The Jersey City news., 1902-11-29

Probably one Of the most .essaiNia {
qualities in married womans makeup IS
that of economy. a good deal of trou5it
between otherwise happily married coup
les could be avoided if the wife showed
proper discrimination, in the purchasing
os her household articles. Economy does
not mean entirely buying things at low
prices. If the articles purchased are not
of the required quality the purchase is~a
foolish one even if the cost is small The
economical woman finds exactly what she
wants, and then hunts about until she
can find that article. at..a lower price.
Purchasing for a household is an art
whose cultivation is sometimes neglected,
yet It is of the utmost Importance. but
as the tender care for the health of the
family is involved in it; and it is one re-
quiring not a little devotion, as,it.means,
with all the rest. daily oversight of the
household stores and attention to their
purchase from the proper dealers; that
is, not from the cheapest, but from the
most, upright, says the Philadelphia In
4nirer.'
Certainly there is a constant danger OF
injury from the use of provisions and
medicines bought from irresponsible
dealers, who, in order to furnish wares
at low price and thus, s,secure custom, do
not trouble themselves to make sure of
their quality. - ~
1t is a shame that the cup of tea or
coffee on which one in some innocent
measure depends, and which with the
poor is net only necessity, but soine-
times a sole luxury should be the means
of robbing what health and strength one
has But while there are INSCRIPTIONS
persons to coat the tea leaves and coffee
berries with arsenic and sulphate of cop
per, the fatal touch may be felt by all
those who cannot afford the high-priced
article, or who are too careless to attend
to it and buy of the conscientious dealer;
and the responsibility rests with the wife
who has the buying in charge.
And this perhaps trifing matter of the
tea and coffee is not all. For look at the
Gamers of fruit-there are those among
them who, wishing an easy way to pre-
serve their product from fermentation,
use one of the most powerful and dan
gerous of drugs, salicylic acid whose ac-
tion ought to be well known, and which
the physician himself gives only with the
greatest caution. And the family at the
table consume the dainty with satisfac-
tion, ignorant that they are eating their
way to destruction-those who have un-
suspected affections to sudden heart fall
ure, and others to no less serious if more
prolonged trouble.
And since there are righteous Gamers,
it is wisdom for the house mother to as
certain that her purchases are made of
firms which do not allow the use of the
salicylates, and to make sure, moreover
that her nilkman is one who would scorn
TO take advantage of the antiseptic prop
erty of the drug, even if he knew of it,
as much as he would scorn to rob her of
any portion of her nourishment by water
ing it.
Poison is bad enough in the workman's S
beer, but in the childrens milk it is I'm.
forgiyeable. Investigations that have
benn made into the habits of various of
the dealers in the great staples of food
make it possible to discover where safety
lies. 1t may not be vital matter to her
when the provider finds candy adulturat-
ed by terra-alba, since one is hardly more
dcleterious than the other, as frequent
article of diet. But is much more serious
wien she finds the arrowroot-whicli.
when it is wanted. is wanted in its ut
most purity-mingled with flour or with
bone dust; arrowroot that is fed to babies
on the edge of their little graves, and
which, if of an impure sort, can only pre-
cipitate them into that darkness.
The good wife will find other things.
those with which -four is mingled, if she
stays to discover, and where, when ex-
posed to the air or left in damp or
closed receptacles, the flour bseds a
microscopic fungus which produces COM
plaiDts that, if not fatal. are productive
of discomfort and disease. She will
find, however, no adulteration more
wicked than that sometimes practiced
with cream Of tartar, by means Of
powdered gypsum or alum or other sub
stances; since cream of tartar, besides
its use in food, is administered iii criti-
cal instances of illness. in order to
make one organ do the work of dnother
organ, giving the latter time to rest and
recuperate and go along again for a
period: but when thus adulterated the
drug is deprived of its power and is
even sometimes made to bring about an
exactly contrary result.
/ Although the use of these foreign eie-
nents is as bad as the weakening of
laudanum or of quinine, for which some
druggists, so offending, have been rightc-
ously condemned and punished. yet our
good wife will hear little about them,
and should instruct herself as to the
necessary tests for them.
Il L. :