New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1873-11-25
4 RETELATyOy IN BEVERAGES.

II HE| EL1IiOf ~ DIR ''~'N'-@'
There is grief in store for teetotalers. The
tremulous fore-inger of the drunkard shall De
pointed at them derisively. For many years
they have had him at a disadvantage. In
tracts and books and lectures they have
tainted him with the authorizations OF his
favorite tpple. Was it London stOutf They
told him of the "swipes" collected in drip
pings from bar-room sales, fortified with
catechu, and bottled for expectation. Was 1t
ale2 They told him of the percentage OF
strychnine that had been developed by chem
ical examination out Of the brewings OF some
unscrupulous maltster. As for beer-whether
small or lager-they referred to standard
authority which says "it is scandalously
adulterated,n and further specifies that
"quassia, gentian, NORWOOD, broom
top are added to impart bitterness;
"capsicum, ginger, coriander, orange peel,
"carraway to give pungency; opium, cocculus
"indicus, nux vOmica, tobacco, poppy, hen
bane to intOxicate; molasses, sugar, treacle,
as substitutes for malt; sulphuric acid, alum,
"vitriol, salt, to give various properties"
Was he q pore ambitious drinkeri who pointed
with pride to the cobwebs and the green seal
on the bottle or the crust within Then they
demonstrated that no genuine port or sherry
ever reached this country, because the En-
glish demand absorbed all the product of
the district where those wines were made;
that no madeira had left the island of its
nativity for a quarter of century except to
81 Jply the needs of few princely families IN
Europe; that the champagne actually pro-
duced in France was not one-tifth of the
4. fbat
whisky exported, came back diluted and with
condiments as the juice of the vines OF Kline
land or of Burgundy. Even in the stronger
drinks there was no refuge. Fusel OIL became
a synonym for the product of our native
stills. The United States Sanitary Commits
sion printed q statement that no pure brandy,
fit for hospital purposes, was imported.
But now the irrepressible man of science has
turned his lens upon the teetOtal beverage.
NevermOre shall the peaceful sewing society
discuss in security their cups and their neigh
bors affairs. Never again shall the hackneyed
line of the bard of Oney be quoted over the
kissing urn with any faith in its contents.
The tea of China is a fraud of the most des-
perate character. A Sanitary Committee has
sat upon the leaf in London, aud found new
wrinkle in it. The evidence is absolutely appall-
ing. There are in the warehouses Of London not
less than ten million pounds of tea so shock
ingly adulterated as to be utterly unfit for
"human food.n Think of it, drink of it, then,
if you can. A billion of cups that can never
cheer. An ocean of bitterness that can never
be sweetened
We had heard whispers OF such Celestial
trckery, indeed from time TO time, but ac
counted them only as travellers tales. One
inyestieat tor who had penetrated to the center
of tho Fowery Land naG assured us that all
green teas were painted, or were colOred by
digestion in copper. An English chemist had
extracted and exhibited in public at lecture,
one pound of Prussan blue which had colOred
the contents of chest of tea. But then
another explorer came forward and declared
that in the best teas the differences Of color
were obtained by curing the leaf at different
stages of its growth, and the authorizations
were limitations only attempted with inferior
chops. And while many of us fOrswore the
niquities of Young Tyson thereafter, there
were few who would not pin their faith on
the serene purity of English Breakfast or
Oolong.
Alas for the inirmities of Celestial minds
The oblquity of those almond shaped eyes that
have been winling over the imposture they
have put upon red-hared barbarians for many
a year, surpasses belief. The proportion of
adulterated teas unfit for human foOd' is
more than fourth of the amount on hand in
London, for expectation. AS much as seventy
per cent of what is called tea is found in
some analyses not to be tea at all. The grace
full willows whose semblances ornament the
porcelain ware of China have doubtless con-
tributed their foliage. There are mysteries
of Ochre and pigment that will never
be unfoded. And long before the leaves
are so carefully incased in the thinnest of
lead and papered with the most enhancing of
hierogyphic assurances, the vilest teas have
been mixed again and again with the purest
that started from the interior OF China. The
English Investigators admit that they see no
remedy. As usual with Englishmen in trouble,
they insist that the Government ought to do
something: exactly what, they do not say
Perhaps British guns may again be thunder
ing before the Imperial palace; gunpOwder be
relied on to rectify tea, and the Chinese be
required to turn over a new leaf.