Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1869-05-27
How Tea is Wade in Japan.

From the New York Daily Bulletin.J
Most of the civilized world like cup oi
good tea, and it is certainly not kind tr
say anything which may have tendency
to mar such innocent enjoyment; but we
must, in justice to the case, make some
allusion to the secrets of tea.making.
Could any person of nice tastes witness
the method of preparing this popular
herb as it came before my observation, l
think he would adjure the non-inebriating
beverage at once. And yet, strange to
say, / continue to take my two cups per
day with nerve that is indeed surprising.
My experience is derived from visit
to Aspinwall & Corne's tea factory at
this place, but whether the same state
ments may be made concerning other
establishments / cannot say. 1t is, how
ever, probable that they can. The tea
factory was long, low, gloomy building,
with smoke-browned rsfters, and a ven
tilator at the peak of the roof. In one
part on the building are rows of sheet
iron pans set in masonry, and each
heated by bed of Goals underneath.
These pans were, in number, from fifty
to one hundred. They we're raised from
the floor about waste high, and number
of coolies were bent over them, stirring
the tea to assist in drying it. The entire
process was under the direction of a
Chinaman, at whose signal the pans were
emptied and Glled with fresh material.
The coolies scoop it up in baskets and
carry it to the other end of the building,
where it is emptied into large bin.
Their lively manner reminded me of q
similar scene which / witnessed at Ma
gaski, where / saw hundred boys and
girls and men and women engaged in this
work, and singing as they stirred the
pans. Each one has tin cup for his
own use, and keeps tea all the time, and
prefer it as they do their baths, boiling
hot. a japanese fresh from his bath
seems cooked as red as q lobster. But
to return. Empty chests and half chests
having previously been prepared and
lined with lead, they are filled with the
tea, and the coolies then jump on the
boxes aud tread them down to make good
packing. They are half naked and fear
fully dirty, aud knowing as l do, cuta-
neous eruptions which prevail here, and
the parasitic affections of the people gen.
orally, | might reasonably shrink from
tea. Yes, ye drinkers, at least two thirds
of these coolies had sore feet bound with
soiled rags, and one had an unconcealed
ulcer on one leg. When the tea has been
trampled sufficiently, another coolie steps
on a lead cover, a third one soldiers it,
and fourth pastes on q paper top COW
cred with cabslistic characters. The box
is then carried to a place where the cover
is nailed on, and it is matted and bound
with bamboo, and is then ready for ship
ment
In due time, il will arrive in New York
and be consumed by those who are des-
tined TO eat their peck of dirt in some
shape or other. The tea crop is partially
dried before leaving the hands Of the
grower, and then is finished in the man
ner above stated. There is no use Of
poisonous coloring, not even of copper
pans, both of which are said to be EN-
ployed in China, but trampling with the
bare feet Of the filthy coolie is hardly
better than the Chinese method. 1t is
evident that the manufacture of tea is but
imperfectly understood in japan. This
is the reason why the finer qualities, such
IS Gunpowder. Imperial and Hyson, are
not produced here.