VARIED WORK

Hawera Star, Volume XLIX, 6 January 1930, Page 8

VARIED WORK

STATE MONEY SAVED. UNCOVERING FALSE ENTRIES

An extraordinary record of researches made by one of the most obscure yet none the less highly important departments of the State is contained in the annual report of the British Government chemists, says an overseas paper. The Government chemist is Sir Robert Robertson, whose department is situated in a building-which is dadlV passed by hundreds of Londoners, veiy few of whom are aware of the State work that is in progress there. Ha If-a-million samples of remarkable variety came before the chemist and his staff during the year. They included foodstuffs of all kinds, the clothes of a murdered man, the stamps, poinsons, and materials excavated from a ruined- abbey.

All other Government Departments send articles to the chemist, the Colonial Office, imposing an additional task by sending candidates for posts in the colonies ho be examined in technical knowledge. U. Large sums of money have been saved for the' State* through researches made for the Cust'iVnis/ and Excise Depart meets. Dutiable percentages of alcohol were traced in herbal beer and ginger beer, and illicitly distilled spriits were identified. Manufacturers received refunds of nearly £8,000,000 during the year on wood fibres and hair which wore found in tobacco offal.

The forger and falsifier of accounts are not. safe from the searching eye of the Government Chemist. Under the regulations relating to the duty on betting, approved accounts books must be kept by bookmakers in order that the amount of duty payable may be ascertained.

Bookmakers’ alliterations in their entries -wore discovered when the books were submitted to a scrutiny of the chemist’s department, and in many cases even the original entries were uncovered.

The public have, in many cases, been saved from victimisation in the matter off adulterated foods and patent medicines. Some surprising disclosures were marie in this field of research. For example, out of 800 samples of butter, 15 were found to contain 50 per cent, of fat other than butterfat, while certain specimens of cheese revealed a proportion of more than 50 per cent, of water.

Valuable work was done by the laboratories in salvaging radium salt from disused gun sights. About 510 milligrams' were recovered from the luminous paint, reconditioned, and retubed for resea,rch purposes. As the price of radium is about £l2 a milligram, the department saved the country more than £OOOO.