The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1891-12-11
MApDENED BY HUNGER.
A Famine-s Stricken Partisan Mob Cries
Out for iiiead.

Famine-Stricken Partisan Mob Cries
Out for biead.
A Ahowling, surging mob Of gaunt and
ianine-strcken Parisiansrushed through
the streets Of laris in the last quarter
of the eighteenth century, hurting anath-
emas on the head Of the Ministerol AYE
ricaiure and muttering curses on the
aristocrals who whirled by in their gor-
grous equipages. The corn supply had
tailed, and the improvident parisians, al
ready ground to the earth by the oppres-
sions OF the nobility, were the first to
SITTER from the scarcity. They sentdep-
uiallons to the King to pray lor rehei
rom the gnawing pangs OF hunger
Trade WAS totterlng, and the pristine
| glory Of France seemed likely to he over.
Ewhelmed on the rock toward which the
corrupt nobility had driven the ship Of
state. Little was done to relieve the
famine, and the means OF the hungry
ones broke out into sulen roar tha'
boded no good 10 the throne Of the Ca
pets, The echo Of that terrible eiy
Preached the palace at Versailles, where
7 Marie Antoinette, the beautiful wife OF
Louis NyI., held her court. When sh
heard the threatening voices of her sui
fering subjects, she asked what the!
wanted.
"rhey are CRYING for bread which they
7 eannutget,' = answered her courliers
''li they cannot buy bread" muir
INJURED the dreamy and imp'aclnai
Uneau, "wby DO they not buy cake-it
yis cheapero gA?"
i This answer was carried TO the mob,
and a dcrisive cheer went up from the
hungry crowd. Mutterings against the
luxury Of the rich while the poorwere
starving swelled little by little. Acry was
raised, Down with the baker and thu
+ bakeris wieW and the parisians, hun
CRY as they were, caught the Significance
OF the nicknames This was the first
blow struck at the monarchy. Louis
XVI. and Marie Autoinette were known
10 tine parisian mob as the baker and
the bakers wife, and the unfortunate
answer of the Queen when her subjects
wore starving was remembered until the
ztiIotine had severed the destinies Of
the house Of Capet from those Of France.
Little more than one hundred years
later another cry is heard. This time in
4 America. tits not a cry for quantity Of
bread, but OF quality. Everywhere aliul-
teration ia common in articles Of fJod.
and especially the twinpoisons ammonia
AMI alnm are used TO adulterste our bak-
/ ing powders by the greedy and merciless
manufacturers. MANY States have strin-
gent laws on food adulteration, yet they
iail to check the evil. It is on the in
crease. The last report Of the Dairy
and Food Commissioner Of New Jersey
shows AZ per cent. or nearly half OF the
| foo preparations submitted to him for
examination were adulterated.
Sometimes the adulterants used were
fonnd harmless, and in these cases the
purchaser would be only swinded, but
| in MANY instances rank poisons were
found in articles Of everyday consnmp'
tion. A large percentage OF canned veg
etables such as peas and string beans,
were fonnd to contain copperas to give a
green color. and a number Of baking
powders had been doctored with am.
monia to give an artificial leavening
strength and SO permit Of carrying more
1 waste matter. In these cases there .s
not only fraud, but danger to the public
health.
In view Of the failure to enforce ex-
isting laws the recent United States gov
ernmentrepOrt recommends the passage
of law in every State renlirinp the
manufacturers Of all food preparations
to print on every label a list Of all the
ingredients the article contains. This
goes straight to the point. It is not even
necessary to wait for the Legislatures to
act; BJards Of Health Of the larger cities
can take this matter up and make a
Thorough examination Of all the food
preparations and expose such manufact-
nrers as are found adulterating our daily
food, and so protect the public.