Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1900-01-26
OLIVE OIL AND ITS MANY USES.
Its Value in Medicine and Manufacturing Is
Beyond Estimation.
New York sun

would call up vistas Of indigestion ap-
palling even in this dyspeptic nation
Then, too, the facts about the adulter.
alton of olive oil are calculated to har-
row the feelings OF a people opposed on
general principles to being cheated by
anyone whose profits are not intended
for American use. National pride
helps an American to endure being
cheated by a fellow countryman, but
to be "done" by foreigner is gall and
bitterness. In the matter of adulter-
ated olive oil, however, Americans
connive at their own destruction.
They cast their bread upon the waters
in the shape Of cottonseed oil exported
to France and Italy and after many
days it comes back to them in bottles
labeled "pure olive oil" They pay
for pure olive oil plus the duty of so
cents a gallon and then eat their salad
ir content.
BY far the largest share of our olive
oil is imported from France The best
and the worst comes from Italy. The
olives of Lucca-in fact, of the whole
Tuscan district-are famous for their
flavor and make the most delicious
olive oil on the market; but the Ital-
ians haven't the Practical business
ability of the French and have never
made their oil industry compare with
that OF France. The market for
French oil is SO great that the olive
crop of France is always inadequate to
supply the demand, and every year
many French manufacturers send into
Italy, buy up Italian oil, clarity it and
sell it under their own labels. French
oil of the best quality is thought by
connoisseurs to be inferior to the best
Italian oil, for the very reason which
makes it more attractive in appear
ance. 1t is more thoroughly clarified
and the process improves its appear
ance but removes much OF ihe albu-
men, which is the chief source of value
and flavor in olive oil.
In earlier days the olives were gath.
cred by shaking the trees, but that
practice has been abandoned because il
was proved that the bruising of the
fruit harmed the flavor of the oil.
Now, the olive pickers climb into the
trees and pick each olive separately,
laying it carefully in basket. The
The fruit is crushed in presses much
like our cider presses and the oil i.
allowed to stand once more. After
it is fairly clear it is strained through
cotton. wool, or through a mixture Of
charcoal and sand, and is then ready
for adulteration and packing.
Fully three-fourths OF the olive oil
on the market is more or less adul.
terated. usually with cottonseed oil,
but the quality of the olive oil gener.
ally sold throughout the United States
has improved greatly within recent
years. There was time when foreign
manufacturers expressed in their own
vernacular the theory that any old
olive oil would 60 in America, but the
American palate has been educated at
considerable expense, and to-day the
United States is the best market in
the world for the better grades of olive
oil. The oil is shipped in bottles or in
bulk. Some American dealers, among
them many of our most trustworthy
firms, prefer to buy oil in bulk, test it
and put it up under their own labels,
guaranteeing its purity. Other deal.
ers buy it in bulk for other reasons.
They buy good oil, adulterate it to
suit their wishes and then bottle it un-
der a fictitious foreign label. 1t is
guaranteed pure by some firm that
does not exist. The most trustworthy
foreign makers usually put up various
grades OF oil and their first quality
grade is to be trusted.
Only comparatively small percent.
age of the olive oil imported by this
country is used for culinary purposes.
Large quantities OF the purest brands
are employed for medicinal use, the re-
markable remedial and alimentary
value OF the pure oil being we'll
established fact in medicine. In the
treatment of gall stones it has been
found an efficacious agent, and in
other diseases, tuberculosis, scrofula,
anaemia, ETC., its curative qualities are
of great value.
Hundreds OF gallons of olive oil are
also imported annually for use in the
preparation of soaps, pomades and To-
tions of all kinds, and yet pure olive
soap is as rare as the dodo. Great
quantities of the cheapest quality of
oil are used in our silk and woolen
factories. 1t is made from the pulp of
the olives after all the best of the oil
has been extracted, is shipped in large
wooden casks and is admitted free of
duty because intended for use in Amer
ican manufacture.
A well-known New York importer
when asked about the grades of olive
oil said:
al have Just ordered 200 gallons of