Los Angeles herald., 1910-08-25
GRAFT EVERYWHERE

a railroad: If not a railroad then an
insurance company, and so on.
Recently it was the New York, then
the Illinois lawmakers. Then it shifted
to the Illinois Central railroad, where
the stealings OF trusted men are under
investigation. Now it is the Burlington
road, the discovery having just been
made that through a systematic ar
rangement between a number of con-
ductors, trainmen, ticket sellers and
others the road has been defrauded
out of probably hundreds of thousands
of dollars. The scheme is supposed
to extend over the Burlington's entire
western system.
The alleged plan of operating was
simple The ticket agent, it is claimed,
would sell a ticket for a certain train,
give the number of the ticket to the
conductor Of that train, who, instead of
punching the pasteboard, would re-
turn il to the ticket agent without
making report to the company. The
agent would place the ticket on sale
again and divide with the conductor
Come a little nearer home-here in
California. The state board of health
has been active of late in running
down fraud in the food and medicine
line. In its monthly report for June
just issued, appears list of goods,
nearly four score in number, recently
condemned by the board. 1t is really
startling list, showing as it does that
men are not only willing to steal each
others property, as by the ordinary
graft means, but to poison their fellows
with food and medicine of injurious
character in order to increase profits.
To show how general this is being tried
let us take some instances from page
in the report of the health board:
Neufchatel cream cheese. adultera-
tion and misbranding. Made from
SKINNED milk and starch.
Drug extract of Damiana-mis-
branding of. Contained cocaine.
Drug-headache cure. False and mis-
leading statements. Acetanilid in large
quantities.
Milk, adulteration of. Water present.
Olive oil. Contained cottonseed oil.
Whisky, misbranding of. A rectifed
article combined with grain distillate.
Butter, misbranding of. False state
ments.
Honey. misbranding of. False and
misleading statements. Short weight.
Rye -four, adulteration Of Wheat
flour substituted.
Coffee-Misbranding Of. Contained
cheap grade.
Currants, misbranding Of Short
weight.
Witch hazel, misbranding Of Con-
tanned alcohol. False and misleading
statements.
Corn meal, misbranding of. Short
weight.
Egg product, desiccated. adulteration
of. Contained filthy, putrid matter.
Olive oil, "Prodotti di Olii Oilo Sopra-
ino o. S. brand olive oil and salad
OIL" misbranding Of Contained cot
tonseed oil.
Baking powder, misbranding of.
False and misleading statement. Short
measure.
Canned fish, "broiled California
mackerel," misbranding of. Contained
sardines.
Drug, Mothers Friend" misbrand-
ing. False and misleading statements.
Raisins and evaporated apples, adul-
teration of. Filthy and putrid condi-
tion.
Cherry syrup "Allens Red Tame
Cherry" misbranding Of Contained
little cherry; colored with coal tar.
Vinegar, misbranding of. Contained
acetic acid and unfermented apple
juice, artificially colored.
Water, "Sussus Wasser," misbrand-
ing of. False and misleading statement.
Maple syrup, misbranding of. Com
posed of refined cane sugar and flaw
ored with extract of maple wood.
Frozen egg product, adulteration Of
Contained filthy, putrid matter.
oats, adulteration and misbranding
of. Substitution of barley, and short
weight.
Strawberry extract, "Newton's Very
Best Extract Strawberry" misbranding
of. Artificial extract.
Bleached -four, adulteration and mis-
branding Of.
Maple syrup blend, aunt Jemima's
Sugar Cream" adulteration and mis-
branding of. Mixed with glucose.
Tomato catsup adulteration and mis-
branding of. Contained filthy decom-
posed and putrid vegetable substance.
These are only a few of the instances
of cheating in one form or another
that have come to the attention of the
authorities. Recently in New York city
the department of weights and meas
ures found startling and widespread
frauds among merchants who had by
false weights and measures reduced
the purchasing power of the customers
dollars and raised their own profits.
When the cheating can't be done by
short weights or measures it is done,
as we see in this California report, by
poisoning and cheapening the food and
medicine we consume. Evidently the
moral fiber of the people has been
seriously weakened. Our moral stand
ards are sadly low. We still shrink
we respectables-from picking any
body's pockets or short changing a
customer but we cheat them on the
weight or quality and quiet any qualm
of conscience by saying that everybody
does it.