The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1908-06-03

I
thrash out the hard questions con-
cerning the construction to be placed
upon the law and decide the chemical
questions that come along every day.
A Supervisory Board.
When the very knOttiest questions
OF chemistry come along President
Roosevelt has a board of five most
eminent chemists, under the presi-
dency Of Doctor Remsen, of Johns
! Hopkins, to tell him whether Wile,.
and Dunlap have come to a correct
conclusion in respect to the matter
now under discussion. That Remsen
board Is now working on the ques-
ton whether benzolate Of soda, the
preservative found in nearly all con-
dimental substances and in all pie
filings, is deleterious substance.
even in the small quantity of one
tenth of one per cent. That board is
also searching for an answer as to
how much sulphur dioxide may be
used on dried fruit without being in
furious to health and unduly increas-
ing the weight of the fruit, to the
pecuniary detriment of the consumer.
The Wiley-Dunlap-Mc board
has already decided these questions
In way that has made the fruit
and vegetable packers furious. 1t has
held both to be deleterious SUBJ
stances within the meaning Of the
law, and, therefore, on the index pro-
hibitum OF the act, not to be used at
all. Inasmuch as Doctor Taylor, the
California member Of the board, has
gone to Europe and will be gone for
nearly year in studying the question,
final decision on it is far in the fu-
ture.
| Laws Wide Scope.
| Very few persons understand the
wide scope If the pure food law or
the way in which the national gov
ernment has twisted itself about to
procure purity in food products and
honesty in their labelling and brand
ing.
Everything used by man or beast
as food or as a medicine comes un-
der the terms Of the law. Condition
powders for stock, hay for the fam
lily horse and seed for the canary,
not to mention catnip for tabby, are
as much within the purview of the
food and drug inspection board as
Scotch whiskey, sausages from Vienna
or dill pickles from Germany.
Weeds From Canada.
Secretary Wilson has intimated a
move to prevent the further importa-
ton Of wheat screenings from Cam
ada because they contain the seeds Of
weeds and therefore the food product
is adulterated within the meaning Of
the law. The screenings. Doctor Gal
loway. chief Of the bureau Of plant
industry, found to contain Z per
cent Of light grains Of wheat. The
rest is composed Of various kinds of
weed seeds. The screenings are
coarsely ground in this country and
made into food for animals. That
brings the whole matter within the
jurisdiction Of the department. The
grinding is not fine enough to de-
stroy the weed seeds, and digestion
does not always destroy them. Secre-
, tary Wilson estimated that the weed
seeds would cause greater damage to
, the farms of the country in one year
than the total amount Of money spent
in the establishment and maintenance
OF the department Of which he is
, head. So >the ban is on Canadian
, wheat screenings. Of which 1000
tons, 1t is asserted. have been sent to
, this country from the province Of On.
, tario.
, The screenings may not, unde,
British law, be sold in any part OF
Z the British empire. That being the
case. they may not be lawful!
! brought into this country. no matter
: for what purpose they are intended
! to be used. The pure seed law OF
|, Britain and her colonies forbids the
sale Of screenings.
: Official SuccOtasf.
! The shipment from one State to
another OF food products containing
, deleterious substances is positively
forbidden. The other part of the law
simply forbids the shipment Of goods
that are labeled or branded in
a false, deceptive or misleading man.
ner
that the only article permitted to
pass in interstate commerce bearing