The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1867-03-15
Death IN the Pot.

law or the wisdom of Mohammed. will
persist in eating lard, will be panied to
hear that by process peculiarly nasty
we beg pardon, but in Webster'S biggest
dictionary there is no word so proper to
use-iame hogs, sick hogs, unwashed
hogs, whole hogs, with hogs found dead in
the street, are thrown undreSSed and un-
cleaned into boiler, and the steam let
on. The component parts OF hog are
thus severed, the solid parts sink, the Lard
is drawn off and sent TO market as beau
tiful steam refined article. What is then
done with it is known only to the initiat-
ed. There are those who believe that it
suffers another change into that mysteri-
Gus and exasperating grease known as
''boarding house butter" which spread
upon hot and hideous abomination call
ed bread, made from that kind of -four of
which we have recently spoken, and float
ed down into the human interior by pure
Java coffee made of beans or something
worse, alleviated by blue milk from the
carts, and tempered by sanded sugar, has
tendency to produce that state of the
physical system known as dyspepsia, and
which We are sure not seldom ends i'll
strings, and strichnia, and iusstiiiablc telo-
desc. In such case, the ingenious ex-
tracier OF the essence CT pig III Cincinnati
may be regarded in Il strict moral sense as
a murderer but there is Il crafty way OF
taking oil people of which the gentle
grand juries never take cognizance.
We know that this story of commercial
adulteration and cozcnage Is an old and
stale one, but we submit that ii is il relief
10 write about it and to growl ut it. In
the Augu>tan days of Joseph Addison,
that graceful e>sayist, who was an excel
lent judge of brandy. and died !. martyr to
his passion for trying it, complaining in
The Halter No. I3D OF "a certain fra
ternity Of chemical operators, who raise
under the streets OF London the choicest
products of the hills and valleys Of
France who squeeze Bordeaux out OF
the Sloc. and draw champagne from an
apple, thus doing great injury To hi> Maj
e>ty> customs and to the bodies of many
OF his subjects Substitute :. Internal
revenue" ior - hi, Maie,tv'S customs. =
and q: thee. o American Republic. the
fable is narrated
1t Is not N all cre,lit;.ble 10 human ma
ture that such a phrase IA tricks OF
trade" should have become >tcrreotvpcd.
and that such Il thing H. adultcra,ion
should have been reduced 10 something
ike 4 mystical science, known TO adopts
and transmitted bv tradition or in little
books, from one generation OF sl;srperS 10
another. Everybody knows it 1t Is no
secret that there l. Il secret. "Cdrot
'aDtOr 1t The buyer look out is a
maxim Of the benevolent common law ::
bat how Is Il buyer of small stores for
family use 10 bc continually on the look
out for poison i'll the ounces or the pounds
which hc purchases for Il daily or weekly
supply of his kitchen He must trust
the small Iradc>man, and he Gf he be
honest him>clt) mus; trust the large one.
and the large one Is too often the last 10
he safely trusted. In all quarters OF the
giobe the work OF >ophi>tic,tion goes OH.
In an evil hour. here at home. the con-
venicnce and also the profit Of grinding
and granulation were discovered. and
since then nobody has bccn sure OF Il good
cup ot coffee, nobody has sprinkied pepper
OH his chop without fear and trembling.
no housewife has bcen certain of the Spic-
es winch she used. And the general
quality OF all articles of this description
has steadily deieriorated. 1t is 20 in ey-
crything. In solids there is sham ami in
fluids there is destruction. What Siuii
the imbibcrS ot pure old bourbon swal-
low. to the establishment of their innocent
and insultcd stomacilS. is known only TO
the mixers what diabolical porridge Is
sold under the honorcd maine OF lager. -
it is not probable That the brewers will
tell Us, unless they happen to quarrel
among thcmSc!ves-wlIat dried foliage Is
smoked or chewed as tobacco perhaps the
cabbage gardens and the brave oil oaks
could inform us
But We CONSIDERABLY abstain from de-
tails. If one is to be ted upon witch soup
(recipe in MacbethD. or cat-meat. igno-
rance Is certainly bliss. But the best of
the Joke, and Il striking proof of the
adaptabiIity of man 10 circumstances. Is.
that the world is ike certain hearty indi-
vidual who DO not care what they eat or
drink, and 90 on trusttully swallowing
the most dubious dishes and beverages.
ieariully and wonderfully made In this
very careleSSneSS OF the purchaser Is the
strength and safety of the adultcrer. He
expects and he gets nothing worse than
an occasional growl, which does not in
the least diminish the amount of his
monthly bills against his patrons. He
knows very well that, by sticking to the
sale of interior goods, he gradually de-
bauches the taste of the neighborhood and
brings down the standard OF excellence.
Having destroyed the palates OF five OF
six of the blocks about his premises, he is
thereafter at liberty to dust, and mix, and
generally bcdcvil his wares, without the
least fear of detection. He is responsible
for thousands of stomach-aches, but he
never hears OF one of them. If an cpl
demic should break out in the vicinage.
nobody can tell whether it is to be al
tributed TO bad air, bad sewage, bad wa