The Brookhaven leader., 1883-11-08
A SWEET SUBJECT.

Adulteratlons of Glucose and Earth
The Cheap Candy of the Present Day,
and What 1t Is Made or.
"Sweets for the sweet" it is written.
Sugar is generally regarded as the
sweetest thing that there is, and candy
is supposedly made of sugar. Little
children, when given penny by the
fond parent, generally run to the near
est candy store "to buy something" "
That something" is generally a stick,
or little mixed candy, so-called, or a
paper of lozenges. "Do you know" "
said q gentleman well known in the
medical profession to reporter for the
Times a few days ago, "that there are
q great many more children suffering
from diseases of the stomach and
bowels than there ought to be?'
The reporter replied that he had no
personal knowledge of the fact.
WELL" said the gentleman, within
the last few days have attended sew
eral little children whose diseases were
caused by and traceable to nothing
else than the eating of adulterated
candy. The cheap candies sold at the
little toy and confectionery stores in
every part of the city are largely adul-
t,rated with white earth, or terra alba,
which is@afso known as Fuller s-earth.
This stuff irritates the cOatings and
membranes of the stomachs and in
tcstneS of the children, and produces
early decay, nervous diseases and often
death. 1t is this sort of stuff that
should be prohibited from being Sold
A re- all confectioncr said: There is
Il ln IL, IL Nf
dies. When sugar costs eight and three
quar- er cents IL pound you can't expect
retailer to sell good candy at thirteen
cents pound, or even at eighteen.
There is mixed candy sold in some
places at retail as low as twelve cents n
pound, and then there is some sold {,
little higher.
"Plain candies can be sold at retail
n profit at twenty-five Gems a pound,
bui no sort of fine, fancy candy can be
made for much less than that sum per
pound. | regard the dealing in the
adulterated utf as not only demoraliz-
ing to the business, but decidedly inHIri-
Gus. y
a well-knewn Wholesale manufacturer
said: Every man who buys candy at
wholesale knows what he is buying
There is no deceit practiced in the
Wholesale trade. 1t wouldn't pay the
manufacturer to act otherwise than
square with his customers. | doubt if
there is wholesale cOnfectioner in the
United States who would not like to see
adulleration stopped. 1t is bare-faced
fraud on the consumer, and the worst of
ii is the injury falls upon innocent little
victims who are mainly the children of
the poor. Let me see: There is invested
in wholesale candy making in Chicago
somewhere about $500, 900, and some
thing like SO, 200, 900 worth of goods are
sold by the manufacturers every year.
There are at least two concerns who
have upward of from $l15, 900 to $135,-
600 in the business, and there are sever
al who run from $4,000 to 100000
each. Of course, a good many pounds
OF good candy is made, but there is also
large amount of villainous stuff put on
the market and consumed"
Cant this adult Grafton be stopped?'
1T could by united action, but it
can't be prevented SO long as there is
more money in making the slush and
frothy stuff than in making pure goods
am satisfied that it is wrong that
ought to be remedied."
What enters into the adulteration?"
Terra alba. | am buying sugar to-
day for nine cents, and | am selling
mixed candy at the same price. l. ask
you; What must the candy be? Do
You suppose that l want to sell that
stuff? But what can do? Here comes
man, and he SAYS. Il want carload
OF candy, and don't want to pay more
than eight and one-half cents pound
ior lt?' What can | say to him? /
know what he wants. He says: Make
It as mean as you like, only make it
look NICE l don't cheat him. We
only put in greater percentage of
tcrre alba, that all; and he knows it.
Ii refuse to sell him the stuff my COM
petitor next door or over the way will
sell him all he wants, and l must see
my trade 60. While he buys big bill
OF poor stuff, that class of customer
always buys moderate amount of
good goods"
How great is the percentage of
adulterati0n?"
There is sort of graded stuff. 1t
runs from ten to thirty per cent, but
there is more than thirty per cent.
adulterated candy sold. To seventy
part OF sugar there are thirty parts of
earth. and some candy is even meaner
than that. But don't make this mis-
take and say that there is no pure
candy made in Chicago. AS much. and
more pure candy is made here as in any
other city in the United States. You
must pay good price for pure goods.
AS said before, there is more money
Tor the manufacturer in the adulterated
goods than in the pure stuff, and that is
why the market is kept stocked with it. !"
Where does the adulterated stock
mostly go to?''
There is some sold here, but not so
much as some people would think, but q
great deal of it goes to the Southwest,
among the negroes and New Mexicans.
ne latter seem to take kindly to earth