Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-07-27
with which powdered cinnamon is usually
adulterated.

with which powdered cinnamon is usually
adulterated.
OLD CIGAR BOXES GROUND UP.
Finally in the red powder they found
something green, which, under the micro
scope, turned out to be a fragment of an in
ternal revenue stamp, such as is used for to-
bacco. This gave the clue and enabled
them to show that the mysterious stuff was
old cigar boxes, dried and ground up and
favored with few drops of essential oil.
The imposition was so outrageous that the
authorities not only published the discovery
| forthwith, but attacked the brand SO vigor-
ously, that in the next month all that there
was in the market had been confiscated and
| destroyed. The action Of the officials is said
to have cost the guilty makers over $40, 600.
The artifces in this field are numberless
and the ingenuity and even genius at
times displayed in cheating are simply
wonderful. In Boston a man has machine
which takes the favorite food of that city,
splits each bean into two grains, channels
and finishes these so much like coffee that
when they are roasted they'll deceive the
average grocer. In Chicago, another COM
mercial crook has a machine which makes
roast coffee bean out of coarse and dam
aged wheat -four. The dies which cut out
the grains are SO well contrived that out of
200 no two are alike. The bean-coffee is
sold chiefly in New England and Canada,
the wheatpaste coffee in the West and
Southwest. The Government, whether Fed
eral or State, does not interfere with these
preparations, because although arrant frauds
upon the consumers, they are wholesome
foods rather than otherwise.
HONEST IN THEIR DISHONESTY.
Sophisticated wines and liquors were for
r11ar w lint of hava
become very rare. One house in Hamburg
and one In Bremen not very long ago did
large business with the United States. They
were quite honest in their dishonesty and
spared the Government by announcing in
their bills of lading that their champagne
was "carbonated gooseberry," their old cog
mac favored potato spirit" or industrial
alcohol" and their benedictine medicinal
cordial" They left the lying to the Ameri-
can customers. knowing probably that the
New World is far superior in this regard to
the Old World. Barring brandy, of which
two-thirds is fraudulent, it no longer pays
to import limitations and adulterations. The
false wines will no longer compete with the
vintages Of California, Ohio, Missouri and
New York. The liqueurs have gone large
ly out of fashion, and even the sale Of the
imitation cognac and otard has fallen way
down on account, partly, of the excellence
of American brandy and partly the in
creased popularity of rye and bourbon all
over the land.
In spite of the cheapness and wholesome
ness of our native wines, the officials occa-
sionally run down people who make scant !
livelihood by compounding poor limitations. |
The New York Board of Health, for ex- |
ample, found vineyard" in the cellar of |
an old warehouse in the heart of the bust |
ness center. 1t consisted of lot of old |
hogsheads in which the proprietor was fer |
menting damaged raisins and decayed cur |
rants. The resulting wine, after being |
filtered and fortified, was not altogether |
vile. The officers threw 10, 900 gallons into |
the sewer and arrested the vintner.
THE CULPR1T's NOVEL DEFENSE.
His defense was novel, il not ludicrous. |
He said: 81 am a gentleman and Chris |
tian. That wine may not seem good, but is |
splendid. And wish it distinctly under |
stood that it is respectable, because sell it |
to a thousand churches for communion |
wine"
In the manufacture of jellies, confection-
cry and bonbons the soul of the adulterator,
runs riot. A cheap crabapple jelly made |
in New York, but sold by the trade, gener-
ally consists of water, glucose, burned
sugar, cider vinegar, oil of vitriol and veg
etable gelatine. 1t is sold as cheap as cents
a glass and is said to cost less than 3, the
paste, Arabian Delight and jujube paste,
much of which was once and all of which
Is still believed to be imported, nearly every
ounce is made in the great manufacturing
cities of the country. 1t is cheap and coarse
and is made from wholesome ingredients by
powerful machinery. 1t contains nothing
but glucose, starch, little flavor and lit
lie coloring, These are cheap and steam
power is cheap. For this reason the falsifer
Of the past who used sugar and terra alba
for materials and hand labor in their elab.
oration is unable to compete in this line of
goods.
1t is very different with chocolate, plain
,r confectionery, whether imported or do
nestle. OF 200 brands examined officially
not 20 were pure. Sugar. starch, glucose,
ezra alba, barytes, brown ocher, clay,
venetian brown and other adulterations are
added to it until in some cases there is not
more than Is per cent of the genuine article
n what is offered under its name. Recently
n the factory of one of the largest manu-
acturers in this country the Board of
Health found ton OF venetian brown In
he workroom, with the workmen busy mix
ng it in the machines with the chocolate.
The manufacturer, by the way, is one
whose standing and much-advertised claim
or patronage is Absolute purity and the
inest workmanship" The national Gov
rnment only takes notice of these decep-
ions when any ingredient is poisonous or
xists in large enough amount to do harm.
The Boards of Health seldom give the
natter the slightest consideration.
In conclusion it is but just to state that
he adulterer is in q minority, and that our
oods and drinks are good, fresh and whole
ONE nine times out of ten.
L. T. JERRYMAN