The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1890-07-26
COFFEE MADE OF FLOUR.

IT IS MANUFACTURED EXTENSIVE
" IN PHILADELPHIA.
It Il . Base Imposition, but When Gem
uine Coffee IL Mixed with It the Re-
suit Q Be Sold ut . Very Low Prioe.
There Is . Penalty for the Manufactures.
II Philadelphia gaining reputation az
the leading city of America in the manu-
facture of bogus coffeei
kilograms and other information recent
~ received seem to indicate that the city
has gained that notoriety. Chicago and
New York papers have been printing state
ments which nave named Philadelphia as
the place where large quantities of "coffee
beams are manufactured. The following
10 q telegram recently received from In
d~ianapolis:
''Tho citizens and board of health are
much exercised over q coffee fraud UNI
earthed here and traced to q wholesale
| dealer, who says he got it from an agent on
! Chestnut street, Philadelphia. The whole
| sale dealer showed this letter from the
agent:
"Dear sir-I send you by this mail q
sample of imitation coffee. This il q man
ufactured bean, and is composed Of flour.
You can easily mix Is per cent. Of this sub
stitute in with genuine coffee that ranges
in price from 20 to 22h cents, and it win
improve the flavor Of the same. It Rranu.
lates the same as coffee. II you deal with
us it will be in the most complete conf
dence. This "S. s." coffee Superior sub
stitute) is packed in barrels; weight about
40 pounds to the barrel. By the use Of
our bean you can increase your profits to
1heents per pound and improve the flavor.
Try q sample barrel; price, liz cents per
to postal cards."
directions. I would not show samples
even to employees"
A LITTLE DETECTIVE WORK.
Having learned from q leading coffee and
spice dealer of this city that a coffee bean
mandatory of considerable size was in
operation somewhere in North Philadel-
phia, q reporter started out disguised as a
dealer from the northwest, where he sold
coffee to the poorest class of Swedes and
Norwegians. He soon learned from other
dealers that four or five tons Of coffee
beans were being made each week in Phila-
delphia. Three or four different firms and
one coffee rooster referred the ''dealer from
the northwest" to Wexelberger & Sauer.
| coffee roasters, within a stones throw of
6tetson's hat factory. The informing cof-
tee master said that he was positive that
the manufacturer of the coffee bean lived
not far from Tenth and Jefferson streets;
"but," said the rooster, Ego to Mr.. Wexel-
berger, of Wexelberger & Sauer. He roasts
the bean, and will sell you all you want.
He can tell you who the manufacturer is,
and where his mill is. But you won't like
the stuff, because it is as hard as a brick.
especially after it is roasted"
The northwestern dealer approached Mr..
| Wexelberger in his little front Office one
forenoon. Conversation soon got down to
business, and Mr.. Wexelberger went
through all his grades Of coffee to the
cheapest. Then there was a little. lull
while the northwestern dealer struggled
with his principles. But he finally said
that his Swede and Norwegian customers
were a densely ignorant class of people
and very poor. They would pay only so
much for coffee. Mr.. Wexelberger smiled,
and reaching under a newspaper or some
such covering drew forth samples of the
coffee bean. roasted and unroasted. He
did not ~misrerresent the goods, but smiled
again in q mild German way as he said: II
guess that's what you want"
A FIRST RATE IMITATION.
"Well, what's thatf"
"An imitation, and a good one. Don't
you think soi You can mix it with any
grade of coffee. Perfectly harmless. It's
made of a -four PASTE"
The customer was delighted, and asked
If he could be put in communication
with the manufacturer. He learned that
he could not for some vague rea-
Sons. But MI. Wexelberger offered to
act az middleman, and procure for the
northwestern man any quantity at Is
cents per pound, or perhaps less If a large
quantity were bought. After another ear
nest effort to get the address Of the manu-
facturer the dealer took some samples of
the roasted and unroasted bean and left,
saying he would probably order about 500
pounds as soon as he heard from his part
ner.
The coffee rooster who referred the deal
er to Mr.. Wexelberger thought q certain
bread crumb a~dulteration, to be sold
ground, wa much better than the bean,
and offered to put the dealer in commune
cation with the Boston agent for the stuff.
VIVA THE Law CAN 1NFL1cT.
II the enterprising manufacturer who is
making at least $4,000 q year by inducing
retail tea and coffee dealers and others to
cheat his customers with his ''bean" were
brought to the bar Of justice he could be
punished severely. DR.. BENJAMIN Lee, sec
tetary Of the state board Of health, thinks
A. l.