, 1874-05-16
DANGER IN THE TEAPOT.

To ths Editor Of The Chicago Tribune:
Sn: cannot allow your editorial, "Dange1
in the Teapot" to go forth without remoustrat'
ing against its errors You quote Mrs. Pierce.
TRADE against tea-drinking approvingly, when ii
is evident that she knows nothing about the +
tory Of that beverage and its fearful adultera-
| tions. It is just as absurd for her TO designate
tho practice sho denounces as tea-drinking, u
Is for the temperance reforme1s to designate tho
! indulgence i'll pure beer and wine as tliluor-
| drinking" II she would apply her own argu-
mcnts in favor OF beer and wine~drinkins to the
drinking Of tes, she would be- more oon5latent
| and reasonable.
| Cau she not aes that her tirade against tca-
drinking is just As applicable to the women Of
! England ~ to the women Of America. il Ill
| tea is the same? The English people drink
double the quantity OF tea we Americans do.
Yet will Mrs. Pierce dare to say that tile women
| Of England are poisoned BY tea-dr1nking2
| What ate the facts i? Stated briefly, they are
| ~ follows: There is ~ much difference ia thu
| quality OF tho article known as tea, ~ in the
| duid8 known as "1iquor." How much pure tea
is brought to the United States aud sold under
various fauciful names7 Not one pound in one
hundred, or about as much in proportion Al il
thu ratio OF pure brandy or wipea to tho impu. g
article. Ny professional duties obhge me fre-
qnen!ly to inquire into the beverages drank by
my patients. In ths la1ge majority Of cases, I
ind the tea they drunk is An abominabie fraud.
People par enough for tea to ge: pure article
but, IN tho majority Of instances, they get what
ths CLlnese cali "lie-tea, not tea At al, but
= vile mixture OF the leaves OF tbs plum willow,
cnrfant, camella, etc., mixed with just enough
tea-dust, or tho sWeepings of the great tea
factories, to give it favor; Just as the com
pounds OF hluorn fusil oil colorinE matters,
sugar, etc., with sufficient acohol to bz1ng it up
to an Intoxicating standard.
1t would be just as reasonable, and equally
Eeunibe, II the women would start Z crusade
agaiost the sale Of m..uze tex. MANY OF the
thops devoted to the exclusive sale Of tea are
sw1udllng concerns for the7 preteud to sell an
Article wnich they do not. They do not cause as
Cause infinitely more ul-heaA6. The Tins will
come when the authorities aud the laws vu have
to stap in between tue vanders Of dad leAves
aad pigments (teaD and the people, and pro-
tect them from the poisoning to which they are
subjected. This is the k!nd OF interference
which the laws should exercise in relation to this
sale OF liquor, instcad Of the imprsc:lcabls plan
OF prohlbltlon.
But to return to our special subject: We nd
NIT that tho stun c1lou tea imbbed by the
American womap may bo guilty Of cau8ing
great harm to her stomach and nervous system.
But wo believe the gastric dii1icuities caused BY
tue poisoned leaves sold for toa are in turn, the
cause of half the nervous affections. In tue
observation, am often obliged 70 prohibit the
use Of the - te." used, aud substitute for it
some Of the pure article (Which can be obtained
BY tho iuiitatod). not contaminated with the
asenite CT copper OF prasslate OF iron, and other
heart-poisons. I have observed that, upon the
suos!ituslon Of pure black tea, the unpleasant
hea1t-symptops subsidized, which would not have
been the case il it had been the induauco Of tea
alone that caused the disturbance.
agrsa with Mr. Pierce that the women OF this
bal tntrh fj3nir
would be improved it they would substitute pure
sle, beer, and vino for The :ea they no.u drink.
But contend that il they drank The kind OF
ten their English sisters drink, ws should not
hear SO much complaint about nervousness, d5s-
popsia, aud the like.
4 few years ago, the statistics shoued that the
vslue Of the tea imported into the United statos
stood Us follows, in round numbers:
0 Q; s1ssa stssa ts..::: ss.:.:' sooo as,SSo Co
Now, look ut the statistics Of England:
Black lea. .313 ,ooo
And, to make this discrepancy greater, be it
known that nlno-tentns OF Eli the green tea in
ported into England u.s. after being 'dootored,
mixed, aod otherwise aduitofated. sent out Of oe
Nearly sll tho tea drank in England ii tho
souschons. Some Oolon* il used, rarely alone,
genel ally mixed with the former.
Now, whatever chemists may say to the con
tray, Souschong aud Oolong are much lezs in
furious to the human system than green toas,
however pur-. The former be.r about the sane
relation to tho latter that pure nins md beer
bear to fiery vhiaky mud brandy. A cup OF good
Souschong tea besrs the came relation to the
poisoned ''le-tea" drank BY tho poorer Glasses,
nho bur at tho nwinding tea~stores, that g!nss
OF stt1 Catawba or lager-beer bears to ordinary
"forty-rod" whisky. What makes the matter
more Separating to the phi]anthropist is. that
good, pule black tea can b bought a. cheaply rs
the spurious. As cheap1v. because one ounce
OF the former will make rs many cups Of good
tea as three ounces OF tha latter.
CHICAGO, Nay II, 1874. Z. H. Hall, ND.
f.nelic.xneakfnxN Nogroex. |