The Meeker herald., 1896-05-23
MAKE-BELlEvE FOOD.
Aduiterants Now Include Putvsr-
ICED Cigar Boxes.
Hardly Anythin9 That We Kas II Asss.
lutxly Parc-Wiass and Liqsoss Are
Also DoctorsA 70 Inefsass ths
Hsechaat's Rredts.

Hardly Anythtn9 That We Eoe - Ahoos
lut<ly Paro-Wiass aaa Liqsoss Arc
Also DoctorsA 70 Inessass tAs
Aseohsnt's Predta.
An analysis by the Massachusetts,
hoard Of health showed that severA
leading dealers In cocoanut were in
| ercas.ng their profits by pulvcrizing
broken cocoanut shells ind mixing with
Ground rcppcr. When the attention Ut
,he authorities was called TO this swim
Gle the general quality Of ground pep
per Ill over the country took q sudden
rise. Trade price lists had hardly
renchcsi Europe when some enterpris-
.ny French and Italian manufacturers
hcgan to send huge bags Of "poivrette." !"
compound made by grinding up al
'nopd shells, olive stones, cherry twigs
all other ligneous fibers. favored with
4 few drops of pepper extract. When
he wholesale groccrs md spice dealeIs
found ont ubout 'poivrette" the loud
est denunciutions of the new adulter-
ant came from the lips Of the worthy
cocoanut shell grinderA
At one time, when the sugar duty do
pended upon the color Of the article, be-
:rg iowest.upon the raw. dark brown.
and highest upon pure white, the on
ciaIs noticed sudden falling on in tho
imports OF the latter and an immense in-
crease in the former. To the eye and
j.dged by ordinary standards the stun
seemed the poorest and impurest raw
sngar imported. The chemists in q
short time demonstrated that the raw
sugar hod been refined in the west
Indies, and then, to make the tariff
light, had been mixed with fine clay un-
til it looked like mud. It only needed to
,bc dissolved in water. filtered, boiled
down, and then it was AZ pure and white
a sugar as can be produced.
In examining what was sold all
through New England as powdered Gin
nanon, Massachusetts, chemists were
alnazed to find that It did not
contain particle of that bark,
and they could not discover
trace of the substance with which
powdered cinnamon is usually adul-
teratol. Finally, in the red powder.
they found something green, which
turned out to be a fragment OF an In
tcrnal revenue stamp, such as Is used
FOR tobacco. This gave the clew, and en-
,iiIed them to show that the mysterious
stuff was old cigar boxes, dried and
yround up and favored with a few
not Only published the discovery forth
With, but attacked the brand so vigor-
ously that in the next month all in the
market had been confscated or de-
s.royet.
In Boston man has machine which
takes the fnvorite food Of that city,
splits each bean into two grains. chan
ncls and finishes these 90 much like
eoiree that when roasted they deceive
ne average grocer. In Chicago another
l -uT!InctG:nT crook has q machine which
makes roakt coffee bean out of coarse
ard damaged wheat -four. The dies
which cIt out the grnins are 10 we'll
1ntrived that out of 200 no two are
like.
Sophisticated wines and liquors were
formerly very common. One house in
hamburg and one in Bremen not very
long ngo did a large business with the
United States. They were quite honest
in their dishonesty, and spared the gov
| ernnent by announcing in their bills
Of hiding that their champagne woA
.'carbonnted goeseberry," their old
cognac favored with potato spirit"
or industrial alcohol" and their Ben
clictine medicinal cordial" They left
the lying to the American customers,
knowing, probably. that the new world
I. IS far superior in this regard to the old
world.
In spite of the cheapnees and whole
someness of American wines, the Off
] c:als occasionally run down people who
make a scant livelihood by compound
| ing poor limitations. The New York
board of health, for example, found .
vineyard" in the cellar of an old ware
house in the heart Of the business CEN
ter. It consisted of q lot of old hosas-
heads. in which the proprietor was
fermenting damaged raisins and de-
| cayed currants. The resulting wine,
| after being filtered and fortified, was
then altogether vile. The officers threw
several gallons into the sewer and ar
rested the vintner. His defense was
novel, II not ludicrous. He said: II
Inn . gentleman and Christian. That
wine may not seem good, but It u
| splendid. And wish it distinctly un-
tlerstood that 1t Is respectable, because
[ sell it to 1000 churches for commun-
ion wine"
In the manufacture Of 3ellies, confec-
tonery and bonbons the soul Of adul-
| ration runs riot. A cheap crab-apple
lily, made In New York, but sold by
Et'ic trade, generally consists Of water,
a'ncose, burned sugar. cider vinegar,
II of vitrol and vegetable gelatinc.
II is sold as cheap - i've cent? giaas,
md is said to cost less than three cents,
the tumbler included. OF the Turkish
fg paste, Arabian delight and jujube
| PASTE, much OF which was once and al
Of which is still believed to be imported,
l,nearly every ounce il made in The great
manufacturing cities Of the country.
OF 200 brands Of chocolate. plain Or
confectionery, examined officially. not