Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-03-13
REPRESENTATIVES of Governors
: in Congress of Mothers.
REVIEW OF FIELD WORK
Address by DR.. Wiley On Pure Food
in the Household.
DUTY OF CONSUMERS OUTLINED
Miss Alice Lakey Delivers Address.
Topics Discussed by Others.
Personal Notes.

| The International Congress OF Mothers
opened at $40 this morning in the Met
ropolitan NJ. F. Church. but only hand
full of the members were present. They
struggled in in twos and threes tlls the
church was pretty we'll filed.
| J7non the table stood tall jar of
growing Easter lilies of splendid size-a
present from Mrs. Roosevelt. 1t is re-
marked that Mrs. Roosevelt has taken
personal interest in the mothers con-
gress. which she has never evinced IN
any other organization.
| The opening exercises were devoted to
hearing delegates Of governors. who gave
little talks on the work that the mothers
are doing in the states. The principal
addresses of the morning were made by
DR.. Wiley Of the bureau of chemistry and
Miss Alice I.akey. chairman of the food
committee OF the National Consumers
| League
| The address of DIR. Wiley abounded in
humorous stories. and statistics, and he
was applauded. laughed at ana WIN, ano
piled with questions by the members OF
| the congress. who were eager to get facts
OH pure food.
The address of Miss Lakey met the
same fate Both addresses were of ex-
IRENE interest to the mothers. who are
the cause Of infant mortality.
| Both speakers arrived at the same con-
clusion. as stated by DR.. Wiley. that the
way to keep the animal man in good
sh Mps It. 's the Of Sew Jersey
| sided over the morning session. In pre-
| sentinx DR.. Wiley she said that she pre-
sumed he was the most execrated man,
as we'll as the best beloved man in the
| country. She said that the mothers be-
lieved in him implicitly. and their chill
| dren will rise up and call him blessed
Pure Food in the Household.
DIR. Wiley said, in part:
The best means of executing the pure
food law is in the household. If every
mistress of a household in this country
should demand pure foods. there would
be little difficulty in the courts, and man
ufacturers would soon cease making
things which the mothers of this country
would refuse to buy for use In their fam
of pure food pervades almost every house
hold. There Is not a mother who does
not want her husband and children to
kets can AFFORD the difficulty is in securr-
Ing them. 1t is not expected that each
lmother and mistress of household should
1t necessary that she should be one 1t
will be quite effective If she insists at
each order in having foods unsophisticated
| should be a great cry against the mixing
of inert substances with foods as alleged
to make them palatable. The man who
mixed ground olive stones with spices
s strto they a could not B Be eaten. The
fallacy Of this argument is so apparent
matters are put with spices to deceive
and to make the customer pay more for
the actual spice he gets than if he had
bought it in the pure state.
Maple Syrup, Also.
The same thing is true with regard to
maple syrup. The manufacturers who
mix maple syrup with glucose claim that
the strong flavor of maple syrup Is very
unpleasant. and that they are doing this
mixing in order to please the palate of
| the consumer! Another fallacy equally
| as apparent.
The man who mixes aniline dyes with
butter claims that his customers will not
| buy 1t unless colored. There may be a
| really has little opportunity in this cOun-
| try to get uncolored butter. / doubt if
you could 60 today into a dozen markets
| in the United States and ask for butter
without getting the colored article. The
consumer. therefore, does not know what
natural butter is. and hence if it were Of
fered him he would be suspicious of its
purity. He would think. for instance. that
| it was oleornargarine or some other SUBJ
| stitute for butter. because he has never
had any experience with the real article.
My own observation is. however. that the
moment a consumer knows pure butter.
fresh, uncolored. fragrant and palatable he
never wants any other kind.
II the mothers of this country today
would unanimously demand of their
grocers pure, fresh butter there would be
no difficulty in getting 1t.
Importance Of Purity.
The Importance of purity in all dairy
| supplies Is perhaps not fully appreciated
| throughout the country: Especially where
there are children in the house the i'm
portance Of the purity of the milk cannot
be sufficiently accentuated. The actual
danger to health and actual threat of
death in the case of infants that are
fed impure milk is one Of the greatest
curses Of the country. Fortunately in
| this instance the country is thoroughly
aroused, and the mothers who are by any
misfortune compelled to feed infants ar
| officially are thoroughly alive to the ne
cessity of the purity OF this most i'm
portant food.
I have spoken of maple syrup as an i'm
portant food product. Other table syrups
should also be carefully scrutinized in re-
gard to their purity. We have In this
country abundant supplies Of syrup-mak-
| ing materials u pTOViuc IOT ali Tic tduiC
syrups needed. The maple grove, the
sorghum field and the cane field are ready
! to furnish all the table syrups that we
need. There is no necessity any longer, If
| there ever has been. of using glucose as
| a basis OF table syrup.
| by itself 1t Is not palatable nor Is 1t
eaten as a syrup. When used 1t is very
| highly favored with the lowest grade
products which are entitled to the name
of either syrup or molasses. For in
l II ala
| acter from the sugar refinery Is the most
common substance used to flavor glucose
| when offered for consumption upon the
table. Not only is 1t used for the flavor
| ing, but its presence Is usually designated
by the statement that the syrup has a
cane flavor. The table syrups of this
country would be vastly improved If glu-
cose were entirely eliminated from their
composition. and IL there were substi-
| tuted for this mixed mass the pure prod
ucts of the maple grove. the sorghum field
and the cane field.
Another Important Sweet.
Honey is another form of sweet which it
is important to have pure. Not only
should it be gathered by bees, but the
| bees should gather the right kind Of ma
terial There are many honeys gathered
and stored by bees which are unfit for
consumption. These are sold to the baker
| for use in making the honey cakes of
| commerce. The mothers Of this country
may be pretty certain when they buy a
| honey cake OF the baker that it is made of