Evening star., 1916-09-17
BY JAMES B. MORROW.
NEW legal specialist is do

a NEW legal specialist is doing
M business in some Of the large
~ cities of the United States. He
q & reads the daily newspapers for
items telling Of the deaths Of persons
caused. SO 1t is stated, by the eating of
canned foods.
around, bearing his name. address and
profession. he may have printed in the
left-hand corner these words: "Pto-
maine Poison Expert" When he learns
that some one has died. supposedly
from a side dish at dinner of canned
tomatoes. peas or corn. he hastens to
the late home of the deceased
Sympathetic toward the family, he is,
SO he says, sternly resolved to call
down the vengeance Of the law on the
heads Of packers who. for mere money,
are poisoning people right and left.
That Is his mission. the work to which
his life is dedicated. Then he goes to
the kitchen, examines the can which
contained the food partaken of by the
departed and copies the name Of the
packer.
Returned to his office, he launches his
negotiations. The packer, counting the
probable cost of a defense. finds that 1t
is cheaper to settle than to fight He
may send the ptomaipe expert a check
for 5000. So the transaction is ended.
The packer escapes expense, annoyance
and injurious publicity. The lawyer re-
sumes his ethical scrutiny of the daily
press.
But the specialist. II all things work
nHpt {rtA lA1 ryyfrl
new field in which to spill his heart and
talent. The National Gamers Associa-
tion has taken the road against him.
He, too. is being pursued. Investigators
ahead Of him.
When a news brevity is printed
reading something like this. for ex-
ample, John Jones died last night aft
er hearty meal Of canned salmon" an
agent OF the packers organization,
likely as not arrives at the Jones resi-
dence in advance of the ptomaine
specialist. Furthermore. he may be ac-
companied by physician. and. possibly,
by policeman or a sheriff.
Frank e. Gorrell. once a newspaper
man himself. a diplomatist, a food
statesman and a general. is the execu-
tive ofhcer OF the Gamers association.
the year 1907. He is a big man in
salary received and. of course. In work
accomplished Travelling regularly be-
tween the peach and olive orchards
the sardine fisheries in Maine, he
knows more about canned foods than
do the packers themselves.
he told the writer of this article, 'are
about as infrequent as are genuine
cases of hydrophobia. A vagrant little
dog. dying Of thirst and starvation. is
the little dog begins to foam at the
mouth. You would so perform, I
would 80 perform, under similar cir
cumstances. The dog Is cornered at
last and shot.
"Hydrophobia is a rare disease-so
rare that it hardly exists. 1t is talked
about great deal. nevertheless. It
is the scapegoat Of dog maladies.
among human maladies, although It is
no more prevalent in this country than
is leprosy. A man in Oklahoma was
m c.n 1hs Of ss ss found as 4osea s
his wife murdered him with paris
green. She Is now in the penitentiary.
"A woman in Ohio committed sui
eide. Her physician stated that death
was caused by canned tomatoes. He
did this, he informed our Investigator,
to spare the woman's family from
scandal. LAWYERS who once chased
that sort Of business by the passage
Of laws compromising worktngmen for
accidents sustained at their employ
m0nI ana ny OLHef l6"b OF the same
character are now engaged in ptomaine
poison practice.
'ons Of our Gamers permitted him
self to be blacakmailed nine times by
one lawyer. The sum OF money paid
in each case was small. but the canner
probably would have given twice the
amount In every Instance rather than
to have suffered the publicity Of an
opsa trial In court. He oape to "
In the end4 and ws soon stopped the