Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1884-06-23
TURNING STONE INTO CANDY.

TURNING STONE INTO CANDY.
A letter from BuZzard Roost, n. c., dated
June 4, in the New York Tribune says:
As its name implies this hamlet is high
up among the mountains in that weird, wild
portion of Western North Carolina christen-
ed SO appropriately 1.-THE land of the sky"
Mount Mitchell, now known to be the
highest point east of the Rocky Mountains
not excepting Mount Washington-towers
among the clouds not far away, surrounded
by blue mist or haze, while the French
Broad river. called by the Indians "Merry
Water" laughs and babbles and dashes
along merrily at its feet. Buzzard Roost is
not ''bustling mart of trade''; on the con-
| trary the town consists of one house, which
does duty as postoflice, railroad ticket office,
store and dwelling. There are two mails
! daily at Buzzard Roost and this serves to
divert the population of the place-which
consists Of the postmaster and wife. Once
| in awhile IL man comes here TO fish or
| hunt, upon which occasion the town puts
| on its gala dress and docs lis best to be ell
tertaining and hospitable.
Half a mile from Buzzard Roost, way up
among the mountains, is mine. The
owners don't say much about it, nor do
| they appear to be anxious for visitors to go
| there nevertheless the mine is one Of the
most curious affairs in the country-the only
one of its kind it is to be hoped, in the world.
| The material mined here IS Il peculiar kind
| of white rock which the miners say has no
name, so they have very appropriately call
ed it ''Deception Rock Its uses are va
ried and and its value is SO great that the
mine and the works nearby pay a good div
| idend upon the money invested. The rock
| is mined in great pieces or chunks which
| arc loaded upon wheelbarrows and taken
| TO Il large wooden chute, where they are
dumped This wooden chute runs down
| the precipitous side of the mountain and
ends at 1.-THE mills" The rock in its rapid
transit through the large trough becomes
| reduced TO small pieces or Jumps about the
! size of cocoanuts. These are gathered up
| by the workmen and when the rock comes
| from the mills it is reduced to soft white
| powder, which is put in barrels and shipped
| to New York, where it sells for from IS to
$3.50 q barrel.
The uses to which this powdered rock is
nut arc many. The coarser quality, cspec-
| tally that which contains small portions of
mica, is used to adulterate granulated su-
| gar. II is said to be excellent for this pur-
| pose, since nearly 20 per cent may be mix
! cd with the pure sugar without fear OF &C.
| tecion. 1t also gives sugar great weight,
| and for this reason is valuable for purposes
of adulteration. The second grade Of the
| "Decepton Rock" powder is much smooth
er and finer; this is used to adulterate
powdered sugar. 1t is also used in large
quantities to give the cheaper grades Of
family four the desired weight. Still an
other and finer grade Of the powder is made
and this is used exclusively IN the manu-
| facture of candies. Since the introduction
of this powder about two years ago it has
largely superseded terra alba" which was
| formerly used in the manufacture of candies
especially in those brands known as the
| "cheap French mixed
| asked one of the operators of the mine
| an intelligent colored man-why the candy
manufacturers used deception rock pow
| der'' in preference to the terra alba"
| "Well, sah," he replied, II reckon it's jest
| cause you can detect terra alba, which IS a
kind of clay, an you can't detect dis we're
| powder so easy. Eff yo' dissolve the best
made candy in water very slowly you will
| find either terra alba or dis yere powder in
| it ebery time. I'll bet nickel. I've hear
| tell, boss, dat mother reason why de candy
makers use dis yere powder am, dat ef folks
eats heap o candy with it in dcy ain SO
| liable ter have spasms as if terra alba had
| been used''
The mill and mine together have a capac-
! ity of about 800 barrels Of this compound
per week all of which is shipped direct to
| New York, where it is disposed of to the
| various dealers who choose to use it.
| Just as luck would have it, as / boarded
the train after leaving this mine at Buzzard
Roost, I met one of the most prominent
candy manufacturers in Atlanta.
Terra alba is no longer used by respect
able candymen," said he in reply to my
questions, "but it is hard to get confectlon-
| crs' sugar nowadays that has not been adul-
terated either with terra alba or this pow
dered rock, the latter being most used now.
Terra alba formerly was used in cheap cam
dies, but the manufacturers of that class
of goods now use this powder as 1t
is cheaper and less dangerous. Terra
alba hardens in the stomach in a lump,
lust like plaster-of-paris, if eaten in
large quantities, and causes spasms or con-
vulsions but this new powder seems to so
through the system generally, causing, |
believe, many case of Brights disease
How great proportion is used? That de-
pends entirely upon the conscience OF the
candy maker. In his candy he puts sugar
which contains Is per cent OF the powder;
then be uses -four containing perhaps Il
per cent more, and then adds 10 per cent OF
the pure stuff on bis own account-in al
nearly 40 per cent! Candy thus made II
skilfully cooked and manipulated will defy
casual detection it must be carefully tested.
AS have said, the use of this stutf is con-
fined to the manufacture of cheap candies,
although even the makers of the finest
candy are liable to find their sugars adul-
terated with it. Children are allowed to eat
cheap stick candies purchased at the corner
grocery or at some nearby confectionery
Store, and thus constitutions are ruined, for
terra. alba or the rock powder in the stom-
ach is worse than so much poison The
candies that contain the most of this MN
eral adulteration are the so-caled French
mixed candies,' lozenges of all kinds, cheap
stick candies with red and yellow stripes,
strawberry drops 'bulls-eyes,' sugar balls.
Ill oot ofQ