for those proposing to engage in any 

 way in the distillation of alcohol. 



Attention should also be called to the fact that large quantities 

 of undenatured alcohol are manufactured in the United States on 

 which no tax is paid. The principal sources of this alcohol are as 

 follows : 



HARD CIDER. 



The natural conversion of sweet cider into hard cider by the fer- 

 ments which it contains is a process in which large quantities of 

 alcohol are produced and on which no tax is paid. The term alcohol 

 when used alone does not apply to such products, but only to alco- 

 hol produced by distillation. As is well known, the sugar which 

 is one of the principal constituents of fresh cider is mixt with 

 yeasts which naturally attach to apples, so that when exposed with- 

 out sterilization fermentation takes place, the sugar disappears, and 

 alcohol is formed. If we assume that the average apple juice contains 

 12 per cent of fermentable matter, it is seen that about 6 per cent of 

 alcohol may be developed in a hard cider. No tax is put upon this 

 cider, nor is there any supervision on the part of the Commissioner 

 of Internal Revenue in its production. 



WINE. 



In the manufacture of wine the natural yeasts which attach to the 

 grapes produce in the exprest grape juice a fermentation by means 

 of which the grape juice is converted into wine. This is a vast 

 industry in many countries and a very important industry in the 

 United States. The alcohol which is formed in this way pays 

 no tax, nor does the manufacturer of ordinary wines conduct his 

 business under the supervision of the Commissioner of Internal 

 Revenue. What is true of the juices of the grape and the apple is 

 true of other fruit juices. They may be all of them fermented and 

 their sugar converted into alcohol without Government supervision 

 and without paying any tax. But when the alcohol which is pro- 

 duced by the fermentation of fruit juices is subjected to distillation 



