Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1909-08-12
FOOD COMMISSIONER WRIGHT
LINES UP WITH SECRETARY
WILSON ON QUESTION.
NO PROSECUTIONS IN IOWA
BECAUSE OF ITS USE
Competitive Manufacturing In.
terest More Concerned About Use of
Preservative Than the General Pub.
Iic-sentiment in Seventh District
Drifting From Hull.
Special to Times-Republican.

Des Moines, Aug. 12.-H. r. Wright
state food and dairy commissioner, be-
1 lieves that there is nothing in the "ben-
zoate of soda" controversy that is
troubling the United States department
OF agriculture that need worry the gen.
eral public in the least The matter
will be considerably aired at the Den
Yer convention Of the national and
state food and dairy commissioners
and Mr.. Wright expects to see the
newspapers contain lurid accounts OF
the fight over 1t. He believes the pub
lie is liable to get unnecessarily alarm
ed. Secretary James Wilson will at
tend the convention and will defend
there the ruling of his department
DIR. Wiley, who is connected with the
department in Washington. made in
vestigations and experiments with
poison squads and came to the conclus-
ION that benzoate OF soda in foods were
detrimental. Secretary Wilson appoint
ed board Of arbitration consisting Of
Chlttenden, of Yale University; Rem
sen. OF Johns Hopkins University. and
Long, of Northwestern University.
Ihey each conducted investigations
ana experiments with poison SQUADS
separate from each other and each
arrived at the conclusion that benzoate
OF soda was not injurious Secretary
Wilson took the stand with the three
against his chief chemist, Wiley.
Secretary Wright takes the stand
with Secretary Wilson. and the Iowa
department has served notice on food
manufacturers that there will be no
prosecutions on account of benzoate
of soda in foods
In the meantime certain pickle
manufacturer has discovered that
pickles will keep without the use of
benzoate of soda. He would like to
have the state food and dairy COM
nlissioners all take the stand that the
stuff is harmful. Other pickle manu-
factnrers are not acquainted" with the
new discovery and the public would
thus have to buy only one brand of
pickles.
Benzoate of soda is never used for
anything but prese 'vative. 1t is never
used by doctors as a medicine except
as preservative in liniments and the
like. 1t is used by food manufacturers
in catsups, sweet pickles and espe-
cially in foods where sugar is used.
AS an in1cation Of changed senti-
ment in the Seventh congressional dis
I trict Judge S. F. Prouty has three in
vitations to speak in Madison county,
which has always heretofore been a
Hull stronghold. Prouty has never be-
fore received an invitation to speak in
that county. He has spoken there but
it has been on his own initiative. He
has now three invitations and they are
all to be at old settlers meetings Two
of these are at Rock Island Crossing on
Aug. IS and at Peru on Aug. is. He
also has an invitation 10 speak at an
old settlers meeting in Dawson in Dali
las county Aug. 10.
Three counties Of the state are MAX
ing attempts to teach agriculture in
the rural public schools These are
Page, Plymouth and Wright counties
and the efforts are due to the activi-
ties of the county superintendent OF
those counties. Page county is to hold
a big boys corn judging contest on
Aug. 81 at the farmers county picnic
at the county farm west of Clarinda
when Bruce W. Crosslet, of Ames, Sec
rotary of the Iowa Corn Growers Asso-
citation, will talk and will also act as
judge of the contest. The successful
boys will be given excursion trips to
the State Agricultural College at A1nes.
In each Of the three counties the eff
forts thus far have been confined to
corn judging and to introducing the
Babcock test 50 as to ascertain which
milk cows are worth keeping and
which not. It is claimed that in each
county after this Babcock test was in
PRODUCED and the boys and girls were
tausht.to use it there were a number
of COWS for sale at once.
What will becaI ae of the "Dick'
Clarkson home in this city? Members
of the Des Moines Press Club would
like to secure possession of the home
for their headquarters if they could
raise the necessary funds.
Not since the death Of Uncle Dick
Clarkson has the home been occupied
by the family and yet not an article
of furniture has been removed nor In
article that belonged to Uncle Dick
been disturbed. The home is one OF
those grand old houses built in the
years gone by when more attention was
given to making things good than to
haste in getting them finished. The
home is furnished in a magnificence
common to but few homes OF the city.
Uncle Dick Clarkson died five years
ago The home is too large for his