The Washington herald., 1918-04-08

tsctiye Bureau today by Bernard
Hart were found to contain several
small pieces of glass. The police will
conduct an investigation. II any fur
ther evidence 10 found at either the
retail store or the bakery the matter
win be reported to the Federal an-
thorities.
The freauent and widespread phbli-
cation Of statement concerning the
presence Of ground glass In foedstuns
ha. led the Committee on Public In
formation to inquire into the authen-
fIcity OF these reports It has been
advised by the Food Administration
that thorough Investigations Of more
than 300 Of the cases has disclosed
only one Instance in which ground
glass was found In the foodstuffs in
-D-cted.
A Typical Case.
The. case In which ground glass was
found occurred at Fort Smith. Ark. A
baker In that town had had trouble
with his employees, one Of whom. de-
string TO destroy his employers busi-
ness, had filled with glass a loaf of
bread which was to be delivered TO
an orphanage. When the bread was
r served to the inmates OF the institu-
tion several of them suffered lacera-
tions Of their lips. No more serious
injuries resulted. The case was given
premature publicity. the baker being
accused Of being a German agent.
with the result that he had to retire
from business.
C0ndaets Inquiries.
Maj. James Miles, head Of that bu-
reau of the Food Administration
which has directed the Investigations,
has personally conducted ten inquiries
in and within the vicinity Of the Dis
trict OF Columbia, and at his behest
the Secret Service has made the other
Investigations reported to the Food
Administration. Other intelligence
services Of the Federal government
have also made numerous investiga-
tions Of reports that were brought In
the first instance to their attention.
These latter inquiries have proved
the reports to be practically as
groundless as those investigated by
the Food Administration. In a few
cases glass and other foreign sub
stances were found in the coarseI
food stufts, but the presence OF these
foreign substances was patiently at
tributable to careless milling, rather
than to design.
Writes Letter.
Replying to a letter relating 10 one
OF the most recent cases reported TO
the Food Administration, Maj. Miles
wrote the following letter:
April ., 1918.
Mr. A. Z. Vinson.
University of Arizona.
Tucson. Arizona.
Dear Sir: You letter of March 18th,
addressed to Mr.. Hoover has beer
referred to me. desire to thank you
very much for the Information con-
tained therein.
We have followed the elusive ground
glass story from Maine to CaliforniI
and from the lakes to the gulf for the
past four months. War Intelligence
Navy Intelligence and the Depart
ment Of Justice are doing the same
and in the thousands of cases that
have been reported we have found but
one genuine case OF deliberate intent In
putting ground glass in food. This
case was where a disgruntled employt
OF q bakery in Fort Smith, Ark
placed glass in one loaf of bread. This
was done for the purpose of injuring
the business of the baker and succeed
ed 50 well that the baker is out OF
business due to untimely publicity.
Your very truly,
L. s. FOOD ADMINISTRATOR
The Food Administration has en-.
deavored to impress upon the public
and the press Of the country the evil
results of premature publicity given
TO reports Of the presence OF glas;
in food. Publication OF the reports
before opportunity Is afforded for in,
vestigation serves to create a condi.
ton Of hysteria in households and does
irreparable damage to the food pro.
Gi,cers and handlers whose products
are attacked.