Norwich bulletin., 1909-12-24
DEPUTY DAIRY COMMISSIONER 4
 cRuTTENDEN BOUGHT LARD.
Examination Showed It Was Not Pure Article and New London Grocer Was 1 Arrested.


 Deputy Dairy Commissioner Tyler Cruttenden found adulterated lard il the store of Abraham Gordon at .11t Bradley street. New London. on Apri IA. In consequence Mr. Gordon Was arraigned in police court Thursday morning, charged with violation oi the pure food act. His trial was noi terminated. because his counsel, as he told the court, had not the memoran- dum of authorities at hand. The argu- n1ents will be heard next "Wednesday and Gordon is at liberty on his own recognizance.
 It was charged against the grocer that he sold and offered for sale food which was adulterated. Attorney Me- Guire said, after a plea of not guilty had been entered, that he would violation was purely in the construc- tion of the law. He asked that it be understood that the arguments of Prosecuting Attorney Cronin and him. self be made at later day. Judge Colt allowed this request after MT. Me- Guire had explained that copies of the public acts, which he had sent to annotations of cases with which he had familiarized himself. The hear ing given Gordon by the dairy com- missioner at Hartford was postponed once, and because of various other de- lays in taking the investigation up the prosecution did not take place until Thursday.
 Deputy Commissioner Cruttenden swore that he visited Gordon's store on April IA and that Mrs. Gordon sold him pound of lard. A wrangle fol- lowed between the lawyers as to the legality of the complaint, in that it did not allege that Gordon, through his agent, sold and kept for sale adulter- ated lard. The complaint was amend ed The lard, Mir. Cruttenden said, cost ten cents for the pound. He di- vided it into three parts, leaving one with Mrs. Gordon and taking the oth- CTS. One of these was turned over to Dr. John P. Street. chemist at the state experimental station at New Ha- wen, on April IT. The third sample he deposited with Dairy Commissioner Hubert F. Potter of Hartford.
 In cross examination Mir. Crutten- den said Gordan's store was the only place he knew of that lard could be bought for ten cents that day. He asked Mrs. Gordon for Hard" not pure lard" or compound lard" He had no knowledge that pure lard could not have been bought at ten cents per pound. He did not remem- Der that at the time of the hearing
 
 that pure lard could not have been bought for that price. On examina- tion of the tub, after obtaining the sample at Gordon's store, MT. Crutten- den said he saw it was marked "com- pound lard"
 Dr. Streets testimony was a lesson tn advanced chemistry. He said he analyzed the sample delivered to him by the deputy commissioner. It looked like lard, but after tests was shown to be practically nothing but cotton seed oil.
 Dairy Commissioner Potter testified of sending notice to Mir. Gordon on June to present himself to show reson why prosecution should not be brought. He said the grocer was notified of the finding of adulteratcd lard in his store. in accordance with the statutes.
 Both sides rested, the defense offer ing no testimony. MT. Mcclure indi- cated that the plea of the defense was that pure lard was not asked for by the deputy commissioner, and that Mrs. Gordon sold the 'lard' which was most called for by the patrons of the store.