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Show I WHAT A CHEMISTRY CLASS MIGHT DO FOR OGDEN How a pure food campaign was starttd al the normal school of West-field. West-field. Mass., Is fold by P. C Macfar-lane Macfar-lane in the Inst issue of Colliers. The j story is one of absorbing interest as j illustrating the extent to which the I American people have been duped by i Ij food poisoners in the pnst and what I a tremendous struggle wan necessary I ta lessen this evil. The Issue of del- I furious foods had to be brought into I our national polities before the pow- I erful Interests profiting b adultera- I ted products consumed by the Amcrl- I cans co. ild be checked and made to I tease their frauds I The normal school of Westerfleld is presided over by Lewis B. A'lyn. I a chemist. Ally.i. with his ciass o: I girls, attended a ' poor food" exbibi- I lion in Worcester last year lie es- L toblished a booth containing a labor- E sor and then proceeded. Professor Allyn walked into a store in Worcester and bought a can of peas, and into another store and pur- chased a little bottle labeled Pure H Almond Extract, 2 Or. " Then he got upon the counter at his lootb and. in full sight of the crowd thut proved around, applied the can opener in the b peas, tipping tLe can forward so all I conld see the delicious greenness I to the sophlPl lepted. the suspicions I greenness ot the content. The pro- f. fessor read (hp name of inn brand of I peaB and th name of the packer of V that brand rerj loi dly and clearly, i y and repeated it ns the minister does ':i the number of the hymns, so everybody every-body would be sure to understand. i , Then Professor Allyn confessed to the i people that he had bis suspicions of i hat can of peas: that it looked to him , as if they might be colored with cop- per To sec If that were so he pour- i i .1 cd some hydrochloric acid in the can. Then he brandished a gleaming steel III butcher knife for a moment before I" i the eyes of all, after which he stlr- t red the pe6 with the knife thor oughly, methodically, expectantly, for a few patient moments When he y held the blade aloft again the steely sheen was gone, covered over completely com-pletely b a coniing of reddish-brown I copper. I LJ Of course." observed the professor dryly in concluding the demoaatra- I Hi ii. ' people ihst waul to have their I 'f stomachs copper plated will always buy that brand of peas." , The professor was demonstrating 7L ifltll the bottle of pure (7) almond ex tract He gave the name of the brand and the packer as before, and began by observing that the label told two hinds of lies . first as to quantity. II said "2 oz.,' when, as a matter of i at, the bottle was so concaved on all of Its sides that while It looked , like a two-ounce size it could only hold six-tenths of one ounce It was a fake bottle, made to deceive, and it contained a fake article "Pure Alii Al-ii rnond Extract," the label further declared, de-clared, but there was not a drop of ! almond extract In the bottle. What it contained was diluted nitrobenzene, which Is an imfrtant. ingredient in the makinir of ihoe blacking. It will do for boots, but few people want It In their stomach". It is a mere coin-I coin-I cldence that it smells like almond extract, as you may notice the next time you have your shoes polished. It 16 nine years now since three Normal girls indulged in a surreptitious surrepti-tious midnight spread in their dormitory, dormi-tory, and thereby most unwitting!;, launched the West field pure food movement. The day afler the feast they were absent from the chemistry class. The second day they appeared, looking noticeably pale. I "It must have been the jam." explained ex-plained Hazel, who had contributed a three pound tin of thut 6chool girls' dellpbt. strawberr preserves, as her share of the fc.'xi vlul II. s .'. ami Mary hod added the more innocuous pickles, cheese and chocolates. As has been said. Professor Allyn Is a lecher by insilnet His quirk mind seized upon the teaching value of this Ql dent. "Analyze the preserves, girls." he suggested, "and see w hat in them could have made you 111." The girls obeyed. They found ap pie sauce, ether, rod Ink. grass see In and salicylic acid, hut no straw her ries. From that day forward the glrll In the chemistry class beg.'.n to quai Ify as pure food experts. They exam incd the canned gods, the preserves the medicines, and foods of every kind that came from the stores of West- field into the homes in which ihev I lived. The housekeepers were appalled appall-ed to find I he sort of thing they had been putting iion their tables Professor Allyn became a member of the board of health, and soon the whole town was getting lesson0 In chemistry. Every housekeeper, every merchant, anybody who was susp' cious of a food, a medicine, a fnbrie. even a wall paper, could lake it to the board of health, and the board of health would pass It to the girls .u the chemistry class The subject of analysis and the result would then be placed on exhibition In Ihe board of health museum. Thai museum has been a daily and enlarging lesson in chemistry to the people of W'estfield for eiht years In this museum one may see whisky which is not whisky, tomatoes which are not tomatoes, strawberry preserves which are not preserved strawberries, pies that arc painted, eZtrSCtfl tha1 are poisoned with wood alcohol, v oolen goods no tiber of which ever sprouted upon a sheep, and so on through a list of hundreds of shams and fakes Professor Allyn has taught tradesmen trades-men that It does not pay to himdle ItU pure goods Ho ha taught the people peo-ple to go shopping with the pure food list published by Ihe board of health in their hands. He is teaching the whole country, He is continually In demand for popular lectures, and each lecture Is a lesson In the chemistry of food Why uot just such a chemistry class in the Ogden High school and a volunteer vol-unteer chemist on the board of health of this city? |