The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-11-23

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Affair Of roSes h 1xsnsf Nj supposed ID
Be- the most valuable ,6f perfumes, but
there 10 one that IL far more costly, and
It ID an artificial article at that. The
United States officials recently confscat-
ed q pound bottle Of precious oil, known
a. artificial violets, for the reason that
the importer Of the perfume had greatly
moderated its value to the customs Off.
GERS. The bottle was ON Its way to q st.
Louis firm whose name was withheld. II
had been sent from Antwerp by q Lon.
don firm and arrived In this country a
Baltimore. There the custom house Off.
GERS seized It, and they continued to hold
II when they found that the importers
had appraised the tiny shipment at f3c
English money, or $175. The custom Off
GERS insisted that Its true value wal
nearer f129, or $845 The laws govern
Ing imports require duty payment on al
foreign goods on the basis OF their true
value. As the differentiation of the per
fume was over 30 per cent, the govern
ment officials promptly confscated tbs
oil. and their action, has been upheld BY
the board Of general appraisers IN BaltI.
more. II now devolves upon the st.
Louis firm to place new order.
Artificial violet. or ionone, as 1t Is
technically known, 10 made only In
France and Switzerland. 1t 10 a pat
ented perfume, and the process Of max
Ing 1t Is secret one. A single man
owns. or claims to own, the privilege Of
manufacturing and selling ionone, but
this right Is now being contested by 9TH
er perfume makers of Europe. The
ionone maker has agents in all the per-
fume manufacturing countries. the only
one in this country being located in New
York city.
Ionone's chief ingredient, 1t was stated
at one Of the large wholesale drug houses
Of the city, Is citral. an oil Of lemon grass
and Of lemons. Violets do not enter into
its composition at all. 1t lisa very strong
perfume and is generally used by manu-
facturers of perfumery in 10 per cent
solution. A few drops Of this solution
will make gallon or more of the violet
perfume which finally finds its way into
the boudoirs Of fashionable ladies'. Ionone
Ia more than worth Its weight In gold,
perfume dealers declare. The wholesale
dealers In drugs are charged $120 per
pound for the 10 per cent solution. At
this rate the pound bottle Of the unadul-
terated artificial violets confscated by
the Baltimore custom officials would be
worth ten times that amount, or 81 200.
1t can with truth be termed precious
OIL" and to persons who know how to use
it the pound in Baltimore would be worth
even more than its weight in gold.
Although nearly all violet perfume
made nowadays is manufactured from
ionone. the use Of the new precious oil Is
not confined to the production of that
one scent. Nearly all the popular per-
fumes are made up of combinations of
sweet scented oils, and ionone enters into
almost every one of them. Formerly vio-
let cologne was made out Of perfume
derived from the flowers themselves. That
day has long since departed, probably
never to return, as ionone, notwithstand-
ing its fabulous value, is far cheaper in
the end, owing to its extreme strength
st. Louis Globe-Democrat.