Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-02-01
POISON BY THE TON.
ENOUGH ARSENIC IMPORTED TO DE-
POPULATE AMERICA
A small A0ount Used for Medicine
Purposes -Arseaic Acid the Best
Prsserver of Fabrics aud Coiors-
What Horse -Dealsrs Do.


New York Herald
There are imported annually In this
city from Cornwall. England. and from
the mines of Austria, Hungary. and Bo.
hemia. about I 900 kegs Of arsenic. which
average 400 pounds of weight each.
! Musicians say thai dose of two aud .
half grains OF arsenIous acid Is pretty Ger
tain to prove fetal A little simple figur-
ing will therefore show that If the impor
tations of single year were divided up
into e ,usl portions corresponding in
number with the number Of Inhabitants
in the United states. and each man.
woman, and child took one of those pOr
tons ON given day, human life would
on that day cease TO exist in the territory
now co cred BY the stars and stripes In
recent years the importation has rapidly
increased. and the fact that numerous
cases of arsenical poisoning appear from
time to time on the police records and be-
fore coroner jur!es renders an inquiry
desirable ss to the purposes to which the
enormous shipments Of this deadly min
ersi 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 purpOss is insignifi.
cant. and that the bulk Of the importation
Is used for manufacturing. preserving.
decorating and beauiifying purposes.
Some of the chemists while, expressing q
desire not 70 be quoted. freely admitted
that health and life were being endan
gered BY too free introduction of the
po.so 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 arsenical prepsra
tons result in serious illness and in heavy
loss of life every year.
is il not q fact that arsenic in one
shape or another is making inroads into
fashionable households year after year,
This can not lie disputed Arsenic
acid is the very best preserver not only Of
fabrics, but of colors. and it is but natural
that decorators should take some risks in
using IT. In many of our fashionable
mansions the bright colors on the va Is
are made fast by arsenic the same may
be said of the carpets and tapestries, and
of the gaudy, tinted robes which have
fascination for some young ladies'
-Does the presence of arsenic In an
apartment necessarily imply that it must
he an unhealthy place Of abode
Not of necessity: still. myself would
not care to sleep in such . room. OdOrs
may be given out that are sure TO sicken
the stomach il the work is unskillfully
done In nv opinion this accounts for q
good deal Of the debility and nervous all
ments that pr vail in fashionable circles
here and elsewhere Quite recently q
woman lost her eye sight iu this city
while cleaning carpet that was found 10
have its colors fastened with arsenic l
do not believe any ply sicisn would main
tain that il was proper to place such
carpet for use in any room
Are the dangers Of using arsenic prep
arations fully recognized by the manu-
facturers who use them,'
"They certainly should be; there is no
excuse for ignorance in q matter Of this
kind. 1t is our business TO import and
sell our goods under proper safeguards,
after that all our responsibility ends
Are there dangers in the preparation Of
the article for the market.
The preparation Of arsenious acid ID 6
most hazardous occupation. The work
men employed generally die before the
age Of ~ and their mean term of life
runs from 10 to 81 years Fhey are COM
Hve principally on leguminOus vegetables.
with plenty Of butter. taking very little
meat and that fat To each man two
glasses Of olive oil are administered daily
TO what extent Is the drug used IS .
mediciner-
"A very small fraction Of the imporia.
ton is used for that purpose. 1t is used
as . tonic occas .onally, and actresses use
II to pretty considerable extent 70 i'm
rAAr - asnvtA h.
luster TO the eyes When once used for
Or the young lady will find that not only
her dazzling vision but her bodily
energies will melt away with incredible
speed Horse dealers know q thing vr
two about arsenic. and they also use il
1For what 2urposefn
take an old railroad horse that has
become emacisted in the service or .
broken-down racer. and dose him with
arsenic under the advice of . veterinary
surgeon for few weeks His appetite
will come to him. his old hair will drop
OIL, and Q new coat will come out and
the animal viii become as frolicsOme as Q
2-year-old 10 the horse market he IL
bound 10 tting . good price and the
countryman Who buys him will be proud
of his bargain-at least for day or 50.
When the effect of the drug dies out the
horse falls away and he never regains his
strength
Is arseniouS acid used illegitimately
by manufacturers.
.On this Question l think there can be
no doubt There may be recklessness un-
der the guise of law 10 using the acid to
fasten colors on paper carpets tapestries.
or articles Of wearing apparel. and tech.
nicslly speaking there may be nothing
illegitimate in all th!a 1t is pretty gener-
ally understood. however. that some con-
fectioners use arsenical preparations in
coloring their goods and this is certainly
q most serious 0fense Cases of this kind
crop up from time to time. many Of
which result fatally. but I know Of no
instance in which the offender received
the punishment he merited Arsenic 10
also used with dangerous results in paint
ing toys and in coloring trimmings for
ball dresses All these things should be
stopped by the board of health The
public have enough 10 engage their stten-
ton in dealing with the scores of legiti.
mate fields of industry in which the poison
becomes 4 valuable agent IL handled with