SUSPICIOUS SWEETS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXII, Issue 15, 18 January 1901, Page 2

SUSPICIOUS SWEETS.

(To the Editor.)

Sir,—l think It only fair the correspondent under the norn de plume "A Sufferer" should state where he purchased his confectionery, and also affix his name, thereby enlightening those interested in the manufacture of confectionery whom it is that 'ventures a direct charge upon one of the best selling lines of the' trade. Amateurs 1 at sugar-boiling are apt to introduce deleterious compounds into confectionery,-or even overdo what would be otherwise beneficial. It strikes the shopkeeper that fo %

augment his income by adding to his stock a little production on his own account is a very simple thing. Hence the introduction •of experiments, the danger to public health and injury to the trade in general by the production of inferior articles. Sugar-boil-ing is,, practically speaking, an art, and requires considerable time and careful teaching, and cannot be acquired off-hand, as many suppose. As this matter concerns the public health, I should strongly urge upon the Council the introduction of a,bylaw prohibiting shopkeepers from offering for sale lines of confectionery produced by other than a registered factory. The pre^ jiuiice engendered by the correspondent against this particular line termed "blackjacks" may be nullified by the assurance that the line is undoubtedly, when properly made, one of the most wholesome arid harmless of all. It strikes me that the charge against this simple line is very unfair, especially when unpleasant internal feelings may be attributed to so many'causes during the green gooseberry and rh'n. barb season.—l am, etc.,

A. P. BRADLT^f