333 



ehinery and methods were discovered 



continually. The sugar, at first a brown, 

 bitterish product, became a pure, white 



and sweet article, and was found to con- 

 tain all the elements for the ameliora- 

 tion of beer, wine and vinegar. It was 

 also found that the saccharine principle 

 could be checked, and the syrup turned 

 into a gummy substance, equal in its 

 elements to the best gum-arabic. 



•• In 1838 France and Germany counted 

 ](> factories in full operation, and with 

 a steadily increasing demand. The erec- 

 tion of new factories and improved 

 met 1 ods kept on unabated, and in 1867, 

 at the time of the Paris Exposition, 

 there were working on the continent of 

 Europe 67 glucose factories. In 1878 

 there was an increase of 15 more estab- 

 lishments, which made a total of 84 fac- 

 tories. If we consider that the great 

 bulk of the enormous amount tinned 

 out daily is grape sugar and gummy 

 glucose, we may make some estimate 

 Of the great traffic in Europe of these 

 two articles. The demand for table syr- 

 ups in Europe is very light in eompari- 

 with that in this country. Seven-eighths 

 of tliis production is there used for man- 

 ufacturing purposes. * * * * 



" In the fall of 1865, when residing in 

 JSew York City, I received a letter from 

 one of my friends in France, a manu- 

 facturer of glucose, by which he ad- 

 vised me of having shipped a keg of 

 his white, dense glucose, with a request 

 to compare his product with the best ar- 

 ticle made in this country. He wished 

 to know what progress the business had 

 made in the United States. The sam- 

 ple glucose which arrived was an excel- 

 lent article, and at once I took steps to 

 investigate the matter. 



"To my utter surprise, no glucose could 

 be found for comparison. The article 

 was actually so little known that the 

 wholesale confectioners declared they 

 had never heard even of the name. I 

 then commenced to work over some of 

 the glucose into a sweet syrup, and in- 

 troduced a sample of it to one of the 

 heavy sugar brokers. When I told him 

 that the main base of the syrup was 

 starch, and it could be produced pound 

 for pound, lie refused to believe me, but 

 1 partly convinced him by proving the 

 tact from some scientific works, and by 

 letters from European manufacturers. 

 A tew days after Wall street was in an 

 excitement. Corn syrup was intro- 

 duced, and its career opened in America, 

 where now many factories are success- 

 fully operated, of immense capacities." 



The above article gives some points 

 of historic value, and we cheerfully 

 give place to it. as yir. Baldridge re- 



quests. But we can never look upon 

 the adulterations which are made with 

 glucose with anything but feelings of 

 disgust. 



The author of the above is in error as 

 to the origin of the word glucose ; it is 

 not Latin, as he says, but it is a Greek 

 word, and means " sweet." He also is 

 mistaken regarding the origin of the 

 name grape sugar. In some instances, 

 therefore, he evidently does not know 

 what he is talking about ! 



The N". Y. Tribune has the following 

 excellent article relative to the multitu- 

 dinous adulterations made with glucose: 



" It is known that many mills are kept 

 busy grinding minerals and earth for 

 this adulteration. It is fearful to think 

 of the clays and starches, glucose and 

 pigments, that are swallowed by inno- 

 cent infancy, and of the doctors and un- 

 dertakers who will share the profits with 

 the candy-makers. 



" Of these adulterants, glucose, which 

 is generally assumed to be innocent in 

 a sanitary point of view, is becoming 

 one of the most unmitigated and suc- 

 cessful swindles of the age. With corn 

 at 20 or 30 cents per bushel, it is almost 

 as cheap as clay, and a large per cent- 

 age of adulteration possible makes it the 

 favorite and most profitable means of 

 perpetrating fraud in sugars and mo- 

 lasses. It is used by sugar refiners, by 

 manufacturers of syrups, by makers of 

 confectionery, for mixing with honey, in 

 making sweet wines, and in all the pro- 

 ducts into which cane sugar enters. 



"Unfortunately the extent of this 

 manufacture may not be fully revealed 

 by the census. Those who will cheat 

 will also lie. Could the facts be di- 

 vulged, the community would be aston- 

 ished at the magnitude of its manufac- 

 ture. Were it offered as glucose to the 

 ultimate consumers, at its real worth, 

 there would be no objection— and at the 

 same time little sale. The manufac- 

 turer shares with the maker of sugar 

 products the gains of this nefarious 

 business, while the consumer unwit- 

 tingly pays for a substance of trifling 

 value the price of real sugar. New 

 York, Buffalo, Chicago and St. Louis, 

 ami possibly main other places are cen- 

 ters of this manufacture, which is kept 

 as secret as possible, like the manu- 

 facture of illicit spirits, which plunders 

 a vigilant and powerful government 

 only, while this trade oppresses mil- 

 lions of poor and unsuspecting people. 

 Swindles like this should be by law a 

 felony.'' 



