Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1855-08-09


prejudices against sausages and polonles, Tor ex-
ample and if we are to believe witness ex-
amined on oath, before tho Smitbfeld Market
Commissioners in 1850, tits not without reason.
The details Of this examination, as presented 10
the Quarterly Review, are too disgusting for the
readers of our paper Suffice tito say, that
the carcass of any animal, whether it was
strangled or died natural death of any kind OF
disease, could be readily sold at the soup shops,
the sausage makers, and the a-la-msde beef and
meat pie shops. Then we viii take the oppor-
tunity of stating that ample proof exists that
fresh meats are more wholesome, summer and
winter, than those which have been salted, The
Vulgar notion is the opposite of this. =.
Bread, as the great staff of life, claims FeF-s !
ticnlar attention. II rs reuarRed that. IL gen-
eral, when we see big loaf marked under the
market price, we may rest assured that it is
made Of -four ground from inferior and dam
aged wheat. In order to bring this up to the
required color and destroy the sour taste which
often belongs to it, bakers are in the habit OF
introducing mixture, called in the trade,
hands " and " stuff" which is nothing more
than alum and salt kept prepared in large guam
titles by the druggists. The quantity of alum
necessary to render bread white is not great;
but the chief advantage the baker derives from
it, is that in addition to improving the color of
bis bread, it absorbs a large quantity of water
and adds greatly to its weight In some cases
the fault does not lie at the bakers door; the
uler hus been detected in using alum in -four
for the same advantage of increase Of weight,
and is sometimes at the bottom of this roguery.
A word OF Teas. The old Duchess of Marl-
borough used to boa that she came into the
world before nerves were in fashion. We feel
half inclined to believe this joke had q great
truth in it: for since the introduction Of tea,
nervous complaints of oil kinds have greatly in
creased, and we can find at least one of the
causes in the teapot. There is no such thing,
says the Quarterly, as pure green tea to be met
with in England and if not in England is it
likely to be found in America whose merchants
are not served until after the English merchants
in the Chinese markets The enormous demand
for moderately priced green tea, which has
arisen both in England and China since tho
opening of the trade, has led the Hong mer-
chants to initiate the peculiar color of the gen.
nine article, and this they do so successfully as
to deceive all the ordinary judges of tea. Black
tea is openly colored in the neighborhood of Can
ton in the most wholesale manner.
The substances used for dying teas are gyp-
sum and Prassan blue. One day an English
gentlemen in Shanghai being in consersation
with some Chinese from the green ,tea csantrys
asked them what reason they had for dying the
tea, and whether it would not be better Without
undergoing this process. They acknowledged
that ten was much better when prepared, with
out having any such ingredients mixed with it.
and the neper drank dyed teas themselves, but
justly remarked that as foreigners seemed to pre-
fer having mixture of Prussian blue and gyp-
sum with their tea, to make it look uniform and
pretty, and as these ingredients were cheap
enough the Chinese had no objection to supply
ing them, especially US such teas always fetched
higher price.
To every hundred pounds of colored green tea
consumed in England or America, the consumer
actually drinks more than half pound of Prus-
sian blue and gypsum, and yet tell the drinkers
of this colored tea that the Chinese eat cats and
dogs and they will hold up their hands in
amazement and pity the poor Celestias. But
it the Chinese use such quantities of Prusslun
blue to tinge the genuine leaf, how much more
must the English employ in renovating the
leaves which have been once exhausted-the old
grains of the teapot That every spoonful Of
hyson or gunpowder contains considerable
quantity of this deleterious dye may be seen by
any one who places u pinch upon fine sieve,
and pours upon it gentle stream Of water
when the tinging of the liquid will show at
once the extent Of the adulteration, and the
folly Of drinking painted tea. Assam tea, al
though not 50 inviting in color, is pure from
adulteration.
Of fifty samples of green tea analyzed by Dr.
Hassel all were adulterated. Some favorite
kinds are adulterated with lye tea--a compound
Of sand Dirt tea dust, and broken down portions
of other leaves worked together with gum into
small nodules Mr. Warrington states thai
about $50 900 pounds of this spurious tea have
been imported into Great Britain within eigh
r teen months. There is reason to believe thai
D any more honesty governs the American tea
: dealers sipgularly enough, in England the low
D priced teas are the only genuine one. Ever,
Q sample Of this class which was analysed by DIR
t Hassel, proved to be perfectly pure. There a
least the poor have the advantage of the better
classes, who pay higher price to be impaired ii
!. their health, by painted beverage.
e The practice of dying used up leaves is ais
70 carried on to some extent in England. In l84
It there were no less than eight factories for thi
, purpose in London. These factories had agent
e who bought up the used leaves from hotels, COT
+ fee houses, &c. for low price. With thes
leaves others of various trees were used, and YER
y fine peckoe still Aourishes upon the hawthorn
b. bushes, sloe trees, &c., around the metropolis
:! Some Of these preparations are combined wit
II copperas, and are largely supplied to the cour
es try groccrs.
l. Monopolies are not always unattended wit
m public advantages as well as evils. Good tea
of are said to have become very scarce in Englan
s. since the monopoly of the East India Compan
H. was broken up; for the buyers of the oompan
Or were perfectly aware of the frauds perpetrate
h by the Hong merchants, and never allowed
spurious article to be shipped. On the otht
Of hand the consequent reduction Of prices Of tf
pit common black teas, has in great measure d
a stroYed the English manufacture Of spurious t