VOL.  LI.  No.  2224  NEW  YORK,  SEPTEMBER  10,  1892.  PRIS  pereyI!rts’ 
Punishment  For  Criminal 
Blunderers. 
MARK  HIM  TAKE  THE  DOSE  MBS.  JUSTICE. 
Our  cartoons  tell  in  forcible  language  the  story  of 
the  faux  pas  of  the  inspectors  of  the  Board  of  Health 
of  this  city,  who,  last  fall,  seized  and  destroyed  a  lot 
of  grapes,  charging  that  they  wrere  poisoned  and  unfit 
for  food.  These  fellows  are  chiefly  notable  for  their 
sins  of  omission  and  they  are  very  fond,  once  in  a 
while,  of  making  a  great  fuss  about  some  unimportant 
matter,  in  order  to  distract  public  attention  from  their 
real  shortcomings.  So,  when  in  their  wanderings 
about  the  markets,  they  found  traces  of  the  copper 
solution  on  the  stems  of  some  grapes,  they  ignorantly 
supposed  it  was  Paris-green.  Here  was  their  oppor¬ 
tunity.  The  grapes  were  mainly,  if  not  altogether,  in 
the  hands  of  commission  merchants.  If  they  were  de¬ 
stroyed,  only  the  shippers  or  growers  would  be  losers. 
They  had  not  had  a  sensation  in  a  long  time.  Some¬ 
thing  must  be  done  to  make  the  public  believe  they 
were  of  some  use,  and  so,  with  a  flourish  of  trumpets, 
they  confiscated  tons  of  grapes,  which  were  destroyed. 
week  or  more  would  show  the  consumers  of  this  city 
what  it  is  to  have  a  gang  of  ignorant  rascals  in  charge 
of  this  inspection  department.  The  present  “cholera 
scare  ”  will  give  these  fellows  a  fine  chance  to  dis¬ 
tinguish  themselves  and  make  a  record  for  destroying 
“unwholesome  fruit.”  There  is  any  quantity  of  fruit 
sold  on  stands  and  low  groceries  that  ought  to  he 
dumped  into  the  river.  Much  of  it  is  green  and  rotten 
to  the  verge  of  disease  ;  yet  not  one-tenth  of  it  is  de¬ 
stroyed.  Why  ?  Because  those  who  peddle  or  sell  it 
have  some  pol  tical  “  pull”  and  can  control  a  handful 
of  foreign  voters.  These  “  party  leaders  ”  are  close  at 
hand  and  it  will  never  do  to  provoke  them.  Let  their 
men  sell  their  rotten  bananas  in  peace  and  prosperity. 
It  is  safe  to  jump  on  the  farmer  because  he  may  be  100 
miles  away  and  the  poor  “hayseed”  can’t  do  any¬ 
thing  about  it  anyway.  The  commission  man  is  just 
aching  for  such  a  raid  as  was  made  last  year,  because 
then  he  can  report  to  the  farmer  “No  returns— fruit 
destroyed  by  the  police  !  ”  That  is  a  mighty  cheap 
way  to  sell  another  man’s  goods  and  pocket  all  the 
proceeds,  and  it  shows  how  such  ignorant  “inspec¬ 
tors”  play  into  the  hands  of  dishonest  commission 
nothing  of  the  real  .facts  and  care  less  if  there  is  a 
sensation  to  be  made  out  of  the  matter,  will  be  quick 
to  rush  into  print  at  the  first  word  from  these  “inspec¬ 
tors.”  Every  influence  should  be  brought  to  bear  upon 
the  members  of  the  city  Board  of  Health  to  induce 
them  to  prevent  the  publication  of  any  such  injurious 
reports  as  were  circulated  last  year.  The  alarming 
stories  of  the  coming  of  Asiatic  cholera  that  now  fill 
the  papers  will  make  people  more  than  ever  suspicious 
of  food  that  has  been  black-listed  by  our  health 
authorities,  and  consequently  extra  precautions  must 
be  taken  by  growers  to  assure  the  public  that  their 
grapes  are  wholesome. 
“Inspecting”  Milk. 
The  strictures  of  The  Rub  at.  New-Yorkek  on  the 
inefficiency  of  the  inspectors  of  the  Board  of  Health 
have  spurred  them  into  a  little  wholesome  activity. 
The  Rub  at.  has  insisted  over  and  over  again  that  large 
quantities  of  partially  skimmed  milk  were  constantly 
being  sold  for  pure,  and  has  given  the  inspectors 
“  tips”  enough,  had  they  been  so  disposed,  to  easily 
locate  the  frauds.  They  have  at  last  made  an  arrest 
“Inspecting”  Without  the  Dollar  Glasses  in  Place.  Fig.  23(>. 
A  Well- Deserved  Penalty  eob  a  Rogue.  Fig.  237. 
After  the  mischief  had  been  done,  the  real  trouble 
began.  The  chemists  of  the  Agricultural  Department 
showed  conclusively  that  these  ignoramuses  had  made 
a  blunder.  There  was  no  Paris-green  on  the  grapes. 
There  were  traces  of  copper  on  the  stems,  which  are 
never  eaten,  but  on  not  one  grape  in  a  thousand  could 
there  be  found  any  of  it.  To  eat  enough  copper  to 
produce  any  perceptible  effect,  one  would  have  to  eat, 
stems  and  all,  about  a  ton  of  grapes,  and  it  would 
take  several  tons  to  make  a  dose  that  would  do  harm. 
Justice  decrees  as  a  punishment  for  their  blunder, 
which  is  worse  than  some  of  their  crimes,  that 
the  offending  inspector  shall  eat  enough  of  the  con¬ 
demned  grapes  to  produce  copper  poisoning.  He 
has  eaten  until  he  has  distended  himself  to  more  than 
alder  manic  proportions  and  until  he  is  surfeited  and 
he  begs  for  a  release.  Justice  prods  him  with  her 
sword  and  bids  him  eat  until  he  is  poisoned.  Alas!  he 
cannot  do  it,  but  he  can  learn  a  lesson. 
Fruit  growers  who  usually  ship  to  this  market  are 
eager  to  know  what  course  these  fellows  propose  to 
take  this  year  in  “  inspecting  ”  the  grape  crop.  The 
foolish  action  of  last  year  hurt  their  business  because 
consumers  were  frightened  and  would  not  buy  graces 
that  were  perfectly  sound  and  good.  If  such  doings 
are  to  be  repeated  this  year  growers  had  better  seek 
other  markets.  Perhaps  a  good  grape  famine  of  a 
men.  Let’s  have  no  more  of  it.  The  fruit  growers 
are  hard-working,  honorable  men,  who  are  doing  all 
in  their  power  to  give  New  York  people  good  and 
wholesome  fruit  at  a  fair  price.  It  is  a  sin  and  dis¬ 
grace  for  the  officials  of  this  city  to  permit  a  lot  of 
stupid  blunderers  to  prejudice  the  people  against  a 
healthy  and  needed  product.  In  fact,  we  believe  that 
the  city  could  be  made  to  pay  for  the  damage  done  the 
fruit  growers  by  the  blunders  of  its  recognized  officials. 
We  think  the  grape  growers  could  establish  a  strong 
legal  case  against  the  city  and  we  would  like  to  see 
them  organize  and  try  it. 
A  case  somewhat  similar  is  said  to  be  in  the  Brook¬ 
lyn  courts  now.  Surely  the  grape  growers  have  sus¬ 
tained  injury  through  the  blunders  or  worse  of  recog¬ 
nized  officers  of  the  city,  and  it  would  seem  as  though 
common  justice  demanded  that  they  be  recompensed. 
It  would  be  a  first-rate  thing  if  we  could  hit  this 
political  gang  right  square  in  the  pocket-books — the 
tenderest  parts  of  their  make-up.  The  grape  growers 
have  taken  extra  precautions  this  year  to  have  their 
fruit  free  from  blemish  or  anything  injurious  to  health. 
They  should  combine  and  have  a  representative  here 
to  inspect  these  “  inspectors”  and  not  permit  them  to 
repeat  their  record  of  last  year.  The  R.  N.-Y.  will  do 
all  in  its  power  to  prevent  fraud  upon  the  farmers, 
but  the  conductors  of  the  daily  papers  here  who  know 
— one  William  H.  Nelson,  of  Katonah,  Westchester 
County,  whose  place  of  business  is  at  210  West  35th 
Street.  Two  seizures  were  made,  one  of  10  and  the 
other  of  17  cans,  all  of  which  were  dumped.  He  will 
be  prosecuted,  as  he  is  an  old  offender. 
A  half  dozen  hotel  men  who  had  been  buying  of  him 
and  selling  the  diluted  stuff;  to  their  patrons,  were 
summoned  before  the  Board  of  Health.  These  claimed 
to  be  blameless,  supposing  the  milk  to  be  pure,  and 
were  let  off  with  a  reprimand.  But  they  are  not 
blameless.  They  never  made  an  honest  effort  to  get 
pure  milk.  Their  zeal  is  all  expended  in  getting  cheap 
milk.  If  they  were  willing  to  pay  a  decent  price — one 
that  would  enable  the  producers  to  live — they  would 
have  no  trouble  in  making  contracts  for  milk  that 
would  be  far  better  than  the  somewhat  attenuated 
standard  which  the  law  allows  to  prevail. 
Let  the  inspectors  go  on.  There  are  scores  of  other 
dealers  who  habitually  adulterate  their  milk,  men  who 
have  over  and  over  again  enacted  the  part  of  defend¬ 
ants  in  prosecutions  for  selling  impure  milk.  And  the 
inspectors  know  where  to  find  them,  if  they  will  only 
take  the  dollars  off  their  eyes.  Our  artist  always 
draws  the  “inspector”  with  silver  dollars  in  place  of 
glasses.  It  is  a  good  hit.  The  only  time  he  can  see 
anything  to  destroy  is  when  the  dollars  do  not  stand 
before  his  eyes  and  hurt  his  vision. 
