, 1878-11-28
UMMUHlGATED.
SAN JUAN I'd, W. T., Nov. %, rs.

rn,roR ARGUs:-RrccntIy my atten-
.,,n vn, directed to communication
,re,,ior of the shameless adultemtion OF
t,,d now practiccd by leading manntact-
nr4rs and groccrS throughout the country
whirh-if you have not already seen 1t
7 will sive you the outlines of for insert
,, IN thr hope that OIr respectable ami
t,ir dealing merchants Of the Sound may
l., ohlp to rplnle the assertions herein
,oda The article states that 1t Is within
h,urd, to estimate that not less than lOO,-
noO men. women and thildlen are MUIR
nrRrp each year by these authorizations
= ho,,ibIe sacrifice to Mammon. The evil
il more deadly than ittemperancc. more
destructive Of life than our late civil war.
r. Is ou evil the best pe0pc IN country ana
town can effectively battle. tor the cupidi-
~ of retail groccrS ami petty dealers
throurhout the country is largely respons-
;ble for its existence. These men buy,
knowingly, secondhand rubbish and adul-
te,ated goods. When they go to make
purchases. they ask for the inferior article.
and are generally told just what it is. 1t
is no manufacturers secret that the goods,
we ,epeat, are adulterated to MEET THE
DEMANDS OF THE RETAIL GROCER from the
country, to delraud the honest farmer OF
his hard earned money. and in exchange
deal ont poison to his wife and children.
Mr.. Editor. this may be Il delicate sub
iect to treat OF, but feel that we owe it
10 God and man to make these facts known
to tile people, and thus help to create such
public indignation that the grocerS and
merchants in orr towns and country places
will find it to their interest to demand OF
the wholesale grOcers and manufacturers
UNApuLTERATED GOODS. The facts given
below have been verified by the best au-
thorltics, IN every particular. who can sub
stantiate if need be every charge which Is
here made. having samples Of the ingrcd-
tents used in these adulteratiObs, which
were brought direct from one Of the larg-
est and most respectable wholesale grocer
firms in New York.
HOW GROCERIES ARE ADuLTERATED.
Cream OF Tartar is greatly and almost
universally aduItcrated. 1t is mixed with
the French white clay. terra aIba-nearly
80 per cent. being clay. This earth is
also largely used in the adulteration of
candies. 1t Is, of course, utterly indigcst-
ibe. hurml to the stomach. Many
learned physicians attribute much OF the
kidney and bladder troubles to this and
similar adulelations.
Ground Spices are also largely aduIter-
atetl-Some in n harmless way. Not ~
per cent. OF these spices in the market is
absolutely pure. On the labels is usually
printed tie word pure, which technic-
ally Means impure. Strictly pure is
the tIade designation of some firms Tor
absolutely pure spices. Various ingredl-
ents are used in these authorizations.
Cloves are mixed with ground burned CO.
coanut shell, which is prepared and sold
wholly for adnIterating purposes by
large respectable &? New York firm
This shell is as indigesliLle rs so much
wood or stone.
Black Pepper is adulterated with buck
wheat bulls, ground and colorcd; ginger
is mixed with ground peanut shells, Gin
namon with ground almond shells, so all
through the list. Scarlet candies. are col
ored by carmine--a bug which Is ground
up for this purpose.
Sugar. MohSses. Honey and even Flour
are aduteratcd. Flour in this country Is
adulterated chiefly with conmeal ground
very fine. but in England it is adultertted
with terra albn. Add to the above the
adnlteratiOn OF milk In cities, and OF many
medicines aud of beer end wine aud other
spirituous drinks, making them two-iold
more deadly than in their pure state. and
1t will be seen that we have not ovcr-esti-
mated the terrible deslrurtivencsS to health
and life wrought by this evil. Surely, sir
we have a right to speak on his subject.
Let there be no peace while such wrongs
are perpetrated. Theft and murder you
dcnounCe. Here are theft aud murder by
tie wholesale. The respectabiliiy OF the
criminals does not whiten the crimes, nor
lessen their deadly effect.
Then, in addition TO the deadly nduIter-
atOu OF food, is more particularly the
fraudulent and murClerous practice OF adnI-
terating liquors, thus administering OF
poison every day to hundreds and thous-
ands Of our citizens throughout the length
and breadth of our land.
We all know that some of the haSest
compounds are sold under the names OF