New-York tribune., 1891-09-25
SCAN THE GRAPES YOU EAT.
PARIS GREEN Is on MANY BUNCHEs.
THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT sEIzEs BASKETS VI
THE POISONED FRUIT.


THE POISONED FRUIT.
1,,..u, =, Oh. Health DEPARTMENT excited yes
,erdav bv the discovery that many Of the grapes l
80 - cola In the city were coated with poison
rs substance and before sanitary inspectors h
.an,tarv poicemen were Fastening 10 the fruh ""'o
honses 20 destroy the poisoned grapes UT pro'0 t
sale of them until the full extent oil the usnser
nubHc had been ascertalned by analysis INC
for the timely discovery Of the danger oeiopss
citizen whose name kept secret al the once " '
ueaIth Board yesterday. lie went u the oinoe oh
n,dnosdav afternoon carrying some punches OF Con
cord grapes. the stems of which were coated WIN.
,,snlcious green substance. He said that ne "ae
noticed the coating only on grapes oil ING ~ -
variety and had not seen IL on those grapes u"'' ~
vear II was his belief that the grapegroWers III Ho
Hudson River valley were using Paris green 70 NIL
Insects on the vines, just ms 1"rInels use" "'' f
to extcrminate potato bugs
Tho cranes were sent to Ernst Lederlc, the actlng
chemist Of the department in the absence Of Dr. Mar
fin for examination. Yesterday morning Mr' houoii0
and his assistant Mr.. Weeks, examined the co'tn'S on
the crnpe-sems and found that i contained copper
They came I the CONCLUSION, without coHpieOhs MI
naivsis that the coating was the residue Of solution
~ sulpbate Of "copper" used to destroy the phyoNea
that have attacked Concord grapes in the HUDSON RIVER
valley this year. Mr.. Ledeile went TO consult fies-
dent Wilson, IF the Health Board early Ia the loro
noon and told him OF the discovery Mr' "no
called sanitary Superintendent Ewing and CmeI SAN
ary Inspector Bullsd, and ordered an immeui"'e in
vestigatlon to ascertain how extensive was the so VI
the poisoned grapes in the city 1t was decided also
to seize and destroy such grapes as were iouu " oo
coated with the poisonous solution.
Mr Weeks and his assistant, accompanied by
sanitary inspectors and policemen "ent do"h ""h
to begin their Investigations at the wholesale lruI
warehouses On their way they seized wagon lO'Nl
of gapes at the store of w. H. Becker at Mott ana
rkr lilo g.,fH
already poisoned grapes which they found on the
stands Of italian fruit ven1ers here and there.
Late I'm the afternoon, when Mr.. Ledere went to
the Office of the Health Board to make report 10
Commissioner Bryant he said that only about seventy
fve baskets Of poisoned grapes had Deeh Iouu hl
the wholesale stores. The dealers had been warned
not to sell any grapes or which tile poisonous
coating could be detected and they had promised 10
DESTROY all such grapes that shipped to them.
1t was ascertaned that the poisoned grapes came from
Ulster County y. V. where the phyDoxcra have
attacked the Concord grapes and nave threatened 10
destroy the crop. Mr. Lederle thought that there
would be no serious danger to the public, because the
sale of poisoned grapes would be stopped
As the poison appears only On the stems
and occasionally the skins the pulp Oh
grapes probably is rot affected. thorough wash
ing of the grapes before eating probably will prevent
sickness The records in the Bureau of Vital staus-
tics show that the mortality in the city has been low
recently, and no complaints Of sickness from the
poison on grapes have been received at the Office OF
the Health Board.
An analysis Of the substance found on the grapes
will be made to-day
There was considerable talk among the handlers OF
grapes yesterday afternoon when the action OF the
Health Board officers learned of. G.. s. Palmer
of No Reade-st said he felt sure that the mineral
matter found on the grapes and stalks was simply
the remains OF the compound issued by the Govern
melt for the destruction Of the phyloxera, and
which was perfectly harmless, being simply sulphur
This opinion however, not entertained by other
fruit merchants F.. L. Goodsall, Of No 1O1 Park
Place said that there doubt that small pro-
portion of the grape growers had been using solution
OF Kill the parasites on their vines lie
had that received 5000 baskets from the country
and of those he was certain 5000 were without any
taint; he was reucent about the other thousand
Mr. Brower of Brewer & Co.. No. 40 Barclay ST. was
of the opinion that either copperas Paris green had
been used by some growers In washing their vines.
curious learned OF at the store OF Inomas
p. Wallace d Co.. No 1877 Reade-st basket OF fruit
which they had sold early in the morning TO retail
dealer had been ordered 10 be returned by te health
officers but the firm had resold the basket, as uere
was no order TO say that IL had been condemned me
grapes were seen by a Tribune reporter. They were
dotted by tiny specks of yellow while the stems had
matches on them that were suspidousy like verdigris
For the next day or two, until the inspectors have
tborouG--S -overhauled the grapes now In the city,
IL would be as we'll for the fruit eater to let the grape