Weekly independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 1887-1914, 1896-07-26
MAKE-BELIEVE 0 D
Adulterants Now Include Pulver-
led Cigar Boxes
Hardly Anything h We Eat Ii Aoso-
lutely Pure-wIncs and Liquors Are
Also Doctored to Increase the
rchan Profits.

leading uenlsrs III cocoanut were IN
creasing their profits by pulvcrizing
broken cocoanut shells II mixing with
ground pepper. When the attention of
the authorities was called to this swim
die the general quality of ground pep
per all over the country took II uddcn
rise. Trade price lists had hnrdly
reached Europe when some cntcrpris-
ing French and Italian manufacturers
began to send huge bags of "poirrettc,"
a compound made by grinding up al
mond shells, olive stones, cherry twigs
aud other ligncous fibers, favored with
Il few drops Of pepper extract. When
the wholesale groccrs and spice dealers
found out about ~"poivrettc" the loud
est dcnunciutions of the new ndultcr-
amt came from the lips of the worthy
cocoanut shell grinders.
At one time, when the sugar duty dc
pended upon the color of the article, be-
ing lowest upon the rnw, dark brown,
and highest upon pure white, the OIL
Gals noticed u sudden falling of in the
imports of the lutter and an immense in
rcasc in the former. To the eye md
jadged by ordinary standards the stuff
seemed the poorest and impurest raw
sugar imported. The chemists in Il
short time demonstrated hat the raw
sugar had been refined in the west
Indies, and then, to make the tariff
light, had been mixed with fine clny I'M
Ill it looked like mud. 1t only needed to
be dissolved in water, filtered. boiled
down, and then il was rs pure and white
n sugar as can DE produced.
In examining what was sold all
through New England us powdered Gin
naInon. Massachusetts chemists were
amazed to find that il did not
contain n particle of that bark,
and they could not discover
n n of the substance with which
powdered cinnamon is usually adult
t"ratcd. Finally. in the red powder.
they found something gwen. which
turned out Ia ~ n fragment of an in
tcrnal revenue stamp, such iS is used
:nr tobacco. This gave the clcw. and en-
aided them To show that the mysterious
stuff WAS old cigar boxes. dried and
Ground up and favored with a few
drops Of essential oil. The authorities
not only published the discovery forth
with. but attacked the brand So vigor.
omsly that in the next month all in the
market had been contiscat"d or de-
Niroycd.
In Boston Il man has n machine which
takes the favoritc fool of that city.
splits each bean into two grains. chm
r"ls and finishes these 80 much Ike
'"iicc that when roasted they deceive
~" average grocer. In Chicago nuuthcr
commercial crook has a nuCh.u,. hich
E'"hcS II rolS; coffee bean out Of "onga.
md damaged wheat flour. Tn" dies
r hicli cut out the grains are SO veil
.r~Inirivcd that out Of 200 no two arr
alike. .
Sophisticated wines and liquors were
formerly very common. One house IA
!iHmburg and one IN Bremen not very
'1ng ago did II large business with the
I niicd States. They were quite homes,
~ their dishonesty, md spared the gov
'rurI"nt 10y announcing IN their bills
Of lahinE that their cham;ra"ur was
"~chrhouatcd gonScbcrry." 'hrir Old
r"%nac Favored with 'ppiatn spirit"
or industrial alcohol and their len.
"di"iinc "mcdic;naI cordial" They left
the lying to the American customers,
knowing, probably, that ;Ic uc,, world
- far superior in this regard Ia the old
world.
In spite OF the chcapncssS and whole
s0mcncss Of American wines. the Off
ciils occasionally run dowu people who
make n scant livelihood by corrvound.
ing poor limitations. The New York
board of health. FOR example. found Il
"~rincyard" in the cellar Of an old ware
nnu,s -. a. -.-. II IT.
ter. IL consisted Of - lot Of old huS ~
heads, in which the proprietor wns
fc"rmcnting damaged raisins and de-
CnNcd curTants. The resulting wine.
after being filtered and fortified. was
then altogether vile. The officers threw
several gallons into the and ar.
rested tho v%iDtncr. Ills defense was
novel, IL not ludicrous. lie said: az
am n gentleman and Il Christian. Tint
vino mhy not seem good. but H. IL
splendid. And ! wish it, distinctly un.
dcistood that il In respectable, because
] sell IL to 1000 churches for commun-
ion wine"
In the manufacture OF j%cIlies, confcc-
iioncry and bonbons the soul of ndnl-
tcrntiOn rum riot. 4 chcnp crnb-npplc
J'llN IlUuC IU W" i"tNt '" hpIl Nv
the trade. generally consists OF water,
glucose, burned sugar, cider vinegar,
oil of vitrol and vegetable gclntinc.
II is sold ms cheap as five ccnts n glass,
and IL said TO cost lees than three cents.
the turnbleri included. or the Turkish
fg paste, Arabian delight md jnjuin
PASTE. mich Of which was once and nh
OF which IL still believed 10 br importc,I.
nearly every ounce is made in the great
manufacturing cities OF the country.
or 200 brands OF chocolate, plain or
confectionery, examined officially. not
~ are pure. Sugar, starch. glucose.
terra nlba. bnryt,1. brown ochrc, clay,
Venetian brown and other ndnltcrn-
tons are added to IL, until In some cases
There is not more than IL Js,r cent. Of
the genuine article IN what Is offered
under It's name. Some years ngo, In
the factory OF II of the largest
ihakcr In this country. The board Of
health found n ton of Venetian brown
IN the work room, with the workmcn
busy mixing IL in tho machines with
the Observation-Disclosures Times.
PRoP. SVEN LOvEs. tho Swcdisl
Zoologist. who died recently In Stool,
holm. had the luck 10 bc selected ms t,