Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1906-06-28
Washington Letter.
(FRoM OUR REG ULAR CORRESPONDENCE
Saturday, June %, 1906.

Saturday, June %, 1906.
In the closing days Of the session it
is hard to tell what will happen. But
it is a safe guess to say that the Pure
Food Bill will be defeated. The forces
opposed to it are made up Of food man
rsacturers all over the country and the
owners OF patent medicines Of various
sorts all grouped under the standard of
the Proprietary Association. They
have all made dead set at the Pure
Food Bill and the chances are that
they will succeed IN killing it.
But there was a powerful object les
son on the subject offered by Mr.. Mann
of illinois in the House this week. Mr..
Mann had table placed near his desk
and spread out upon it were the great
est assortment of prepared foods imag-
Unable. They were all furnished by
the Agricultural Department, DIR. WI
ley, the chief chemist being an ardent
champion of the Pure Food Bill and
being cordially hated by all the pur-
veyors of adulterated foods and medi-
cines in the country. Mr.. Manns as
sortment included various drugs and
proprietary medicines, notably opium
"cures' containing enough opium to
establish the habit in a healthy indi-
vldual. Beside this there were samples
of coffee made of parched wheat and
saw dust sold as odd Government ia
va and "Pure Mocha There were
marischino cherries, picked green and
dyed 80 as to be both firm and the
right color. There were pepper corns
made of corn meal and lamp black, the
finest olive oil made from cotton seed,
and short weight cans and packages of
all sorts purporting to be the real thing
but all of them several ounces shy of
their supposed weight
Mr.. Mann went relentlessly through
the list, telling how each article was
doctored and adulterated, demonstrat-
ing how it was short weight with pair
of scales or how it was short of con-
tents with a graduate glass. Then he
told the members that all the bill IN
question contemplated was to force
manufacturers to state on the label
what the weight or bulk Of each pack
age was and whether it contained what
il really purported to contain or wheth.
er it was some doctored substitute. 1t
seemed very ample and honest meas
ure on the face Of it. But it raised
storm Of protest and the chances are
that it will be defeated.
The President has expressed a great
deal Of pleasure over the decision of
Congress in favor of the lock level Ca
nal. The chances are that it will not
make much practical difference wheth-
er the canal is at sea level or some 9th,
level so long as the question of type is
settled. That has been the main thing
delaying the work, at least according
to the members OF the commission and
those interested in the War Depart
ment.
Chief Engineer Stevens, who has
been in Washington about month will
start next week for the Isthmus He
expressed himself as very we'll fatisfed
with the decision in favor of the lock
canal, but he said the type should have
been settled several months ago. Now
that 1t is done, however, he says that
the engineers will all know just what
they have to do and they can rush the
work of clearing the great Culebra Cut
as it has never been rushed before.
Counting the work that both French
and American Workmen have done on
this section Of the canal, the excavation
is about forty per cent. done. But Mr..
Stevens says that the length of time
taken to complete the canal will not
be measured by the excavation of the
Culebra Gut as has been generally sup
posed, but by the building OF the great
dams which will take somewhat longer.
The question of labor is still unsolv-
ed and probably will be experimental
with for some years to come. The com.
mission has been trying Spanish labor
ers from Cuba and while they are paid |
twice as much as the Jamaica negroes,
Unknown Friends.
1.