POISONING THE PEOPLE.

NZ Truth, Issue 87, 16 February 1907, Page 5

POISONING THE PEOPLE.

A FILTHY CONFECTIONER AND HIS FAKES FIXED. Horrible pxposure of* the Filthy Ingredients of High-class Sweets. "Truth's" Scathing Comments Bear Good Fruit. Mr. Jones Loses His Head and Abuses the Health Inspectors.

Dr. McAithur, S.M., erred on the side of ludicrous^ leniency when, last Monday, he fined Charles Henry Jones, manager of the Diamond Confectionery Company, £5 and £6 VTs 6d costs cm a charge of having on November 14th, 1906, m his possession on his premises, m Abel Smith-street, certain milk, to wit, 576 tins of condensed milk, " which said milk was deposited at the said premises for 'the purpose of preparation for sale for human consumption, the-s'ame' being 'unwholesome and unfit for human , consumption." Had the Magistrate sent Jones to ptison without , thg, option of a fine, ' as .he was fairly entitled to' do, there is no reason to believe that the public would have been up m arms or that a numerously . signed petition would, have been presented to the Governor for Jones' instant release. This scoundrel having been fined m all £11 17s 6d the i poisoned public will have to rest content and hold off Jones' ! crook candy m future. ' . A serious offence has. been inadequately punished, and whatever else is wanting to make the punishment^complete willhave to besuWied by a wholesale and wholesome publication of the facts and it is "Truths. deliffht to do its share to make eobd the assertion of Jones that the effect of the

fine would be to drive 'him out of the country. The < country can well spare 'HIM AND HIS ROTTENNESS. This man Jones, who is . somewhat • of 3, Bible-banger, cut, up pretty roughin the Court at the infliction of a penalty which he should have regarded, and. 'what'; others,' look upon as, an extraordinarily' light one. His conduct m the, Court was more akin to that of a whipped, whining cur .with just enough spunk left to emit a : final snap, and 1 the snap m his case took the shape of a condemnation of the methods of the Health Inspectors, whose promptitude m seizing the rotten, stuff -prevented the manufacture of such delectable sweets, as milk caramels and chocolate creams, and incidentally saved a large section of the community, particularly children, from the unspeakable pains and deadly dangers! "of ptomaine poisoning. A defence of the methods of the Health Inspectors is, m this instance, hardly necessary. If Jones and his firm have been m the habit of/utilising such putrid ptomainic mucjc for the manufacture of sweet-meats it, seems rather to be the case that the Health Inspectors have been remiss m their duties m that they have not kept the factory under more strict supervision. In dirty Jones' case "Truth" accepts the responsibility of his proaecution for, having certain information laid before it, it took action, and vigorously stirred the Health Department into poking an official nose 1 into the damnable dirty works of the Diamond Confectionery Company. Towards the end of last year attention was drawn to the fact that this sweets-manufacturing concern was foisting on the public certain comfits, the basis of which was "reserved fiers, the consumption of which invited a lingering death; and at the same time the Health Department was invited to visit the effice and subsequently the factory, and there see haw things stood. The Denartment took the tip and the re--1 suit was the seizure »f over 500 tins

of condensed milk, which Jones admitted was to be used m the manufacture of caramel toffee. He made the further damning admission that he had seen milk m a much worse condition used m England. Not a doubt but that is true m the hellhole of Houndsditch, where this impudent ruffian and . WHOLESALE POISONER comes from, but here— when properly shaken up— we venture to think differently;. When the dreadful milk-tins were opened m Court m December last the stench was abominable. The whole court-room was filled with a dreadfully .'offensive odor, but as the" case was at that time pending consideration, this paper held its hand. Now it is glad of the chance to give Jones his due. Jones backed and filled m a ludicrous manner. Practically he never had a hope of an acquittal, and it would have been far better had he pleaded guilty and thus saved the exposure, which was inevitable on the taking of evidence. Who is there m the community, having any regard - for the health of their children, who will say that the fine of £11 odd was sufficient for the enormity of this preachy devil's offence. Had Jones been sent to prison without the option, of a fine he would have only . received what was his

due. Dr. McArthur had absolutely no just ground on -which to be so lenient. Jones' js no stranger to thai Magistrate, because on a former occasion when he was sued for damages over a factqry accident, which occurred through' his gross neglect to erect a guard around his machinery, | he was mulcted m £40 damages and] costs. At ' that time Jones made slanderous allegations against the j Magistrate", to the Minister for Jus- ' tice. Whether there were grounds for those allegations it is not now neccessary to investigate. Suffice it to say that Jones, after being cast m damages, made allegations against the Magistrate's integrity and fitness to preside over i Court of Justice. The Magistrate survived the cur-like attack and is as much respected, as ever, while Jones has been proved A CROOK AND POISONER. Personal feeling should never enter the conduct of a law-giver, and ."Truth" is much afraid that Dr. ■McArthur , m his endeavor to be»impartial and unbiased m this particular case, carried his intentions to a ludicrous length of leniency. Jones always was, is, and no doubt, will continue to be, a man wholly devoid of conscience or integrity towards the public. Many months ago he prosecuted a traveller on a charge of embezzlement. The case was heard at Greymouth, the gentleman being dragged there at great exprense, and the magistrate, 1 Mr Kendrick.S.M., at that time freely expressed his opinion of Mr C. H Jones, manager of the Diamond Confectionery Company. 'But that is not all, Jones is a member of the Wellington Licensing Bench. He is a rabid prohibitionist who daily curses publicans for the awful nature of the grog they offer to the public. .There is something of the Dr. Jeckyl'l and Mr Hydo about Jones, because while not hesitating to condemn ami continually denounce the sale of liquid poison, he has not the slightest reluctance te selling to

the public sweet-meats which, on his ow«n admissions are compounded of deleterious substances and which, according to Dr. Makgill, District Health Officer, are utterly unfit for human consumption-, and the eating, of which must inevitable be followed by serious consequents, especially m the case of young 'children. Because he was found out Jones complained that the effect of the fine will be to drive him out of the country. Well, such w ili be a most desirable effect, and the pity of it is that Jones will probably strive to counteract the effect and remain 1 with us, but it is to be hoped, under the very strict surveilance of the Health Department ; that is now, we hope, inevitable. Apparently Jones has j been m the habit of using milk m which the presence of bacteria was a certainty, , and the public have been buying and consuming his horrible output. Jones brazened it out from the moment the milk was seized. He attempted to justify the use of the^ milk muck by stating that he had seen milk m a ; . jMUCH. WORSE CONDITION used m England. Whether he saw, it used m J. S. Fry's factory, where he claimed to have been employed, we have only his tainted word for ; ariyhoW it looks like an attempt on Jones' nart to bring other confectionery manufacturers down to his depth. For the public information, it may be stated, that Fry's factory I is; w^ll-kaown throughout the Engiis&_sjfeti&fa£~ \<tfrM- asr^a- , model ' f aelines' assertions do riot seem tOs^old water. He is a holy hypocrite* and a jfraud and has been found but for^What he isJ Therefore.it is to be hoped" that the fine inflicted last Monday will drive him out of the country. There are too many of his sort m New Zealand, and his departure would not be mourned. The community will fondly hope that his whining threat will be carried out. We can well spare him and his germ-impregnated sweeties. Even firs "brothers m the Loard," of Taranaki-street Weslevan Church, where "'Diamond" Jones carries round . the plate ev.erv Sunday with such unctuous solemnity, would be

able* to spare him after such a damning exposure of his atrocious callousness to the public healtk.