Evening star., 1902-03-17
SECRETS OF GROCERS
Facts Told a Congressional
Committee.
HOW JELLY rs MADE
THE PRODUCTION OF OLIVE
OIL.
People Would Not Recognize Pure
Maple Syrup-Testimony Of Mr.. J..
II. Madden Of Chicago.

maple 0yIup-4eSI1uAoAy VI AA1' -
h. Madden Of Chicago.
Mr.. Frank H. Madden OF the firm Of
Reid, Murdoch & Co. Of Chicago and also
representing the wholesale grocers and
commercial exchange OF Chicago. gave
some extremely interesting information
Saturday to the House committee on COM
merce on the subject Of pure food legis-
lation. As preliminary to his advocacy Of
the Corliss bill, he said that for the last
fifteen years he had been in charge OF the
manufacturing department Of his firm. and
during that time he had never known OF
an authentic case Of poisoning from the
use Of canned goods
1--WE often hear of such cases In the
newspapers, but such statements are usu-
ally imaginary concoctions Of physicians"
declared Mr. Madden. He said his firm had
taken samples Of fruit syrup used In Ice
cream soda to three prominent chemists OF
Chicago and had received three entirely
different analyses, none of them correct,
as the firm knew exactly what was In the
syrup.
Information About Jelly.
The committee was given some interest
ing information by Mr.. Madden about jelly.
He stated first that 80 per cent Of the jelly
sold in this country was Of the cheaper va
riety.
eve sell thirty pound pail Of jelly for
60 to 65 cents pail, including packing:
This jelly Is made from the juice derived
from the skins and cores of apples. mixed
with glucose-there is not particle OF
sugar in 1t. but there Is nothing whatever
detrimental to health. These apple skins
and cores are obtained mostly from New
York and Michigan. from the mannfactur-
ers of evaporated apples. Before we get
them they have been dried and pressed.
We place them into watts, where they are
boiled In water until reduced to pulp.
The Juice Is then extracted ana nltered sna
mixed with glucose. Before the state pure
food laws were enacted we sold this jelly
without any additional f1avors. as currants.
raspberry and other favors Of jelly. We
also sold 1t to retailers In bulk and fur
nished them with variety OF labels and
allowed them to make their choice of fla
vors. Under those conditions we sold
thousand pals Of this jelly day. Now
we have to brand 1t imitation jelly. col
ored,' and we sell twenty pals day
Mr. Madden said he did not think the
former condition was right. but he was
also of the opinion that it was not right to
be compelled to label the product imita-
tion."
Facts About Olive Oil.
Representative Coombs Of California
wanted to know how olive oil was handled
on the market and Mr.. Madden went into
details on that question also. The lowest
grade of olive oil sold, he said, was pure
cotton seed oil. This was now labeled salad
OIL" but before the state pure food laws
were enacted 1t was labeled "olive OIL but
not pure" olive oil. Mr.. Madden said his
firm imported pure olive oil from Europe and
also an oil made from seeds which were OBJ
~ has fyynn oil
and American cotton seed oils every brand
and every grade of olive oil on the market
was made. On the proportion Of pure olive
oil used depended the quality and price.
but. he concluded, very little absolutely
pure olive oil was sold. California olive oil,
Mr. Madden said, was sold at higher price
than imported oil. and for that reason little
Of it was handled by his firm.
Maple Syrup Mysteries.
Just what constitutes the bulk Of the
maple syrup used in this country was an
other interesting revelation made to the
committee by Mr.. Madden. AS prelimi-
nary. he stated that there was not enough
pure maple syrup made to supply per
cent Of the trade and that e5 per cent Of
this product was q combination Of maple
and cane sugar made into syrup. This
combination. Mr.. Madden claimed. was
much more palatable than pure maple
syrup. The maple OF Ohio. he said. was
much milder in flavor than that OF YER
mont and the maple OF Quebec much more
intense in flavor than that Of Vermont. II
either Of the latter two syrups were sold
clear, people would not use them. but would
declare that they were being imposed upon.
This fact Mr.. Madden used as an argu-
ment against the Hepburn bill, which he
declared would require the syrup the people
liked and which was the perfection OF the
manufacturers art to be branded com
pound" or "adulterated" and entirely de-
stroy the trade.
Proposed Bureau Of Standards.
Chairman Hepburn asked for the wit
ness views on a proposition to establish a
bureau OF standards in the Agricultural
Department, The duty Of the bureau to be
the publication Of statements as to what
certain foods should be composed of, for
the purpose OF educating the people along
these lines.
Mr.. Madden replied that 1t would tend to
create more articles known to the trade as
staples" such as sugar. certain brands Of
baking powder and soap. which were
handled by wholesalers at an actual loss
Then knowledge breeds competition"
interjected Mr.. Hepburn.
Yes" answered Mr. Madden: ''but the
wholesaler and manufacturer cannot do
business on all their goods without q profit,
and IL the profit now made on goods not In
the staple class shall be cut OF it will
only result In raising prices all along the
line"
Mr.. Madden declared that 1t was the
earnest desire OF dealers to get good ma
tional pure food law. as 1t was their belief
that the states would 1egislate in conform
ity, or at least the arbitrary and unwar-
ranted rulings OF state food commissioners
would be held up In proper hight AS It
was now. he declared that the wholesaler
was compelled to pay many. fines in differ
ent states for technical violations. and that
they could not afford to fight these rulings
as they would at once be placed under the
odium of fighting pure food laws.
In concluding. Mr.. Madden stated that
the provisions Of the Mann-Corliss bill
would meet all reQuirements-4t would pre-
vent the sale OF deleterious articles Of food.
with confiscation Of the goods as a pen
atty.
The hearings will proceed this week.
American Schools in the Philippines.
Stephen Bocsal In the North American Review
''Of the teachers I saw. all seemed dis