Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-02-11
PARTISAN FRAUDS.
OFFICIAL INVESTIGATION or AouL-
ITERATION OF FOOD AND DRINK.
The Munic. pal Chemical Laboratory. and
the PromPtness Of Its Analyses
How An Official Certificate Is
nvictions.
Traris Cor. San Francisco chronicle.

NJ Leon Say once remarked that there
was in France a monde des fraudeurs, by
which | think he meant TO express the
idea that there is over here lot of peO-
pie who avowedly live by fraud and are
none the less rec 'gniled b. their fellow
citizens on that account ust as there are
circles which society recognizes and
honors under the names of monde diplo
matiuue, monde artist ue, etc But
there is also monde de fraudeurs 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 Adulterations Of this sort were
practiced in France from the earlies.
times, and in one of his books Pliny
vehemently condemns the ine'merchants
of Marseilles for their practice of using
aloes to strengthen the weak stuff they
shipped TO the Roman market
Since Plinys day things ept on grow
ing worse and worse until finally they
reached such pass that it became nee es
sary TO provide means for the protection
of the public who were being poisoned so
to speak ON wholesale scale by all that
they ate and drank. After Sc 'eral unsuc-
cessful attempts municipal chemical
lahratory was established. and operations
were begun in 1881. Since then il has
done world of good for every one has
the right to take to il sample of any
alimentary substance that he may pur-
chase and have it analysed
There are two kinds of analyses-one a
Qualitative. absolu' Fly gratuiious: the
other. -qusntitat.ve , for which there
is fixed fee of s. In the first case the
laboratory restricts its report to the
10 ,f sls h 4 lat IL esa
ing whether il is cool or bad aud whether
il is or is not in urious to the health In
the second case this report is accom- anied
with statement of the various elements
out of which the substance analyZed is
composed and the proportionate quaint,
ties of each.
The modus operandi for procuring one
or the other of these o J cial certificates is
the same. All one has 10 do is to take the
sample TO be analyZed to the nearest com
miSsiopaire of police, who. after taking
down the name and address of The person
from whom the article was urchased and
price paid for il, gives numbered receipt.
and the applicant is told to call in fort
night for the report. If the analysis is to
be merely qualitive, the receipt is printed
on white paper; if you have paid your 10
francs for quantitive analysis. you get
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
ual station. and 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.
ew people in aris have any idea of the
imme sc amount of work accomplished
in this laboratory, which is mounted
in complete manner. Thirty chemists
are kept hard at work all day: twenty
charcoal res are glowing from morning
TO night under innumerable retorls and
strange shaped vessels of all sizes Every
sample received is examined that same
day. and besides these the laboratory has
to analyze a great many other things sent
in by the prefecture of police. the oc;roi
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 u 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
e. sters the result in book. The head
of the laboratory then makes out the re-
port Of the analysis. which is sent 10 the
commiss ire of police for delivery to the
depositor 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.
ta 90 .l, H.
sample examined is all right. but il any
adullerarion or frau1 of any kind has
been discovered in it the head of the
laboratory sends two inspectors TO the
man from whom the article was pur.
chased by the depositnr. There are forty
five of these inspectors, and they are all
graduates IF a medical or pharmaceutical
college, or are students in their third
year. who have passed prior to their ap-
pointment a specia! examination in chem
istry They are all commissioned as com
missaires 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 by a
useless resistance. and allow them 10
take po session of the samples they are in
search Of. that is. the samples Of all the
articles which seem to them suspicious.
looking ach sample is divided into two
equa! parts: these are sealed and signed
by both the commissioners in the presence
of the shopkeeper, who then adds his
Signature. This done they proceed 10 a
summary test of the suspected articles
the result of which is recorded and every
thing that the proprietor of the shop sees
fit to say in explanation is also taken
down in writing One of the two samples
thus obtained is now carefully analyZed
at the laboratory and the other is sent
with the report of this analysis to the cor
rectional police court
Here the duties of the laboratory come
to an end; its head has no power TO insti-
tute criminal proceedings against the dis
honest shopkeeper; his role consists ofSn-
dicating TO the court that misdemeanor
has. in his opinion, been committed and
in furnishing the evidence on which the
opinion is based Unless the shopkeeper
has made an avowal. the court now or
ders 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 fine which cannot exceed 200
francs. and copy of the sentence is
posted up on the door Of his shop.