DISTILLED LIQUORS 



1810 



DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 



substances were not present in the original coal 

 or wood. They have been produced by the 

 decomposition of the substances originally 

 present. Destructive distillation is therefore 

 a chemical process, while simple and fractional 

 distillation are purely physical. J.F.S. 



Related Subjects. This topic may be fol- 

 lowed further by reference to the topics in these 

 volumes which are named below : 

 Acetic Acid Coke 



Alcohol Gas 



Carbon Gasoline 



Charcoal Petroleum 



Coal Wood Alcohol 



Coal Tar ' 



DISTILLED LIQUORS, those alcoholic 

 liquors which are manufactured by fermenta- 

 tion and distillation. Most of the common 

 distilled liquors, such as rum and whisky, are 

 made directly from corn, wheat and other 

 grains, or from potatoes. The grain is ground 

 and soaked in warm water, forming mash. 

 Yeast is then added, and the mash is allowed 

 to ferment, forming wort, from which the spirit 

 is distilled. The first product contains impuri- 

 ties from which the spirits are separated by 

 re-distillation. The purification is generally 

 known as the process of rectifying. Brandy is 

 made by distilling wine. The production of 

 distilled liquors is an extensive business, but one 

 which is steadily decreasing in volume. Includ- 

 ing commercial alcohol, it amounted in the 

 United States to about 194,000,000 gallons a 

 year, before prohibition became effective by 

 Constitutional amendment, and the government 

 revenue derived from it was about $160,000,000 

 a year. Peoria, 111., was the largest manufac- 

 turer of distilled liquors in the world ; the reve- 

 nue paid by the distilleries of that city to the 

 United States previous, to 1915 was more than 

 enough to build the Panama Canal. 



Canada manufactured about 6,500,000 gallons 

 of distilled liquors per year, from which the Do- 

 minion derived a revenue of nearly $9,500,000 

 before the day of prohibition. See WHISKY, 

 BRANDY, RUM, and other liquors ; also INTERNAL 

 REVENUE; DISTILLATION. 



DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, the official name 

 of the seat of government of the United States. 

 It occupies a tract of land ceded by the state 

 of Maryland, containing ab,out seventy square 

 miles on the north side of the Potomac River, 

 about 100 miles from its mouth and forty miles 

 southwest of Baltimore. The District originally 

 included also about thirty square miles ceded 

 by the state of Virginia, in which is the present 

 city of Alexandria. Georgetown and Anacostia 



were included in the Maryland grant. The lat- 

 ter is said to have been the site of the famous 

 Indian village of Powhatan, visited by Captain 

 John Smith in 1608. The scenery of the Dis- 

 trict back from the river is very picturesque. 

 The climate is mild, but is subject to violent 

 changes of temperature. 



The population in 1800 was 14,000; in 1910 

 it was 331,000, of which about 100,000 were 

 colored. According to an estimate of the Cen- 

 sus Bureau, it had a population of 363,980 in 

 1916. 



Government. The present form of govern- 

 ment in the District of Columbia was inaugu- 

 rated in 1878. The governing body consists 

 of three commissioners, who devote their entire 

 time to the public service: They are selected 



Alexandn 



< 



VIRGIN I A 



MARYLAND 



DISTRICT MAP 



(a) National Park. 



(b) Naval Observatory. 



(c) Soldiers' Home Park. 



(d) Arlington National Cemetery. 



by the President, with the approval of the Sen- 

 ate. Two are chosen from civil life and hold 

 office three years; the third is an officer of the 

 corps of engineers of the United States army, 

 with a term of office not exceeding four years. 

 Congress passes all laws for the control of the 

 District. Half the expenses of the government 

 are paid by Congress, the remainder by local 

 taxation. 

 The District was organized solely as the seat 



