The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1873-12-20

A reporter OF the Commercial started
cut this morning to make inquiry Of some
Of the leading importing and jobbing
houses In the tea and coffee trade, In rela.
ton TO the present condition Of the mar
ket. At Messrs, q. 4. Thurber & Co, No
H8 Chambets Htreet, who have one ot the
largest grocery houses In the city, be was
told that the tea market was but slightly
affected as yet, though the advance had
not been felt by jobbers TO such an extent
as to justify an increase of thirty per cent
In the retail price Of the article. For the
last two months, there has been q steady
advance In cotfee, which was due to the
fact that the imp0rtationlof Rioand Java
were smaller than usual, botokenipg a
falling of In the crop. Further advance
In the cost Of these staples may be looked
Pupke & Reid, Nos. ses Washington
street and 100 Water street, are large i'm.
porters Of coaees and teas, and do . very
heavy business In grinding coffees and
mixing them with chicoryl for the job
bers In and out OF town. This firm say
that coffee was. already high when the
proposition; to increase the duty on lis
Importation was made. OF course, should
Congress put on the additional tax. Il will
advance to q still higher figure. Either 0
direct tax or an initiation Of the currency
would affect tea and keep speculation
busy, since much OF II has been selling Of
from 25to 80 per cent below the coat Of
importation; but coffee would only be Of.
fected by making the duty heavier. q !.
A singular effect ot the advance In
coffee has been the larger and increasing
demand for mixed or adulterated coffees.'
The mills owned by Pupke b Reid are
kept constantly at work in supplying this
inferior article. They are now selling
twenty pounds Of mixed Cor, asit Is term.
ed In the trade, "ground0 coffee where
they sold one pound month ago. West
ern jobbers write that people say the
times are dull, work Is slack, they are
poor, and can't afford to drink pure coffee.
Yet they must have something liquid at
their meals, so they drink the adulterated
article and are happy. In consequence OF
this increase in adulteratlon, chicory has
advanced so per cent in the past month.
The available supply Of this article has
been already used up and bought in, and
It Is sold to arrive in large lots. In the
last lew weeks the price has gone up from
81 gold to 8 gold per pound. This exten.
sive use of chicofy will, In time, produce
a reaction. At present it has reduced
the consumption Of pure coffee 90 per
cent, and this will tell upon the market
sooner or later. The ad1lterated article
will become scarce, and there will be o
glut Of the genuine, and this, Of course,
will result In decline in the price Of the
latter.
Ives, Beecher & Co.. who are extensive
Of tea, Of, No. 9s Front gtree5
say that tea has advanced already five
cents pound, and will probably 60 still
higher, No doubt there will be consid-
cradle speculation in 1t, IS opportunity 10
offered. They do not think, however,
that Congress will legislate any addition
tothe existing duties. ts
Inquiries elsewhere show general ex.
pectalion Of q rise in quotation Of tea and
coffee. But there is nothing as yet TO
Justify the large additional price levied by
retail dealers In these houshold d staples,