Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1872-02-09
What Did with n shilling.

!
and his wife. having found him in it. was scold-
| inc him severely for wasting bls money ~ ~
useless manner. The husband VINO Appeared
half drunk, endeavored TO eXculpate h;nl:rh 10
his better half. The last words healu nun ut-
Ter before he and his wife were Iost III tue 10y
vere "VelI. come now, I've only spent shll-
linz, so lis not much losS-what can fellow do
Possibly from the hafdrunkeD, mock-digni-
| fed tone he made use OF wheh ne uttered the
| words eswbat eau a fellow do with shilling"
tbev remained persistently on nv mind during
| ths evening and when | aw0ke the next morn
inr they were still fresh on my memory. On
| taking my seat at the breakfast table the words
again occurred 10 me, and on putting the ques-
| tion to myself, repled-'lIl try"
opened the teacaddy, and from it took, per-
haps, half an ounce of tea, which placed in the
teapot, and, having poured on the boiling water,
left it to draw, turning over the while in my
mind the history and adventures of the half
ounce OF tea, from its first starting into life on
the plantation Of Assam till it came into my
possession, and the cost i! had incurred
began by watching an imaginary cooie
plucking the leaf in the tea-rarden some twenty
miles from Gowhatty, the province. 1t occupied
the cOoie but a few moments, and he placed it
in basket with some other leaves he had col
lected. When the basket was filed il was taken
by another coolie 10 the tea-house, where each
separate petal was rolled up between the fingers
ofan AssameSe woman, and then placed on an iron
driving stove. There it was kept till the driving
process was over, and then it was put into a bag,
carried TO the elephant-cart, and taken to Cow
hatty. There had been some heavy rain, and
the journey occupied two days. My haltounce
of tea was then carried to the packing-housc,
where some ASsameSe carpenters had prepared
a chest lined with lead for it, and some eighty
pounds more of the same qualify, and all was
then carefully soldercd down. so that its favor
and fragrance might not be lost during its jour
new to England.
The tea being packed, some other coolies took
it to the riverside TO await the steamer which
was to carry it down the Bramapootra to CAL
cutta where at length it arrived safely having
suffered no damage on the way.
AT Calcutta the chest containing my tea was
taken on shore, aud placed in the hands of
merchant, and after having passed through diff
ierent lOrmalites and been handled by many
men, it was placed on board ship bound to
England via Suez canal. On landing in England
other men were employed to unShip the chest,
and it was lodged in the dock warehouses At
forwards it was sold al public auction by TEA
broker to a wholesale grocer, who, having en-
ployed one of his clerks to pay the duty at the
custom house, sold it to retail
rradesman. who in turn sold it TO nv
servant. And thus my half.ouuce of Tea
had assisted in procuring the means of
existence and supeI6uiteS of life TO the coolies
and tea-packcrS in Assam, the sailors on The
steamer on the Bramapootra, the different agcn-
cieS and porters al Calcutta, the wages of the
Seamcn on board the ship which brought it to
England, the profits OF the tea brokers, whole
sale and retail grocers in London, besides many
other individuals, and was at length placed in
my teapot at the small cost of one penny, the
tea having been purchased of the grocer at three
shillings pound.
As considered the tea to be now fully drawn,
proceeded 10 put the sugar in the cup. How
much sugar shall | use? As | have a sweet
tooth 10 my head, say an ounce and a half for
my breakfast. This sugar was grown in the
West Indies. The cane was afterwards cut
down, placed between rollers, the iuce extract
cd from it and evaporated in boilers, and the
evaporation being completed the sugar deposited
was placed in hogsheads and sent to Kingston.
a number of persons were there employed TO
place it in the hold of the ship, and the insur-
ance was paid upon it. It vas then landed in
London and sent to the docks, many hands and
much machinery reing employed in doing So
From the docks it was taken to the sugar re-
fncrs, where it was made into loaf sugar, and
aterward sold TO the retail tradesman, who,
having cut ii up into small pieces, it was
bought by my servant and placed on the break.
fast table ready for use. The sugar for my
breakfast had contributed TO pay the wares oil
| the black worllmen in Jamaica and the profits
of the planter, the loss by wear of his machine
ry, and the wages of the men who placed it on
board the vessel. Then there were the wages of
the sailors on its journey home, the wages of the
dock ldborers, the profits of the sugar rcfner,
the profits of the retail grocer who sold il 10
me, and many other agencies, till at length it
WAS placed on my breakfast table at cost OF
something less than haltpenny, the retail price
being siXpence a pound.
The milk is easily accounted for. Whatever
the farmers cost or trouble might have been,
| the miikmaid, or boy, or man, who MIXED the
cows at midnight or before daylight in the
morning, SO that it might be ready for my
| breakfast, and the man who brought it to nv
| house in the morning, certainly all did a vast
| amount of work for the small cost of one half
| penny. But, after all, it sank into lnsignif
| canoe when compared with the wonders done by
the pennies invested in the tea and sugar
And now what else have to account for il
the expenditure of my shilling? There are two
| hot rolls on the table am somewhat undecid
| ed whether the -four they were made fIOm wat
| grown in England or the western states o
| America, or whether II came from Odessa OF
some port on the Baltic. Let us say Odessa, as
| that will form about an average distance. The
| corn must have been grown in the Russian EN-.
| pire aud sent from Odessa 20 England by steam
er, where it passed through different formalities
and many merchants and tradesmen's hands,
till the flour reached my baker During the
night his journeymen were engaged in prepar-
Ing the dough, so that the rolls might be taken
from the oven and placed hot upon my table for
breakfast. Tue -four which composed them had
thus, in due proportion, given employment to
chants and their various stats of officials and
porters in Odessa, contributed to the shipowu-
eTs profits, the wages OF the crew and many
| other persons in England, including the baker
| and his men, till at last it was placed on my
| table in the shape Of two nice hot rolls for the
| sum of twOpence.
And now have to account for two pats of
| Brittany butter. leave the reader to Imagine
| the different processes they passed through
| tiom the time the cows were MIXED in France
until the pats Of butter were placed on my
| breakfast table. The cost PERHAPS of the two
| pats OF butter would be only twopence, and vet
the labor and intelligence of many scores of in
| diyiduals had been brought into action to pro-
| cure it, each in his turn receiving some benefit
| from the small sum my servant had invested for
| me in that decacv.
WHAT else have for my breakfasts There is
a box of remarkably fine sardines open on the
| table, and a dish with cover over it, from
which escapes a certain odor, telling in clearest
manner that a Yarmouth blOater, ready cooked
is concealed there from my sight | did moi
want more than one of the delicacies, but, as
had vet a considerable balance of my shilling 10
invest, took from the tin box a very fine sar-
dine. The fish bad been caught in the Medi-
terranean, then taken on shore, prepared in oil,
and placed in neaty-made tin box, which was
filled up with oil and the leaf soldered down. 1t
was then sold to merchant, who exported it
to London, where again it passed through
plate before me; while /, with a benefcent
genius, had called into play no end of indus
tries and trades for the small charge of one half
penny; for on counting the contents of the box
| for which had paid one shilling, | found in IT
| twenty-lour fishes
! have now the herring to account for. To
| describe the various processes it had gone
through since the fishermen had extracted it
from his net till it was cooked and placed on
nv table would occupy too much space Suf
fee it to say, if the herring had not called into
action so many agencies as the sardine, benefits
had accrued from it to many persons-so many
in fact, as almost to make me believe that in
thus iudiciously investing my shilling, / was
playing the part of an amiable and benevolent
philanthropist, well deserving the gratitude oil
my species. The idea how much humanity was
indebted to me for my philanthropy occupied
my thoughts during the whole OF my breakfast
and when rose from the table, and seated my.
self in an easy chair by the fire TO enjoy my
newspaper, did so with that calm, placid feel
ing which we all experience after having done
III secret meritorious action. But few mo-
ments afterwards had reasons TO believe that
had vastly moderated my benevolent and won
aerlul working powers. In fact, the investment
% another penny Of my shilling had produced
mdIYelo thousand times greater than all the
| olhcr sums had mentioned put together
| nag taken from my table my newspaper
the D9Iy News. Through its means / mad OBJ.