The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1892-05-18
MICH STUFF TO DRINK.
4 Chemical " What-IS-It" in
Our Coffee.
IT is USED HERE BY THE TON.
Nobody Knows Exactly What Its In.
gradients Are.
IT is USED HERE BY THE TON.
4 Shameless Fraud on the Public = 1t
Costs but Little and Sells
Very High.

An Oakland factory turns out tons and
tons of coffee aduterant every week.
1t is filthy-looking stuff, being made of
any material that comes easiest to hand.
1t costs the coffee grinders 2A TO cents
pound.
1t is sold in ground coffee at 20 to 80 cents
a pound.
And the INSCRIPTIONS adulterators use
from 10 to so per cent Of the rank stuff IN
the eoffee they sell.
This is one of the trickiest practices
known to the trade here. with the sole ex-
ceptiOn of coffee greening, which TIE CALL
has thoroughly shown M.
| 1t is not easy to get samples OF the crude
adulterant
You cannot buy ii anywhere ia this city,
except when it is mixed with coffee.
The CALL, however, has managed to
secure several pounds of the vile stuff.
In appearance il is unS peakably nasty.
1t is of various shades Of brown, running
! from light to very dark.
When left to stand in water it precipi-
tates dirty grit. and colorS the water
| black, nasty color.
Its use in this city is very general.
All the grocery-stOres sell it-that is, all
| that buy ground coffee from manufacturers.
Here is what a man says who has earned
| his living by mixing II with coffee and
| grinding itup;
"Tye handled hundreds of tons of that
stuff. We call it coffee-componnd."
What is 1t made Of?' was asked.
Now you've got me. l know few Of
the ingredients, though. They go around
and buy UP all the spoiled figs they can get
hold Cf-those that are so sour and wOrmy
that they won't sell.
do they put them in the compound ?"
"Oi course they do Another thing is that
stuff they call ol-cake. 1t is made of liu-
seed after the oil has been extracted. They
don't take the kind thatth horses eat-that
would be too expensive-but they take the
dred-out kind, the sort that the oil-cake
manufacturers can't make any use oil ex-
cept as fertilizers"
What else is used"
Bran and screenings from 1ourmills;
nasty stuff that Is, just fit for hogs 10 eat.
Do yOu know | would no more drink a cup
of coffee made from the ground stuff that
the grOceIs sell than / would take
| drink from a sewer. LIS simply too nasty
10 think Of as beverage"
still you fix up tons of 1t Tor c0nsump-
ton by the public, do you?"
"Why. yes. That's what I'm paid to do.
II the boss told me to put in street sweep
ings I'd do it. A poor man has to live, you
know"
Are You sure that the materials you have
named are in these samples?" asked TIE
CALL man.
''Oh, no; net at all. There may be ground
hay and paper pulp in il for all | know.
There may be old shoes roasted and ground
up in it. There may be old rags and sacks.
spoiled m0lssSeS. sawduSt-anything at all.
THE CALL man showed the compound TO
several groeeTs, who said they had never
| seen anything like 1t before. Doubtless
they had not seen il in the crude shape, but
they had Draba blV SaRn pipntV Of il in ground
coffee.
"Whero did you get that stuff one man
asked. " II looks as If it might have
come out of stable"
why. that's cut-plug tobacco. isn't it?"
asked another
"SawdusI and sorghum" guessed man
| who felt dead sure" he had hit it.
Brown paper, ground with oats and
| bran and stuck together with glucose"
/ haZGrded another
| Streets weepings, compressed and deOdOr-
| lied, ;" said the man who felt most certain.
Dead oak leaves and mOasses," guessed
/ Valencia-Street grocer.
Ground hay mixed with licorice,"
! Yentured a MaTket-street coffee-seller.
! 4" Wood pulp and glue" was what a lead
| ing North Beach grocer thought it was.
Bran, charcoal and mOlasses, with pos
sibly a little ground stable-sweepings."
| hazsrded a coal-dealer
Redwood bark, ashes, flax seed and
| glue, guessed n0tel-keepeT.
"GrOund straw, glucose, ashes and plug
tobacco" guessed a cgar-dealer.
Rye, roasted and ground black figs and
mud" yentured another cigarman.
Oatmeal, sand, honey, mustard and
eucalyptus leaves, said rea-estate agent.
''Red clay, gum arabic, feathers and old
boots" was the guess of a railroad man.
Ground tule, molasses. adobe and print
ers' ink" thought Montgomery-Stree
tailor.
And so it went. No two could agree on
the ingredients Of the compound, and should
you see it you would say, mo wonder"
The CALL will have the stuff anayzed
The chemical what is It" which is
drunk az breakfast while you read your
! CALL will be subjected to searching exami-
! nation.
The CALL will do its best to yentilate this
shameless fraud on the public.
What are our market inspectors employed
! for if it is not to protect the people in such
/ ways as the seizure of these adulterants?
We pay city officials salaries to look out for
! such things, and then we pay 30 to 40 cents
pound for coffee" that is 20 TO so per
cent "Nha. is it."