The times dispatch. [volume], January 09, 1911, Page 7, Image 7

About The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914

Image provided by: Library of Virginia; Richmond, VA

                
Enquired if we \
Of course every tine a spot light is turned on from any source it offers a
splendid chance to talk about, the merits of the products, but, pon honor now,
we are not hiring that "Weekly."
The general reader seldom cares much for the details of "scraps."
A few may have read lately some articles attacking us and may be interested
in the following:
Some time ago a disagreement arose with a "Weekly." They endorsed
our food by lctten but wanted to change the form of advertising to which we
objected.
The "Weekly" discontinued inserting our advertisements while they were
negotiating for some changes they wanted in the wording and shape of the
advertisements, and during this correspondence our manager gave instructions
to our Advertising Department to quit advertising altogether in that "Weekly."
Quite a time after the advertising had been left out, an editorial attack came.
Wc replied in newspapers and the scrap was on.
Then came libel suits from both sides, and some harsh words.
Generally tiresome to the public.
That "Weekly" has attacked many prominent men and reputable manu?
facturers.
Our Company seems prominent enough for a sensational writer to go after,
hunt for some little spot to criticize, then distort, twist and present ii to the
public under scare heads.
"hiring" a certain "weekly" paper, to abose us.
So an attorney from New York spent more or less time for months In Battle
Creek, hoping to find impurities in our foods, or dirt in the factories. After
tireless spying about he summoned twenty-five of our workmen and took their
testimony. Every single one testified that the foods are made of exactly the
grain and ingredients printed on the packages: the wheat, barley and corn being
the choicest obtainable?all thoroughly cleaned?the water of the purest, and
every part of the factories and machinery kept scrupulously clean.
That all proved disappointing to the "Weekly." There are very few fac?
tories, hospitals, private?or hotel and restaurant kitchens that could stand the
close spying at unexpected times and by an enemy paid to find dirt or impurities
of some kind.
In any ordinary kitchen or factory he would find something to magnify and
make a nnise about.
But he failed utterly with the Postum Works and products. Twenty to
thirty thousand people go through the factories annually and we never enquire
whether they are there to spy or not. It makes no difference to us.
He next turned to discover something about our advertising that could be
criticized.
An analysis of the methods and distorted statements of the "Weekly" may
interest some readers, so we take up the items one by one and open them out
for inspection. Wc will "chain up" the harsh words and make no reference in
this article to the birth, growth and methods of the "Weekly" but try to confine
the discussion to the questions now at issue.
Battle Creek, Michigan, December 30, 1910.
We the undersigned, certify that never to our knowledge has a
testimonial letter been printed by the Postum Cereal Co., Ltd., which
did not have behind it a genuine letter signed, and believed to be an
honest statement.
To the best of our knowledge and belief the Companv has re?
ceived upwards of fifty thousand (50,000) genuine testimonial 1 otters.
This Company has never knowingly made nor permitted an un?
truthful statement regarding its products or its methods.
M. K. HOWE, Treasu rer, (With Company about. 14 years.)
L. J. LAMSON, Inspector of Advts. (With Company about 9% years.)
F. C. GRANDIN, Advt. Manager. (With Company about 13 years.)
R. M. STERRETT, M. D., Physician in charge of Scientific Dep't
(With Company about 4V?> years.)
CHESTOX SYER, Advt. Writer. (With Company about 3 years,)
CHARLES W. GREEN, Advt. Writer. (With Company about 5 years.)
HARRY E. BURT. General Sup't. (With Company about 13 years.)
H. C. HAWK. Assistant to Chairman. fWith Company about 7 years.)
C. W. POST, Chairman. (With Company 16 years, from the beginning.,)
Distortion No. 1 staled that
?r have been accustomed lo advertise
Grape-Nuts and Postum as .' cure-alls for
everything-."
It ha.? never been the policy of this
Company to advertise drape-Nuts or
Postum to cure anything.
Wo say that In cities where coffee disa?
grees and Is causing sickness its dismissal
will remove the cause of the trouble, and
we suggest that the use. of Postum for the
reasou that is furnishes a hot palatable
morning bevorsge. and contains natural
elements from the grain which ran he
used by nature to assist in rebuilding
nerve centres that coffee may have
broken down.
Likewise Grape-Nuts food does nut
cure anything, tint It docs assist nature
tremendously In rebuilding, provided the
(indigestible food that has been used is
discontinued and Grape-Nuts taken iu
its place.
Charge No. 2
slates that the
passage of the National Pood ?<- Drugs
Act compelled its to drop from the pack?
ages some assertions regarding the nutri?
tive v alue of Orapo-Niits.
Wo have never been "compelled" to
make any change.
Since the beginning it has been a univer?
sal rule to print clearly on every package
exactly what the contents are made of
Before the passage of tho Pine Pppd
Law the packages stated that Grape-Nut
fond was made of wheat and barlej.
We did not esteem the small amount
of salt and yeast tis of value enough to
speak of. but after the new 1,nw came
in we lioramc. as technical as tho offi?
cials at Washington and added tho words
"yeast" and "salt." although we have
no recollection of being asked to.
Wo believed that our statement that
(Irapp-N'tits will supply elements to nour?
ish the brain and nerve centres is true
and bring authorities to support the fact.
Some state chemist* tteliovcd this
a gross exaggeration and Inasmuch as
the- Food Dept. at Washington
easily harass grocers, pending a trial on
the disputed question, we concluded that
much the better way would be to elim?
inate from our packages such claims,
however certain we may lie that the
claims are true.
Another statement objected to read as
follows
"The system will absorb a greater!
amount, of nourishment from one pound j
of Orspe-Nuts than from ten pounds of |
meat, wheat. oats or broad."
.Some Department chemists deceive i
themselves as well as the public.
'Calorie" Is the word which defines
a unit of heat determined by the amount
necessary to raise one kilogram of water
one degroo centigrade. On this basis a
table of calorics is prepared showing the
percentage of dlffioront kinds of food.
Rutter shows s.fifi; O rape-Nuts 3.00;
milk 0.70. Remember the statement on
the package spoke of the nourishment the
system would absorb, but did not speak of
the calories of heat contained lit it, for
the heat is not nourishment, and the
nourish men t cannot he judged by tho
number of heal units, notwithstanding
the fact that certain chemists would have,
tho public believe so.
A* on Illustration: Attempt to feed a.
man si\ty days on butter alone, wit Ii its
8.00 calories. The man would die bc
fon; the experiment had run sixty days.
Then, take Grape-Nuts with 3.00 and
milk with 0.71)?the two combined rtiual
?1.00?about one-half the number of
calories contained in butter. The man
fed !<?: sixty days on this food would h?>
well nourished; and could live not only
sixty day-, hut six mouths on that food
alone, and we do not hesitate tn suy
from our l"tig knowledge <>f the sustain?
ing power of the food that a man at the
oiid of sixty days would he of practically
ihe same weight ns when he startet)?if
he be a man 'if normal weight.
Wo will suppose that from his work
he in.' a pound a day and made up a
pound each day from food. If that pre?
mise proved to bo true the. man in sixty
days' lime would make ?Ixty pounds of
tissue to replar-i -Mat liatl been lost, and
this would he on Grape-Nuts and
milk with lu?lf in umber of calories .if
butter, upon which tin "tie can sustain
life.
Therefore, we have ret'soil to believe
that mil contention is right that con?
centrated food like Grape-Nuts, which
Is partly digested mid ready for easy as?
similation by ihe hotly, presents mure
nourishment that tbc system will ab?
sorb ilian many other forms of food, and
we will further say llttit in cases of diges?
tive troubles where meat, white broad
and oats cannot be digest od, that Grape
Nuts and milk contain mure nourish?
ment that the system will absorb than
many pounds of these other foods.
Distortion No. 3
charges t hat
oiii- testimonials were practically all paid
for iiinl rc-trrltten in Battle Creek.
These testimonials were demanded by
tilt; opposing lawyers. Naturally this
demand mis refused, for they are held in
vaults and kept safe Hi prove the truth,
and are not :>i he delivered up tin demand
of enemies.
Testimony at the trial brought out tho
fact that we never printed a single testi?
monial thai we did hot have tho genuine
letter back of. Many of these letters
caihe spontaneously. A record was kept
of twelve hundred ami four (1,204) let?
ters received in one month from peopio
who wrote IIml thoy lut'l either entirety
recovered their health or beep benefit led
by following our suggestions on food
and boverages
tin three or four occasions in the past
liMi or twelve years we printed broadcast
in pipers oilers of prizes to users of
Post it nt and Grape-Nuts?two hundred
Si.on prizes, otic hundred 32.00, twenty
tiT $5.00 and five of S10.00 each - - stal-i
iug iliat dich miisi In* an honest letter
with name and address. We agreed not
to publish names, but to furnish thorn i
to enquirers by letter. These letter
writers very generally answered those |
who wroto to them, and verified the
truth of the statements
Under this agreement not to publish
names literally scores of letters came
from doctors. We kopt our word ond
neither printed their names or surren?
dered Ilm letters.
Right here notice art ?'imitation spasm."
The " Weekly" says: "Post got those tcsti
j nionin's by stiver Using Tor them. In New
York lie used for thst purpose Hie. Now
York Magazine of-whose editor Is
now in the Federal Penitentiary for
fraudulent use of the malts. For exam?
ple. Post unnonncod In that magn/ir.e In
1007. etc.," i then follows our prize com?
petition!.
We Used pearly all of the papers and
niagu/itics in New York anil the. rest of
, America. but tin; sensational writer gives
, the impression to his readers that the
i only magazine we used was one whose
i edftor is now in the Federal Penitentiary,"
etco something that we know nothing
! of the truth of now, ami never did.
space was bought In the magazine spoken
of on a business basis for the reason that
it went to a good class of readers. The
incident seem? to have furnished on op?
portunity for s designing writer to de?
ceive his readers.
We look upon honest human testimony
from men and women as to the means by
which they recovered health as of
t rcmondous value to t hose in search of It.
Our business ha? been conducted from the
very first day,upon lines of strict integ?
rity and we never yet have published a
false testimonial of human experience.
Many of these lottery covered numerous
sheets; some, if printed, would spread
over half a page of newspaper. II we
wotiid attempt to print one stich letter In
every one of the thousands of papers and
magazines we use. the cost for printing
that one letter would run into ninny
thousands of dollars.
We boil down these letters exactly as
n newspaper writor boils his news,?stick?
ing sacredly to flu* Important facts and
eliminating details about the family and
other unimportant matters. This work
Of boiling down, or editing, is done
honestly, antl with n full knowledge of
our responsibility, hut notice tho art
of the "twister" in the way he presents
to his readers this matter of testimonials.
Distortion No. 4. this is a
had one. it reads as follows: "The only
famous physician whose name erassignod
to a testimonial was produced in Court by
Colliers nnri turned out to bp a poor old
brokendown homeopath, who Is now j
working In a printing establishment.
He received ten dollars (910.00) for
writing his testimonial."
We will wager ten thousand dollars
iS10.000.OOi with any Investigator that
v.o have, subject to inspection of any
fair committee, upwards of three hund?
red ciooi communications from physi?
cians, many of thorn expressing the high?
est commendation of our products, but
these will not now or ever lie turned over
to the publisher for his use.
Notire tho statement In this charge:
"The only famous physician whose name
was signed to Postum testimonial, etc."
The truth is. this Or. Underwood was
one of a great many physicians who have
not only written commendatory words
about tho value of our foods, hut every '
now and then some physician writes an
article on coffeo or on food, and sends it
to us with a suggestion of compensation
for his time and medical knowledge;
Previous to the time when we employed
physicians in our own business, wo oc?
casionally employed a doctor to write
an article on coffee, always Insisting that
the article, bo an honest expression of his
opinion and research.
Tbc "'Weekl.v" hunted ui> this physi?
cian, and because he seemed to he pour,
and as It says, "brokondown." had him
brought to Court to be exposed before a
jury as the "only physician that had ever
endorsed Grape-Nuts." but much to the
chagrin of the "Weekly," ivhon our at?
torneys ashed hlm If the artic le he ?Tute
about coffee wuv true, he replied "yes.
Statement No. 5 reads. .The
health officers of Mich.. Maine. Peiin.,
New Uamp.. nud titlier states in their
official bulletins have for years been
denouncing as preposterous and fraudu?
lent the rlaims mode by the Postum
Cereal Company " We do not recall
any criticism except from Mich., Pcnn.,
Maine and P. Dakota,
The average reader might think that
the opinions expressed by the Slate
Officials ai r- always correct, bin that con?
clusion is not borne nut by facts
As nn illustration: About thirteen
years ago the Dniry and Food COhirols
slon of Michigan for some persona! ri a
son printed a severe criticism on us for
?unking Postum ol Parley (according to
his official chemist) at market price and
selling too high. He was shown there
wus never a grain of ha: toy used In
Postum. His report was false anil mis?
leading. The governor dismissed him.
Wo believe 1 hot most of the state
officials are honest-, and on the other
hand we are firmly convinced that some
of their conclusions cannot be substan?
tiated by facts in scientific research.
Thoy never criticize the purity of our
foods, for so much we are thankful.
If our conclusions in regard to its be?
ing a brain food differ front their s, and
WO arc boih honest, they have rather the
advam&go, because under the law they
can order us to eliminate from the pack?
age any statement if it disagrees with
their opinion. Otherwise they would
harass grocers.
Spasm No. 6 says: -n,,.
most dangerous thing In the world for one
threatened with appendicitis is to eat uny
fond whatever. Notwithstanding he.
knew that dnngor. ('. W. I'ost adver?
tised Grape-Nuts at fifteen cents a
package for those so threatened."
This is intended to muddle the reader
into believing that we pin out Grapc
Nuts as a cure for appendicitis.
Mr. Post, himself, has had probably as
wide exporlcnco a? any other man in i
America in the study and observation of
footl as related to the'digestIvo organs,
and we proved in Court by the physi?
cians and surgeons on the witness stand'
thui the predominating cause of appendi?
citis is undigested food, and thin it Is
necessary to null eating food, and when
the. body requires food again, use a pre
digested food, or at lottst one easy of
digestion.
Dr. Ochsnor In his work on appendi?
citis refers directly to the. use of the w?ll
Unowti pro-digested foods that can be
obtained on the market. Ho r.jo
brought out the Interesting fact that in
"nftor treatment" It Is advantageous to
take on a pro-digested food.
The price of the package (referred to
by the weekly) is not known by its to
have any relation to the question. |
Our advice to slop using indigestible
food in bowel troubles ;m<l to use (irape
NutS Tood bus been u great blessing to
tens of thousands of people, and we hope
will continue tu bless h good many more
in the succeeding yens.
No. 7 IS a live wire. It refers to
C. W. Post and .his studies and experience
In ''Suggestive Therapeutics,'' or "Mental
Healing.' which further lead to a mos'
careful and systematic study of tin
effect of die mind on the digestive and
other organs of the body.
He attended clinics in ICurope and
fitted himself for a future career In which j
he has become known as one of the rborl
experts of the world, fitted to judge1
both from the material us well us the
mental side of the question.
For about eight years previous to 181)1
he wns an Invalid. In that year, after
being tinder the care of several well
known physicians, he was quickly healed,
by what t<> him was a curious and not
well-understood method. Sufficient lo
say be became a well man. weighing
about 1*0 pounds.
This experience challenged Iii? inves?
tigation into causes of tltsoase and their
amelioration. Those studies mid experi?
ences developed ?> very profound rever?
ence for a Supreme Power which directly
operates upon the human being, and
this reverence for j lie Infh)i'e became to
him a form of religion which Included
honesty of purpose towards Iiis fellow
man. A statement which will be In?
dorsed by every one who knows liiiu
closet v.
lie will make a public announcement
in detail of these fuels, and the Postum
Company will cause that statement lo bo
i published in newspapers and magazines
jin due time \YV suggest the reader look
iiir !r.
Prevarication No. 8. p.,.,
spends pearly a million ;i year in advertis
ling and relie- on that to keep out of the
newspapers the dangerous nature of the]
I fraud he is perpetrating "ti the public."
The Postum Company dons pay out
I upwards of a million a yenr for trade
announcements. Newspaper men be?
lieve mir statements truthful or they
would not print lliein. Largo numbers
of newspaper men nsn our products.
They are r-mqiib- of tolling the public
whether or no] we "briiio' them.
It may have escaped notice that we
did not "bribe" thai particular weekly.
HO. J states (hat the amount of the
verdict will "be devoted by the 'weekly'
in I'xpoMng fraud.
Tills Is almost real humor.
We have two suits pending against the
"weekly,- total, S?OO.OOli.
We ha von'I "devoted" the sum fo any
particular purpose ret.
\ Item 10 is n "discovery" that
wheat bran Is a part of Postum.
I But t.be criticism neglected to mention
tnill for yonrs every Postum package
announced In plain type that the outer
covering of wheat 'bran1, mode part of
the lievpridgo.
'I'hey ignorantly fell into a trap hero,
not knowing enough of food value to
know thai "Tnkn-Dlasf ?ste" the article
used by physicians, tho world over for
"starch indigestion" Is made from "whom
bran."
So we use that part of the wheat berry
because It contains the element needed
to develop the valuable diastase In man?
ufacture, flood Postum is Impossible
without this part.
These self-appointed critics do make
some laughable blunders through Ignor
once, but?he patient.
item 11 I? an illustration of the
>iiulrming and twisting of the sensational
i writer delivering distorted matter to his
i readers.
I Wille on the witness stand Mr. Post
testified to his studies In Anatomy. Physi?
ology. Dietetics and Psychology,?ail
I relating to ihe preparation and dlu?stion
lot rood Asked tn name authorities
studied he mentioned six or eight from
memory, and .commented oh some
rlhutal experience covering several years
in annual Journeys t<> Kiirppo.
Xow notice the distortion. (Copy from
tho printed criticism |
"He (Post) pointed out a pile of hooks
in possession of his attorneys as thn very
ones he litul read."
? Notice, --"the very one* hn it ad read." (
leading the reader to believe that they
were the only ones. I
"Did you consult the books from these
editions''" was asked. .
"From those and various editions."
answered Post.
The attorney 'picked up book after
book from the pile and showed the titlo
pages to ihn jury?all except two had
been published since ioo.V
This is an example of distortiou an
false coloring to produce an unfavor?
able Impression.
The facts are Mr. Post purposely intro?
duced the latest editions that could lie
obtained of prominent authorities to
prove by them the truth of his statements
regarding appendicitis and the analysis
of brain, also the late.-u conclusions in
regard to the action of the digestive
organs. These works ar?:
Human Physiology, by Raymond.
Physiological Chemistry; by Simon.
Digestive Glands, by Pawlow.
Hand book of Appendicitis, by Oclis
ner.
Physiological Chemistry, by Ilnnima.r
sten.
Hlnohcmlc System of Medicine, t>y
C'ti rey.
. The "Weekly" carefully eliminates from
Its prlntetl account, testimony regarding
the years of research and study by Mr.
Post In fitting himself for his work, and
would lead tho reader of the distorted
artlclo to believe that his education
began since I?O.Y
Distortion No. 12
reports Mr.
Pnit ftu a "dodging witness "
His eye Is not of tho shifty kind ob?
served In the head of one of his chief
critics. On tho witness stand Mr. Post
looks quietly but very steadily straight
Into tho eyes of the haggling, twisting;
lawyer, trying by all his art to ask double
barreled questions and bull-doze and
( confuse a witness.
J Tho ?'dodging" it seems consisted of
; replying, "1 don't know."
I Opposing counsel holds o book In his
j band while he queries,?
"I want to know if there Is a single
; thing In your whole book here thot sug?
gests any particular kind of food." Then
followed some discussion between attor?
neys.
When Mr Post wo? nllowrd to reply,
he said. "1 don't know until I rend tho
book over to see."
This book, it turns out. was written Ivy
Mr. Post seventeen years ngo and prob?
ably has not boon rend carefully by him
inthelast fifteen years, it would requirn
n remarkable memory to instantly say
"yes" or "no" as to what, a hook of 147
pages did or did not contain, without
reading It over,-?but such conservative
and well balanced answers are construed
by sensation seekers to be "dodging."
The attorney sought by every art to
impress the Jury with the fact that Mr.
Posts belief in the power of Mind In
relntlon to the body branded him as un?
reliable arid worse.
The following Is quoted from one of thn
questions: ?
? The lawyer reading from the book:)
"The writer of these pages desires to
say nothing of himself other than ss a
simple Instrument through which the
PI vine Principle chooses to manifest it?
self by precept and example.
"Skill In mental practice Is gained in
the same way as skill In any department
of science?by observation, study! ex.
porlenco and tho ability to evolve correct
conclusions.
"Road carefully, thoughtfully no more
than twenty pages daily. Afterward
seek ah easy position where you will not
bcdisturbed. Relax every muscle. Close ,
your eyes and go into the silence whero
mind is plastic to the breathings of spirit
and where God talks to the Son. Tho
thoughts from Divine Universal Mind
come as winged angels and endow yntt
with a healing power. If you go into tho
silence humble and lrusting, you willcomo
out enriched and greatly strengthened In
body by contact even for a short time
with the Father of all life and all [lower.
You will feel refreshed in every way and
food taken will digest readily ns the
stomach works smoot hly when under tho
Inflttcnre of n Higher Power."
1 ask you if you did not write that,
and If yon did not believe ii when you
wrote It."
For a moment the court room was In
absolute silence
Mr. Post slowly leaned forward over
tho rail, pointed his linger at the Atty's
faco to emphasize his reply and with eyes
that caused those of the attorney to drop,
lie said, "Yes, 1 urn proud to say I did."
It may be remembered that we were first attacked and hay* since defended ourselves by
placing facts before that great jury?The Public.
A good "scrap" is more or less comforting now and then, if you know you are right.
In the case lately tried, an appeal has been taken to the higher courts. We have un?
bounded faith in the ultimate decision of our American Tribunals.
Our suits against the "weekly" have not yet been tried. They ar? for libel and $500,
8S.0.00 is aaked as damages,, and mav the..rijzhfc man v/iru
After all the smoke of legal battle blows away, the facts will stand out clearly and never be
forgotten that Poatum, Grape-Nuts and Post Toasties are perfectly pure, have done good
honest service to humanity for years, the testimonials are real and truthful and the business
conducted on the highest plane of commercial Integrity.
- "There's a Reason"
Postum Cereal Co., Ltd., Battle Creek. Mich. *