Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1885-11-14
)IS0N BY THE TON.
ENOUGH ARSENIC IMPORTED TO DE-
POPULATE AMERICA
A Small Amount Used for Mediciu NJ
-Aranio Acid he Best
Preserver OF Fabrics and COlors-
What Horso-Dealers Do.
New York Herald

New York Herald.1
There are imported annually in this
city from Cornwall. England. and from
the mines Of Austria. Hungary. and 10
hemIa. about 900 kegs of arsenic. which
a erage 400 pounds Of weight each.
MUSICIANS say that q dose Of two and q
half grains Of arsenious acid is pretty GER.
tain to prove fatal A little simple tigur
ing will therefore show that If the impOr-
la,ions Of q single year were divided up
INTO e ual portions corresponding in
number with the number Of inhabitants
in the nited States. and each man,
woman. and child took one of those por
tons on u given day, human life would
on that day cease 10 exist in the territory
now co cred by the stars and stripes. In
reeent years the importation has rapidly
increased. and the fact that numerous
cases of a~rsenical poisoning appear from
to time on the police records and be-
fore coroner 9 iuries renders an inquiry
des .rable as to the purposes to which the
enormous shipments of this deadly min.
eral are applied.
A reporter visited several of the great
drug importing houses. and consulted
chemists in reference to this matter. All
admitted that the quantity of arsenic
used for medicinal purposes Is insignit-
cant, aud that the bulk of the importation
10 used for manufacturing, preserving,
decorating and beautifying purposes.
some Of the chemists while. expressing q
desire not ~ be quoted, freely admitted
tina, heath and life were being endan
gered by a too free introduction OF the
pc son into articles of everyday use.
A chemist who is engaged in the serv.
Ices Of one of our leading importing
houses, ard who is an acknowledged au
thority among his brethren, said 1T is
no secret that the careless and unskillful
handling of arsenic and arseaical prepara-
tons result. In serious illness and in heavy
loss OF life every year."
lis ii not o fact that arsenic in one
shape or another is making inroads into
fashionable households year after Year,"
This can not he disputed. Arsenic
acid is he very best preserver not only Of
fabrics. but Of colors. and it is but natural
that decorators should take some risks in
using II. In many of our fashionable
mansions the bright c0lors on the wa Is
are made fast by arsenic. the same may
be 81 d Of the car pets and tapestries, and
OF the gaudy. tinted robes which have q
fascination for some young ladies'.
does the presence OF arsenic In an
oPui hSSCoodi ny ihlplJ tudJ ~ huo
be an unhealthy place of abode?"
MOT OF nccesslt, Still, l myself would
not care TO sleep in such a room. Odors
may be given out that are sure TO sicken
the stomach if the work is unskilifuliy
done. In m opinion this accounts for a
good deal of the debility and nervous all
nents that pr>.al in fashionable circles
here aud elsewhere. Quite recently q
woman lost her eye.sight in this city
while cleaning a carpet that was found 10
have its color fastened with arsen,c l
do not be ieye any physician would main
lain that ii was proper to place such q
carpet for use n any room
Are the dan GERS of using arsenic prep.
arations fully recognized by the manu-
facturers who u ,c them"
"Ihey certainly snoa.d be there is no
excuse tor ignorance IN q matter Of this
X nd. 1t is III business to import aud
sell cur goods under roper sa eguards,
after that all IL responsibility enus.
y there dangers in the preparation Of
the article for the market
1.-The preparation Of arsenious acid Ia q
most hazardous occupation. The work.
men employed genela!iy de before tine
age # ~. and their mean term OF liz
rune from 80 to 81 years They are com.
PEELED to avoid alcoholic drinks, aud to
live prir cipa ly on leguminous vegetables.
with plenty Of butter. taking very little
meat, and that fat To each man Two
z asses of olive oil are administered daily. {"
To what extent is the drug used as .
med .cine?"
a very small fraction of the importa.
ton is used for that purpose. 1t is used
as q tonic occas onally, and actresses use
ii 10 a pretty considerable extent to i'm
part a bright hue to the complexion AID
luster to the eyes When once used for
that purpose il must be taken right along
or the young lady will ind that not only
her dazzling vision but her bodily
energies will melt away with incredible
speed. Horse dea'e rs know a thing or
two about arsenic. and they also use it ="
=" or what purpose?"
"Take an old railroad horse that has
become emaciated in the service, or a
broken-down racer, and dose him with
arse ic under the advice of a veterinary
surgeon for a few weeks. his appetite
will come to him, his old hair will drop
OIL, and q new coat will come out, and
the animal will become as frolicsome as a
2-year.oId. In the horse market he is
bound 10 bring a good price and the
countryman who buys him will be proud
of his ~bargain-at least for q day or 81.
When the effect of the drug dies out the
horse falls away and he never regains his
strength"
lis arsenious acid used illegitimately
by manufacturers"
"Gn this uestion / think there can be
no doubt. There may he reckiessncss un-
der the guise of law in using the acid IT,
fasten colors on paper. carpets, tapestries.
or articles OF wearing apparel. and tech
nically speaking there may be nothing
Legitimate ia all this. 1t is pretty gener-
ally understood. however. that some con
f~ectioners use arsenical preparations in
coloring their goods. and this is certainly
q most serious ~offense. Cases of this kind
crop up from time to time. many OF
which result fatally. but ! know Of no
instance in which the offender received
the punishment he merited Arsenic ID
also used with dangerous results in paint
ing TOYS and In coloring trimmings for
tall dresses. All these things should be
stopped by the board Of health The
public have enough to engage their atten-
ton in dealing with the scores Of legiti.
mate feds of industry in which the poison
becomes a valuable agent ii handled with
scientific skill.