A Crime of Trade.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXIII, Issue 7365, 12 November 1898, Page 4

A Crime of Trade.

The Manchester City News gives an illustration of the adulteration which is practised almost entirely on the cheaper class of woollen and cottbn goods. Taking cotton goods, it says : "After a piece of waste sheeting has been woven the cloth is passed over a trough containing a solution of zinc, sulphate of magnesia (commonly known as Epsom salts), and water. This is called a sprinkler. A revolving brush plays a spray of these noxious ingredients upon the cloth with the result that a 501b piece after the operation weighs seven and a-half pounds more than when it left the loom, As the goods are sold by the pound the object is evident.' • . 'But what about the wearer ? A piece .cuts rup into ten" pairs of sheets. Each pair therefore contains three-quarters of a pound of moisture. Flannelettes are similarly 'filled,' but by a different process. ; The buyer,is not aware that these goods are filled in sridh a manner, as the moisture is not perceptible to the touch, but it is there ail the same. The worst of it is that the zinc'cannot be washed out by ordinary., washing." The sheets may be washed and dried, but the zinc remains, and will at once absorb moisture again. It is obvious, therefore, that a child sleeping in a flannelette nightdress or an adult sleeping in a pair :of waste sheets finished in such a manner runs great risk.