Omaha daily bee., 1902-03-31
UNDER THE PURE FOOD LAWS
st. Louis GrOOers Fined for Selling Alum
Baking Powder.
MISSOURI STATUTE FULLY ENFORCED
Retailers Convicted of Vending
Articles Held to he D~cIeterious
Sentenced TO Pay Fines
of 900 Each.
MISSOURI STATUTE FULLY ENFORCED

ST Louis Republic.
The alum baking powder cases we're de-
sided In the court Of criminal correction
Monday morning by Judge CLARK. The YER
dict In the case Of the Great Western Tea
& Coffee company. No. 725 Franklin avenue,
was guilty Of the sale Of baking powder
containing alum in violation Of the pure
food laws Of Missouri" the fine assessed
BY Judge Clark was 500.
BY agreement between counsel. F. N.
Judson and 8. s. Bass for the state and T.
y. Harvey for the defense, the verdict in
this case Is to apply also to three others.
They are B. woltering. J. @. Faust and }.
E. Paule, charged with selling Bon Bon,
Raiser and Blossom baking powders con-
tanning alum. Five other cases on which
the testimony would have been the same
were nolle pressed by the state at the con-
clusion Of the trials last week. This was
done In order that the retail dealers should
not be given too great Inconvenience, az
the intention Of the attorneys for the state
was to get a conviction and demonstrate
thereby the validity Of the states pure
food law, which lnterdicts the use OF alum
In all food products In this state on the
ground that Il is a deleterious substance
and dangerous TO the health of the public.
This Is the second time hat the pure-food
law has been indicated in Missouri In ref
erence to the sale of poisonous baking
powders. In the other case, that Of the
state against Whitney Layton. now OF East
st. Louis, the defendant was convicted as
a manufacturer OF making and selling alum
baking powder. A fine Of 500 was as
sessed. The case was appealed by Layton
to the supreme court OF the state. The
supreme court handed down a decision in
the case that af1gmed the finding Of the
lower court on the ground that the leg
i~slature had a right to protect the health
of the public by proper police lawh, and
that, as alum had been declared in the
English courts and In other foreign coun-
tries to be an improper and unhealthy
ingredient in food the law was undoubt-
eddy valid The supreme court also re-
ferred to the fact that baking powders and
other food products containing alum were
excluded from the commissary ration Of the
armies of the United States and OF Great
Britain, another point showing It to be I'M
der the band of suspicion as a substance
dangerous to the public health.
The manufacturer OF the alum baking
powder have made a hard fight to continue
their sales in this state. The law that pro-
hlbIts the sale OF the alum baking powder
was passed by the legislature In 1898. The
FIRST case, that Of Layton, came up In 1899.
While It was pending in the supreme court
in 1901. a determined effort was made to
repeal the law before the Legislature then
in session. The bill vas reported from the
senate committee unfavorably and In Ian
guage that stamped alum as one OF the most
dangerous OF ingredients used in food.
The senate committees report also took
a ning at the powerful lobby that was ma n
tanned at Jefferson City by the so-called
alum baking powder trust. The report gave
Nha nannag ~ the arf0ua unanufa rturarR in
the United States, a long list Of them, who
comprised this trust. Senator James Or
chard was the chairman OF this committee
and It was to his efforts and those OF his
fellow committeeman that the failure OF the
bill was due.
In Judge Clark's opinion In the present
cases he stated that the defense had shown
through eminent chemists that their baking
powder was made with c. 7. s. OF cream
tartar substitute. The chemica components
OF this substance, as shown by the defense,
were agreed to by the eminent chemists for
the state. who positively asserted that they
constituted burnt alum" In other words
Judge Clark's decision was that C. T. S.
was. In effect, commercial alum, and there
fore its use was a violation Of the pure
FOOD law of the state. Its use under some
other name than alum. which 1t Is, cannot
exempt either the manufacturer or the
Nender from prosecution and conviction
under a broad law framed for the purpose
of protecting the health Of the public from
the use of alum or other substances OF a
deIeterious and dangerous character.
Mr.. Judson. counsel for the state, stated
Monday that 1t was the intention to con-
tlnue the prosecutions In Missouri OF deal
ers who continued to sell baking powders
which were made with alum or @. T. s.
Time will be allowed for the present deci-
sion OF Judge Clark to become known. and IL
cases Of violation Of the law are then found
manufacturer and Wholesale grocers will
be arrested wherever evidence is obtained
against them Of such sale.