The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1871-01-25

payers of the Parish that instead OF be-
ing a defaulter that the Parish shall
not lose a single cent.
Respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
NJ. LEGRAS,
Assessor and Collector.
Startling Authorizations Of Tea.
It would be comparatively small
thing for the Chinese to sell us their
old ten leaves for new tea if they did
nothing worse. But our valuable
monthly contemporary, the Food Journ-
al, has been investigating the quality
of the cheapest kinds of English tea.
and in doing so has thrown some very
UNIV welcome light into our teapots. The
celebrated "Maloo MIXTURE" which we
helped to expose some time since, con-
sisted not only of old tea leaves, but of
old willow leaves and of other second
hand aduiterators. In the wholesale
market Mr.. Muter, who has conducted
these Food Journal inquiries, found
some gunpowder tea, which ought to
be the best green, to consist of COM
mon caper, faced with Prussian blue.
Some "Moning Congoa'' lie found to
be almost entirely rc-dried leaves, and
sample of Kaisow was greatly made
up of rice husks and other matters.
But this is nothing to the results OBJ
tanned by examining thirty-one sam
Piles of cheap tea bought of various re-
tailers in London, and four bought in
Birmingham. OF these thirty-five sam
pies, which were all tested by an ex-
perienced faster and valuer, not one
was worth within eight pence pound
of its price, and many of them were
worth but few pence pound. One
sample bought at the cheap price OF
sixteen pence q pound is described as
Every common dust, mixed with a
small quantity of small reddish I'M
known seeds, and iron filings much
burnt" while in one of the Birming-
ham purchases there was rice faced
with plumbago, and lamp black. with
some pieces of free plumbago scatter
ed through the mixture,
Another mixture, sold at eighteen
pence pound, consisted of common
fannings mixed with broken stalks
rice husks, fractured tea buds, and iron
filings" Another sample contained
! pieces OF decayed wood, fragments OF
reeds and stones, while another con-
tanned considerable portion of tex
hausted leaves rendered astringent
with catechu;" and in another there
were actually found few feathers
scattered among rice and pea husks,
and leaves of the Chinese willow. The
detection produced by this last cont
pound is described as every mild and
not unpleasant, but totally unlike tea
These rice husks and iron filings seem
to be the commonest form of adultera-
ton; and it is fortunate that it is so
for they are at least innocuous, and il
is better to be cheated aud not poison
ed than to be both cheated and poison
ed, as the buyers of higher class tea
sometimes are. A common black tea
''faced" with Prussian blue to make il
sell as the finest green tea, is actually
poisonous. Indeed, it seems likely
that the real or supposed unwholesome-
ness OF green tea is more due to its ia,
cling than to anything in the nature OF
the tea itself. There is, however, very
little reason to believe that the better
qualities of tea are at all seriously
adultcrated. Like other evils, this one
OF adulteration falls most heavily OH
those who can least protect themselves
against it. Those who have least
money to spend have least chance OF
spending it to advantage.
1t is satisfactory to know that this
adulteration is not so much the fault
of our English tea dealers as of the
Chinese. The demand of the Englisl,
market is for cheap tea, and the inge-
NOUS Mongoiians send us the cheap
ness if they do not send the tea. They
lind that whatever they send we buy
1 London News.