The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-06-24

OIL the haDlt; Tor commerce." az tn
bard puts it, Must suffering droop should
snuff be found unworthy of our care, sine.
evory pinch of snuff we take helps trade
In some degree, as smallest drops of watel
make the vast unbounded sea- The pleas
ing lyrist omitted to tell his readers tina
snuff to be harmless should be made o.
genuine tobacco, and perhaps in his day
manufacturer were so devoid of guile tha'
they vended articles which really were o.
the substance and properties that they pro
fessed to be. 1t appears at this "fn d.
steele" epoch that larger and holder views
prevailed in some quarters as to tho ingre-
dients of which snuff should be composed,
and those who are still addicted to the prac.
tice Of making a dust hole of their. nostrilf
may read with editication, if o with com.
fort, the report of a case heard at the North
London police court on Wednesday, when
a wholesale dealer in snuff was summoned
by the excise authorities for having in
his possession 27O pounds weight of cut to.
bacco which contained foreign matter, and
rendered the possessor liable to a penalty
Of G2OO.
1t appears that at the end of April last an
exoiseman visited the defendants premises,
n there found two bags containing what
purported to be cut tobacco. The contents
of the bags were examined by another Off
Ger and of two samples produced at the po-
lice court one contained 70 per cent. of ash
or sand and the other 81 per cent. Inneither
bag was there more than between 10 and Is
per cent. of tobacco. the rest of the organic
matter consisting of wood. starch or stale
bread, straw, paper, coal, hemp and iute, all
most useful substances in their way. but
somewhat out OF place as componentS for
rappee or Lundy Foot. The defendant, to
whom the merit Of great candor must at
least be conceded, said that he had bought
this vile stuff at thirteenpence a pound, but
that it was not worth more than sixpence n
pound. A witness was also called to prove
that the bags were received earlier in the
month during the absence of the de-
PENDANT, and that the revenue officer was
the first Ierson to examine them. 1t was
also stated that the goods we're not up to
sample, and that since they had been con-
demned by the excise authorities an action
had been begun against the vendors for the
recovery of the value, which was estimated
at ia. The magistrate said that it would
make a material difference in the penalty he
should impose if this defense could be sus-
tanned, and the hearing of the case was adj
journed for this purpose. Here, then, the
matter rests for the present. We are quite
willing to believe that the defendant was in
nocent of any wish to adulterate his snuff.
and he probably gave thirteenpence a pound
for the trash detected by the excise officers,
which he himself declared not to be worth
sixpence, in the full belief that the mixture
would add a cheerful and harmless zest to
his "tabao a priser.' The contents of the
bags, it TRANSFERRED, were NOT up to sample;
the defendant was manifestly taken in. He
has brought an action against the vender.
What more could the poor snuff manufac-
turer do? 1t is the wicked vender who should
bear tho brunt of the unpleasant discovery
made conserving the secrets of the snuff
trade. The public, however, will naturally
be anxious to know, and will demand to
know, who the parties are who vend to
virtuous manufacturers of snuff the horri-
BILE rubbish which the excise officers found
in the bags purpotting to contain cut
tobacco. Who put the filthy stuff in these
bags; who made a profit by putting it there;
who are the adulterators, who at once de-
fraud honest manufacturers and the public
at large? If we are told that it is the COM
mon custom to mix dirt with snuff, all we
can say is that if such custom exist it is
high time that an act of parliament was
passed making the adulterators liable. not
only to heavy penalties, but to criminal
prosecution. Let us see how the law az to
the sophistication of snuff stands at pres
ent. The adulteratlon of these articles is
prohibited and otherwise provided for by
three statutes passed during the reign of
Queen Victoria. Manufacturers of tobacco
or snuff are prohibited from using or hay
ing in their possession sugar., honey, mo-
%lasses, %treac!e, leaves. herbs CIR plants, DOW
dered wood, weeds ground or %unground,
roasted grain. chicory. lime, sand, umber,
oohre, or anything carahle of being used
to increase the weight of tobacco and snuff.
under a penalty of goo; water being al
lowed in the manufacture of tobacco. and
water, salt and alkaline salts, as we'll as
Lime, in the fabrication of snuff. 1t np-
pears. however, from successive reports of
the commissioners of inland revenue that
the adulteration of tobacco and snuff is
still largely practiced. Tobacco is adulter-
nted with molesses, sugar, aloes, ~licoricc,
gum, cateohu oil, and lamp-black, ALUM,
leaves az rhubarb, %chicory, cabbage, bur
dock and coltsfoot, to say nothing of too
much salt and water: while snutfs are doc
tored with excess of alkaline salts, lime,
sand, ferruginous earths. fustic, torrefed
oat meal, peat-moss, ground velonia cups,
blchromate OF potash and chromate of lead.
There has never been. perhaps, a period
since the introduction of tobacco into Eu-
rope when snuff has not been mixed with
foreign matter; but the object of the up
right snuff manufacturer has generally
been to combine with snuff only such sub
stances as possessed n pleasant odor and
were not deleterious to the health. For OK
ample. the violet S%trasburg," fashionable
at the middle of the last century, consisted
of 'rapee," or ground tobacco. mixed with
bitter almonds reduced to a fine powder, to
which ambergris and attar-gul were added
as scents. Good old Queen Charlotte was
very fond of violet Strasburg.' but her
majesty was in the habit of adding a tea
spoonful of green tea to her box every
morning. Powdered carrot was also an in
Rredient in n cheaper snuff. and in others
bergamot and aloes were freely mixed. The
''cephalic snuff" WAS avowedly composed
of medicatad herbs, and was extensively
bought at the end of the last century from
a belief in it's efficacy in clear
ing the head of vicious humors. and I'M
parting clenrness TO the vision. There was
n revival of tho "cerhalio' mixture in tho
'Grlmston eye.snuf," popular some forty
years ago, and the inland reve-
nue.. we npprehend, would be tolerant of a
medicated snuff made from select herbs,
just NJ it tolerates medicnted herb Cigar
cites for tho treatment of asthma and
bronchitis. The case, however, is vastly
different when the public is asked to pur-
chase as a snuff mad from tobacco n hide
GUS compound in which there IL a maximum
OF Ii per cent. of the Indian we'd. the 70.
mainder consisting of ash, sand, wood,