The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1881-07-10
ADULTERATIeN OF BEER

u
something of a var upon tue aduiter-
stiens of beer, and as a beginning II
prints a two-column article which |
ought to have q good effect in two
ways, first in restraining people from
drinking so much beer, and second
in inducing brewers to improve the
quality and healthtulness OF the bev-
ersge. In the search fer informa-
ton both brewers and doctors were
applied to, and some interesting
facts were obtained, though. OF
course, some were backward in
telling what they knew. For in
stance, one eminent physician re-
sponued in evident alarm: "What !
do you expect me to give you my
honest opinion OF the vast majority OF
| the beer made nowadays, when
several OF my beat customers are
brewers? a pretty kettle OF hot
water I'd get myself in if I did so.
You can's expect it," "Are kidney
diseases more prevalent tnan they
used to be?" yes. very much.
I've no objection to answering that;
bu! don't use my name. Tnink o!
my patients. They are worth more
to me- than the publication OF my
opinion about beer" AS to the
edulserstion of the beverage the Sun
says:
Some idea Of the enormous quantity
of glucose consumed in beer making may
be afforded by the simple fact that, in
the proportions which it is ordinarily
employed, a beer manufacturer who
should turn out 200,00 barrels Of his
beer in q year, would in that time use
from 100000 to 100000 pounds Of
glucose. Two years ago Milwaukee
Newspaper succeeded in obtaining an au-
thentlc statement of the quantities of
corn, rice, glucose and grape sugar used
during the preceding six months by the
brewers Of that city. The information
sent thrill of horrer through the intelli-
gent beer-drinkers all over the land, es-
pecially the Germans, who knew the
worth and virtues Of barley malt. A (
New York reporter sought TO get the |
same information concerning the prsc-
tees of the Gothsmic brewers, and to |
that end obtained orders from Washing
ton, in due form, to the collectors of
international revenue in the FIVE districts |
in this city and its immediate vicinity.
directing them to afford the required in
formation. The attempt wss failure,
however, for the collectors fell back up
on a section # the United States laws es-
pecially forbidding the making public
of such knowledge, and would not eI
pose those facts, even upon orders from
headquarters. The possession Of the facts
was not denied; indeed. the reporter
found means to satisfy himself that the
monthly returns of materials used
which all brewers are required to make
under oath-contsined even more sensa-
tional matter than he had venturea to
hope for, but that United States law
was an effectusl barrier to further in
quiry, for the Collector in whose Office |
most of the information was refused, |
put himself in q position to suffer the
vengence Of the brewers.
The wsll-known DR.. A. B. Mott
was free to converse on the subject,
and impaired information ohearfully.
evidently not being alarmed at the
prospective loss of patients. He said
that in his practice be had observed
an enormous increase in rena! dis
orders within the past ten years, and,
although he had not sufficiently
studied the action OF glucose upon
the kidneys to attribute the increase
positively to authorizations in beer, he
did not see any reason to doubt tina
the overtszing Of the kidneys, and
weakening OF those organs by the ex-
cessive work which the beer.drinker
imposes upon them, predisposes them
to serious injury from even seemingly
only slightly deleterious elements in
the beer, Diabetes, he says, although
it sometimes attacks persons who are
strictly temperate in their habits, has
become 8 much more frequent
disease since the capitalization Of
Few beer. The Suns two columns
are filled with interesting truths like
the above, which should cause beer
drinkers to think, if nothing more.