The morning call., 1892-05-20
A SHAMEFUL SHAN.
"QuakerS' Used in the Coffee
We Buy.
That Is THEIR TRADE NAME.
1 Lady Tells What She KNOWS About
the Frauds.
Even the Whole Berry BrOWned Coffee
Is Full Of the IileSt
AdulterantS.
THAT Is THEIR TRADE NAME.

eff the what-s-it coffee adulterant is the
same stuff that they use in the house l have
been working for / can tell you what it is. "
Mrs. Minnie lie Long smiled as she said
these words to The CALL reporters
Eyes; tell us, please" said The CALL
man.
"Well. it is old bread. musty barley and
dough made from the cheapest kind Of flour,
all Drowned to the color of coffee and then
! ground up and mixed with the coffee"
Are you quite sure about that?"
"Sure@ Mrs. Le Long laughed. "Oi
course l am sure. Why. I've seen that sort
| of thing done time and again. It's regu-
lar practice"
"What is the name OF the firm you worked
for2
ooh, wouldn't like to tell that You
/ wouldn't If you were me-"
'1n what capacity did you work for
them2"
"As a clerk. The adulteranis were made
on the floor above the Office. They are very
secret about it. They won't let anybody
into the room where ii is done"
us the adulterant compound used only in
ground cOtfee?"
"No, indeed. Why, they put it into the
brown coffee before it is ground, and sell it
that way, with the whole berries. Thou
sands Of pounds Of whole-b berry Drowned
coffee are sold every day in this city. A
great deal Is sent into the country, too. l
know what l am talking about"
Mrs lie Longs handsome face looked
very determined as she spoke. She is a
young woman who works in an Office at the
corner of Kearny and Market streets. She
was asked how she came TO talk so freely
about tile matter.
IT'S because l think It a downright
shame" she said, her eyes flashing fire.
| 1T is the worst Kind Of a swndle, and it's
going on all the time. Besides. know that
the ingredients are unWhOles0me, and the
men who aduteTate the coffee know 1T, too.
| am glad HE CALL has taken the matter
Up. l feel sure il is bound 10 do good. as it
viii arouse the people and make them de-
mand good coffee from the dealers"
How can the adulteTants be mixed with
the whole-Gerry Drowned coffee, and not
shOw?" asked the reporter.
Easily enough. People don't look care
fully at Drowned coffee when they buy
it. Most people don't look at it at all
They feel sure when they ask their grocer
for roasted coffee and see him grind il right
before their eyes that it is all right But it
isn't; it's full Of Qaakers."
'Quakers?"
"0b. yes, I forgo: That is the trads
name Tor the aduiterantS used in Drowned
whoe-berTy coffee. They are made to look
like broken or imperfect berries sometimes,
but as a rule they are made in a machine
that turns them cut just the right size, and
with a slit down the middle, for all the
world like regular coffee, only they are pot
coffee at all"
Mrs. LIE Long talked in this interesting
strain for some time, and convinced the re-
porter OF the unWholesOmeness Of The adul-
teTants.
'If they were made from fresh material
1t would not bs quite 50 bad" said she,
although the practice is great fraud any
way; but they are made from the cheapest
nastiest stuff that can be found in the way
Of OLD -four. musty bread and material Of
that sort"
DO you know anything about coffee
gTeening?"
Indeed. do. I had the handling of the
bills Of the concern and know that there
were barrels aud barrels Of Paris green,
Gals bought from Whittier, Fuller & Co, for
use in coloTing coffee, so that it would sell
well in the green state.
Up IN the room where the adulterants
and eol0ring matter were used the workmen
have Tecipe-bJOk which tells the exact
proportions Of chemicals to use in eoIoring
coffee and tea. | have had access to the
book, unknown to any body, and l tell you
the mixtures that are there set forth in
black and white are enough to sicken per-
son. when they know they are to be put in
10 cups and drunk by unsuspecting people"
Mrs. LIE Longs testimony is direct. 1t is
from the inside. She knows what she is
talking about