PURE FOODS.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 13483, 24 July 1907, Page 4

PURE FOODS.

The Pure Foods Bill, which has passed through Committee in the Hous6 of Representatives, underwent considerable amendment during its passage. It is designed, as its title would imply, to prevent adulteration of our food and drink, even to the condiments and flavourings used. It also applies to medicines, whether for internal or external use. Under its provisions anyone who suspects the purity of any article coming under those headings supplied to him may, upon payment of the analyst's fee and the cost of the sample, require a constable to purchase a portion of the article suspected to be impure and submit it for analysis. Officers of the Health Department and constables authorised by the Chief Health Officer are given power to enter and inspect any place in which' they have reaspnable cause to believe food is intended for sale, and to seize any which appears to be unwholesome or deleterious to health The Bill makes it compulsory, in th«* case of proprietary articles, such as tea, coffee, cocoa, soap, mustard, etc., that if any other ingredient is used in the composition of such article the fact shall be stated on the label. If, however, the Governor chooses he may grant exemption to a known reliable article. Retailers are protected against prosecution for adulteration «if they se cure a warranty from the wholesale merchant, and the latter may rely on a warranty from the manufacturer, but no warranty given by a person residing outside the colony can be held to be a good defence to an action unless the de fendant proves that he ' has, taken reasonable steps to ascertain the truth of the warranty. The maximum penal ty for a breach of the Act is £50, and there is a. provision giving merchants twelve months' grace Ik> get rid of their stocks of articles which do not comply with the provisions of the Act. In Sydney a somewhat similar Act has been in foroe for several years.. In 1901, the first year the law was- really enforced, a total of 228 samples of food were taken in the metropolis, and 138, or over sixty per cent., were found to be adulterated. Last year over 1700 samples were taken and 224, or only 14 per cent., were found to be adulterated. In 1901 seventy per cent of the samples of milk taken* in the city of Sydney were found to be badly adulterated; while last year only six per cent, of the milk was found to contain a' slight addition of water. Butter is now seldom adulterated, and jam is what it purports to be— -not made from pumpkins and other things and labelled something else. Bread, oatmeal, and various other articles of food are now much purer than before the Act was enforced, and even the butchers' sausages have had to toe the mark. Thus it is evident that good is likely to result from New Zealand's Pure Food Act, that is, if the Legislative Council permits the Bill to become law:

A sharp shock of earthquake was ex-j perienced at Oamaru at 6,30 last night, j Mrs. Hawthorne, inspectress of factories, visits New Plymouth officially to-morrow. It is about two yqars since Mrs. Hawthorne paid a visit of inspection to this town. The Otago Harbour Board has decided to approach Parliament with a view to secure the passing of an Empowering Bill enabling it to borrow up to the extent of £100,000. What about the Standing Orders of the House? Are they to be relaxed for Dunedin? The South Canterbury Dairy Com-^ pany has had a profitable year (says a/ Timaru telegram), and will pay a dividend of 5 per cent, arid a bonus to suppliers. The year's "turnover was £27,000. '' f The first of a series of socials in aid of the funds, of the bazaar of the Catholic Young Men's Club was held in St. Joseph's Schoolroom last night. There was a large attendance, and everyone present appeared to thoroughly enjoy the social. Mrs. A. George supplied capital dance music. Extras were played by Messrs. O. West and D. Phillips. The Misses Moore sang the duet " Sea of Glass," and Mi*. McLean rendered "The Yeoman's Wedding." An excellent supper was handed round. The secretarial duties were performed by Mr. J. A. Clarke. Mrs. May Tumble, who weighs nearly thirty stone, accidentally fell on her eighth husband and crushed him to death. She is the stoutest woman in America, and known in Washington (says the Evening Standard) as "Mother Rumble Tumble." Mr. Tumble, a wealthy merchant, was roller-skating and fell. Mrs. Tumble, immediately behind, fell upon him. He was unconscious when rescued, -. and examination by a physician showed that the pelvic bone was crushed, and that he had sustained other internal injuries. He died before reaching the hospital. In nearly every case Mrs. Tumble's husbands have met with misadventure, causing untimely death. Her- seventh husband was killed by the sudden, closing of a folding bed : caused by the breaking of a spring under her weight. In another column Mr Newton King advertises a farm of- 433 acres, to be sold at his "Rahotu Yards on Thursday, Bth August, on account of Mr James Millar. Headaches of every kind yield to Steams' Headache Cure in a few minutes. These tiny, tasteless wafers bring certain relief from almost every kind of nain. "Used wherever heads ache." 1 i