The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1885-09-28
PARTISAN FRAUDS.
OFFICIAL INVESTIGATION OF ADUL-
ITERATION OF FOOD AND DRINK.
The Municipal Chemical Laboratory. and
the Promptness of It's Analyses
How an OmciaI Certificate Is
Convictions.
-. 90 So Francisco Chronicle.

Paris Cor San Francisco Chronicle
M Leon Saw once remarked that there
was in France a monde des fraudeurs, OF
which think he meant to express the
fdea that there is over here lot of PEG
Die who avowedly live by fraud and are
none the less recognized by their fellow
citizens on that account, just as there are
circles which society recognizes and
honors under the names of monde diplo
matique, monde artistique, etc. But
there is also a monde de fTaudeurS which
lives and grows fat by the adulteration
things that we eat and drink, and who
thus not only rob but poison their fellow
citizens. Authorizations of this sort were
practiced in France from the earlies!
times, and in one Of his books iny
Vehemently condemns the wine merchants
of Marseilles for their practice of using
aloes to strengthen the weak stuff they
shipped to the Roman market.
Since Plinys day things kept on grow
ing worse and worse until finally they
reached such pass that it became ne-es
sary to provide means for the protection
of the public who were being poisoned. sc
to speak, on a wholesale scale by all that
they ate and drank. After several ;in,uc
cessful attempts a municipal chemical
labratory was established, and Operat Ons
were begun in 1881. Since then it has
done world of good. for every one has
the right to take to it a sample o. any
alimentary substance that he may pur
chase and have it analysed.
There are two kinds of analyses-Onc a
Qualitative. absolutely gratuitOus; the
other, a quantitative, for which there
is a fixed fee of S. In the first case the
laboratory restricts its report to he
quality of the substance; that is, to stat
ing whether it is good or bad. and whether
it is or is not in .urious to the health n
the second case this report is accom-; an ed
with statement of the various eleme;:; s
out of which the substance analysed 3
composed and the proportionate quaint
ties of each.
The modus Operandi for procuring OH
or the other of these Official certificates i,
the same All one has to do is to take The
sample to be analysed to the nearest com
mi,sionaire of police, who, after takinG
down the name and address of tl,e person
from whom the article was purchased and
price paid for it, gives a numbered recei Dt
and the applicant is told to call in fort
night for the report. If the analysis is t.
be merely qualitive, the receipt is printed
on white paper; if you have paid your 10
francs for quantitive analysis, you get
a pink receipt. The next morning the
prison van carries all the samples re-
ceived at each police station, along with
the rogues arrested over night, to the cen
trail station, AID the former are turned
over to NJ. Girard and his assistant chem
lists, who occupy large room at the back
end of one of the courts of the prefecture.
Few people in Paris have any idea of the
immense amount of work accomplished
In this laboratory, which is mounted
in a complete manner Thirty chemists
are kept hard at work all day: twenty
charcoal fires are glowing from morning
20 ,iUh 4
strange-shaped vessels of all sizes. Every
sample received is examined that same
day, and besides these the laboratory has
to analyZe great many other things sent
in by the prefecture of police, the octrOi
the prisons the hospitals, the military au-
thorities and the suburban municipalities
A sample comes into the hands of the
expert unaccompanied by any other indi-
cation than white or pink label on
which is the same number borne by the
receipt held by the depositor The
chemist not only does not know where it
came from, but is ignorant as to its
nature. His analysis completed. he
registers the result in book The head
OF the laboratory then makes out the re
port of the analysis. which is sent to the
commisslire of police for delivery to the
deposition and at the foot of this report is
printed the following note: "Any person
using the above for the purpose of in ,ur
ing the reputation of any one will be
guilty of the misdemeanor of defama-
ton.
This is the end of the matter if the
sample examined is all right, but if any
adulteration or fraud of any kind has
been discovered in it the head of the
sends two inspectors to The
man from whom the article was pur-
chased by the depositor. There are forty
five nf fhocn ircnanF0Fc on6 fhoxy al
graduates of medical or pharmaceutical
college, or are students in their third
year, who have passed prior to their aji-
pointment special examination In chem
lstry. They are all commissioned as com
de police, and have authority to
call in the assistance of the police in max
Ing such searches as they may deem nee
esSary.
They rarely have occasion to resort to
extreme measures, for shopkeepers know
better than to make their case worse Ivy a
useless resistance, and allow them to
take pc: session of the samples they are in
search of, that is the samples of al the
articles which seem to them suspicious
looking. Zach sample is divided into two
equal parts; these are sealed up and signed
by both the commissioners in the presence
Of the shopkeeper, who then adds his
signature. This done they proceed to q
the result of which is recorded, and every.
Thing that the proprietor of the shop sees
1T to say in explanation is also taken
down in writing. One of the two samples
thus obtained is now carefully analysed
1t the laboratory and the other is sent
with the report of this analysis to the cor
reciiOnal police court.
..cre the duties of the laboratory come
10 an end; its head has no power to insii-
'ute criminal proceedings against the d
honest shOpkeeper; his role consists of in
1icating TO the court that misdemeaaor
has. in his opinion, been committed and
N furnishing the evidence on which the
opinion is based Unless the shOpkeeper
has made an avowal. the court now or
1ers another analysis by its own experts
Of the samples seized and the case fol
lows the ordinary routine; if finally con
victed, the accused is punished by an i'm
prisonment of from three months to two
years and a fine which cannot exceed Oh
francs. and copy of the sentence is
posted up on the door of his shop.
A Fatal Month.
chicago Tribune.l