The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1906-04-11
PURE FOOD CRUSADE.
Mrs. Miller Urges Housewives
to Fight For Honest Labels.

Club She Declares Children should
Be Taught How to Recognize Harm
full Products-Asks That All Women
Demand Good Food Legislation.
At the meeting of the Chicago Wo-
mans club the other day Mrs. Walter
McNabb Miller, chairman of the COM
mittee on pure food legislation of the
General Federation of Women's clubs
urged every housewife arg club wo-
man in Chicago to enlist in the fight for
pure food and the enforcement of the
pure food laws, says the Chicago
Tribune.
Mrs. Miller believes that the pure
food legislation is adequate to prevent
the sale of many spurious articles in
Illinois, but that the lax enforcement of
the laws enables manufacturers and
dealers to foist impure and doctored
foods on the unsuspecting housewife.
The speaker urged that the subject Of
pure food is of sufficient Importance to
health and life to make it worthy
place in the public school curriculum.
In the public schoolroOm, she declared,
the future breadwinners and home
makers should be taught how to dis
tinguish between honest and dishonest
labels on canned and bottled goods. 1t
hn cto
process Of educating the child to urge
them to make collections Of labels just
as they now collect cigar bands and
stamps, declared Mrs. Miller.
1.-THE first thing the clubwoman of
Chicago and Illinois should do" de-
clared Mrs. Miller, sis to demand pure
food for her family, for her children.
There is nothing of greater Importance
to the home than pure food. A de-
mand should be made by the clubwo-
men for a general education, general
knowledge Of pure food and the exist
ing pure food laws. The housewives
and even the children should learn to
discriminate between the labels. They
should be instructed to know the diff
ference between an honest and dis
honest label.
"They can get this information by
making a careful study Of the labels.
Let the children make collections of
labels, and it will not be long before
they will know good label from dis
honest label. Some of you may not
know what l mean by a dishonest label.
l mean label which carries a wrong
impression to the buyer, a label which
deceives.
For example, there is a brand of
salad oil on the market which is not
good. On the label in large letters is
printed olive on and above these
large letters are printed in small type
the words AS Good as Any These
words are printed in q fancy scroll
and are not seen by the average buyer
"In nearly every article put on the
market there is great difference in the
matter Of grades. To all outward ap-
pearances the labels are Identical, but
the dealers know that one grade is
numbered l, another 2 and third 3.
The average buyer does not know
about these numerals. They often buy
a third grade article when they mean
to buy first grade article.
1.-THE dealer knows these marks; we
do not. Salmon, as an example, is put
on the market in three grades. The
first grade represents the first catch
and is good, the best Obtainable. The
second grade is the second lot packed
and is a little worse. The third grade
usually Is the salmon which the In
dams bring In, half decayed, wretched |
stuff All these grades are put up and
labeled just the same except for the
little mineral. Now, you women would |
not be satisfied If your dry goods deal
er sold you cotton when you asked for
silk. Most of you know. the difference |
and would refuse to be deceived. You |
should be even more particular in buy |
ing your foods.
"The clubWomen Of Chicago, or your |
state, the clubwomen Of the whole |
country, must work tirelessly for hon |
est labels. In many states there are |
splendid pure food laws, but they are
not enforced. They will not be en-
forced until the women rise up and |
demand their enforcement. We must |
take the matter into our own hands.
1t is our right, pre-eminently woman's |
right, to see to it that the foods she |
serves in her home are pure and I'M
adulterated"
The subject of pure food was intro
d11cpd at the meeting by Mrs. George |
W. Plummer of the pure food commit |
tee Of the State Federation of Women's !
Clubs.
An InsidiOus Danger.