St. Landry democrat., 1886-08-07
What Bogus Butter is Made OF

The following clipping from the El-
gin News and Advocate, QlD, will give
our people an idea of what is used in
manufacturing the butter which is sold
here in the winter season as choice Wes-
tern or creamery butter: 1t is only a
few days since that the writer had sent
to him from large soap factory at the
West, a sample of soap and sample OF
buuterine. The two go hand in hand
together. Why is butterlne mace
in soap factories? The reason IS
evident. 1t is because it can be made
cheaper there. If "the ham fat man,
brings in more grease than is wanted
for soap the surplus can be made into
butterine. If he brings in more than Is
wanted for butterine, the surplus can
be turned into soap: In this way the
two play into each others hands. The
process of bleaching and deodorjzing is
said to be about the same in each, the
same poisonous alkalius being used IN
each. If wrong in this | stand ready to
be corrected. 1t is a mistaken idea
that some have that butterine is never
made of anything but the purest leaf
lard and best creamery butter 1t may
be that soap manufacturers buy pure
leaf lard to use in their business. 1t so,
| have never heard of it. Butterlne cali
be made of soap grease, and believe
is made OF soap grease, and sometimes OF
the most disgusting kind. The bleach
ing and deodorlzlng process 1t is put
through makes it lmpervlOus to taste or
smell. The price it is sold ut, it being
sold just as low when pure butter is 40
cents per pound as when it is 20, proves
that but little, if any butter enters into
its composition. 1t having no smell or
taste of its own, all that is needed is
that the little smell and flavor it has
shall be that of butter, which is obtain
ed by churning it in butter-milk or
milk. 1t is then colored and sailed to
suit the eye and taste, christened by
some fancy name. and put upon the
market as butter. When the butterine
men were buying up all the Elgin but
ter they could get at forty cents per
pound, a drummer from neighborlng
city tried to induce me to buy what he
called his fancy brand OF butterine at
twelve cents per pound, agreeing to
mark it "Snow Flake Creamery
Morning Star Creamery" Rising Sun
Creamery or by any other high sound
ing name | might select, telling me he
was selling it all over Washington to
dealers, who in turn sold it for butter,
lie IIId MIX II buI-
ter" or any other name they chose to
have put on it.
But the worse remains to be told of
this disreptuable business. Formerly
dead animals were collected and buried
at heavy expense. Now they COM
mand premium, even to rabid dogs.
What becomes of them , Let the boil
ing establishment, and the butterine
factories answer. Horses dying of
CHAMBERS OF pneumonia, and dogs dying
with rabies are all earted to the boiling
establishment, where the fat is extract
ed, put in barrels and shipped away.
This diseased fat, after being pnt in
shipping order, is said to look as clean
and nice as any other. What becomes
of it /? Where does it go, and for what
purpose is it used Is it marked to dis
tinguish it from any other fat | am told
by one who has been in the business,
what assurance have we that it does
not find its way to the butterine facto-
ries? None"