Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1897-10-21
Danger in Pots and Pans.

ings. The microbe has come to us
within the last 40 years, and is here
to stay, says the Brooklyn Eagle. We
have to filter and boil everything be-
fore using or eating it, in order to de.
stroy the bacilli; we do not dare to
sleep in the woods any more, on ac-
count of the malarial exhalations. and
we are even to be operated on,or dosed,
or have something done to US, to de-
s.Ioy the germs of melancholy, or of
not paying our debts. We are sur :
rounded by poisons. The wonder is
that one of us is alive. Children who
used to sail toy boats in little ponds
are nov aware that it was a scientific
duty to have diphtheria and typhoid
fever all the time they were doing It,
Green apples are net q circumstance
TO the bacillus, though perhaps Tho
greenness is also due to bacilli. And
nov we come to another danger not
ursuspected. in the cans, the metal
dishes that we use about our kitchens
and cooking appliances. AS to this,
there is no doubt that the danger is
real. and it is the worse because it s
difficult to detect. The man who buys
canned tomatoes, for instance, finds
nothing wrong with them until after
dinner. when he is seized with nausea
ana doubled up by cramps. Then he
knows what he wishes he had known
before, that the acid of the tomatoes
has acted on the tin lining of the can,
c. on the lead in the solder, and has
poisoned him. Instances of death have
occurred from the drinking Of water
that stood for ten or a dozen hours in
lead pipes, the common pipes of our
houses. The deadly nature of certain
hair dyes to the use in them of q
preparation of lead. The paints and
powders used by some women, and all
actors, are not without their peril. Ar
senic in wall papers is alleged to have
occasioned sickness. Even certain
colors in textiles are said to have in
jured the health of people who staid
too much in the house.
The American Journal of Health |
gives warning against kitchen uten-
sls that are covered with enamel to |
keep the steel from rusting. 1t would |
seem as if iron-rust We're less danger
Gus than the protection. 1t says that |
unless the steel of which these pots |
and kettles are composed is first |
treated with nickel, the enamel will not
adhere and the food that g
cooked in them will absorb more or
less of the salts or metals contained in
the coating. One of 20 different kinds
OIL protected ware only one was found
free from possible contamination
Probably aluminium is safe, as it does
not oxidize. and it's lightness and
commend it for kitchen use;
but if heavier material is to be used i:
is well to make sure that it is safe.
The poisonous substances in tha
enamels are said to be arsenic, an
timony and lead. None of these are
and food is better without
them. 1t may be that some of the
slight and unaccOuntable illnesses thai
have come to people, especially after
eating sour fruits and vegetables boiled
or stewed in these dshes-tomatoes.
rhubarb. apples, Strawberries, COM
favored with lemon-have their
origin in the disihtegration Of this
enamel and in the absorption by the
'ocd of the arsenic or whatsoever else
s employed in it. Even where the
enamel is commonly applied with skill
Ind understanding it may happen that
workman may spill an undue guam
ity of poison into the mixture, or tina.
he fusing may be imperfect, and it
Ices not take much arsenic or lead to
'ause illness. while a succession of
)oisonings may result in lifelong
tomach trouble.