798 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



attorneys in sonic cases and 1)^- the Department of Ajjciiculture in 

 others, developed niiti^atin*; cnTunistances which led to their dis- 

 missal or discontinuance. In a few cases it was found impossible to 

 obtain service on defendants who had left the jurisdiction. A few 

 other cases were dro[)petl, because it was found im])ossible to })roduce 

 satisfactory evidence to establish the interstate shipment of the par- 

 ticular ])roduct on account of the death of ncccssaiy witnesses. In 

 no case Jias leniency been shown or recommended to the shi]i])ers or 

 vendors of foods unfit for consumj^tion or deleterious to health, or of 

 adulterated and misbranded products containing dangerous and 

 habit-forming drugs. Convictions weie obtained against the ship- 

 pers of lilth}" egg products, alleged manhood restorers, olive oil 

 heavil}' adulterated with cotton-seed oil, flavoring extracts contain- 

 ing wood alcohol, proprietary medicines for which false claims were 

 made on the la])els, short-weight canned and bottled goods, maple 

 sirup mixed with cane or corn sirups, pepj)er atlulterated with foreign 

 material, skimmed, w^atered, and filthy milk, etc. 



Of the whole number of criminal cases reported during the year, 

 152 were pending in the courts at its close. There were also 252 cases 

 in the hands of the Attorney-General or the United States attorneys 

 for consideration and presentation to the courts during the coming 

 year. 



Seizure was effected during the year of 224 shipments of adulterated 

 and misbranded foods and drugs. Decrees of condemnation and 

 forfeiture w^ere rendered against 132 of these shipments, and pro- 

 ceedings w^ere pending at the close of the year in 50 cases of this 

 class. In 6 seizure cases proceedings were abandoned because the 



§oods could not be found or had passed beyond Federal jurisdiction. 

 ix seizures were dismissed because of insufficiency of evidence. 

 Hundreds of tons of merchandise were forfeited to the use of the 

 United States during the year. In cases where the adulteration or 

 misbranding of the product could be cured by relabeling, the goods 

 generally have been released to the claimants on the filing of bonds 

 satisfactory to the court that they would not be sold or otherwise 

 disposed of contrary to law. On the other hand, numerous ship- 

 ments of food products have been destro3'ed by direction of the 

 courts, when the product was found to be filthy, decomposed, or 

 putrid, or to contain substances deleterious to health. There is no 

 cure for these forms of adulteration. Large quantities of filthy egg 

 products have been destroyed in various sections of the country. In 

 the northern district of Illinois several hundred cases of macaroni, 

 containing a poisonous color, were condemned, and judgment was 

 rendered in the eastern district of Pennsylvania against several 

 barrels of filthy and decomposed black olives. Many carloads of 

 flour bleached with nitrogen peroxid, a poisonous substance, were 

 seized during the year. A decree of condemnation and forfeiture 

 adjudging this product to be adulterated and misbranded was rend- 

 ered in the United States district court at New Orleans, in a case 

 which was not contested on its merits. A second case vigorously 

 contested, involving this product, was on trial at the close of the year 

 in the western district of Missouri. The jury returned a verdict for 

 the United States in July, and a decree of condemnation and for- 

 feiture was entered. The claimants noted an appeal and the case is 

 pending before the circuit court of appeals for the eighth circuit. 



