Hoochnoo (1875)

[Bapopik at AOL.COM]

TYPING MISTAKES:  "Fakir" is from "1875," not 1975.  Also, in yesterday's post, the day before was September "23," not September 22.

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HOOCHNOO

   OED has 1877 for "Hoochinoo."  I'm not allowed to copy from the bound volumes.  (The LOC didn't microfilm these early years of the CINCINNATI ENQUIRER.)  Perhaps this long article is also on Ancestry?


   12 July 1875, CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, pg. 2, col. 4:
_The Alaska Indians and Whisky._
      WASHINGTON, D. C., July, 1875.
   The following interesting letter written by a prominent citizen of British Columbia has been officially communicated to the United States Government:
      VICTORIA, February 5, 1875.
Colonel Q. W. Powell, Commissioner of Indian Affairs in British Columbia:
   SIR:  I beg leave to present you a bottle of whisky distilled by Indians residing near Sitka, Alaska.  It is made from molasses, and known among them as "Hoochnoo." (...)
   The Hoochnoo I send you is within five per cent. of proof, and meets all the requirements of first-class fire-water.  They make it from molasses and sugar, with potatoes added, and the proper season can use all the sweet berries of which the country furnishes an abundance. (...)
   H. GASTIN.