Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1874-04-02
WHAT WE DRINK.
Our Tea and Its Aduitera.iou IA.

1t the tea thrown into Boston bar
Dor a century ago was of the char
aoter of the tea which is furnished
by New York tea merchants to-day,
that is abundant reason why the con-
duct of the Bostonians should be
commended. The Investigations
made by the Daily Graphic have f, /
iy shown the vIllainous nature of the
81. led tea that is drank in this
city. 1t was always known that tea
could not inebriate, for DR.. johnson
coul pronounce the longest words
IN his dictionary with ut stammer-
ing even after drinking ga llns Of ten.
The one virtue tl .imed for it is its
alleged power to cheer, and this
must now be abandoned since we
have learned Of what tea is really
composed. Take the so-called j %
tea, for examil,, which is made up
of tea sweepings and various heterto
geneous leaves stuck together with
gum and colored with Iogwood or
copperas. 1t is sufficiently depress-
ing to read of this compound, but
bow much more saddeniDg it must
be to drink il. La higher priced teas
are found the leaves of the bramble,
the wild cherry, the beach, and a
dozen other trees. whitened by gyp-
SUN or china clay. or colored with
iron filings. An English scientific
man ms shown that the action of
iron filings upon the tsnnin contain
ed ia the tea leaves produces excel
lent ink, and the latter jectionable
substance is therefore to be added TO
the misc. llaneous list of substances
taken into the stomach of the tea-
drinker. 1t ia certainly far from
cheerful th ught that our stomachs
are actively employ ed in converting
what we weakly fancy to be tea into
glossy writing fluid: and it it would
be ABSURD to invite friend to take q
cheering cup of pure iron f logs. it IS
no ,ss ABSURD to hold out TO him the
expectation of being cheered by
drinking iron filings combined with
cl.y, copperas, and logwood.
The malevolence OF certain Grimm
ais has frequently been ascribed To
the poisonous character of the adul-
terated whiskey which they are in
the habit of drinking. We have an
equal right to suppose tina: adulter
ated tea may affect the morals of the
tea thinkers. If DR.. Johnson habit
ualiy filed his stOm ach with the m
terial Of ink, we have a ready expla-
nation of the facility With which he
talked entire cyclope dias of ak ~
liable words in the course of an ever
irg. The secret of the intimate at
ISOLATION between tea and scandal
may be looked for in the bramble
and hawthorn leaves of which much
Of our tea consists. and it is not i'm
possible that to the copperas with
which tea is colored is due much OF
the bitterness which The mother in
law drinks in with her tea. When
Miss Anthony rises to denounce the
infamy of man. we should RENE mber
with the chemical combination of
iron and tannin that is going into
the mysterious recesses of her person,
and modify accordingly our condem-
nation of her views. And we may
similarly paliiate the rev dictionary
position occupied by her with regard
to single beds by assuming that the
bramble has entered into her blood.
and that instead of cherishing feel
ings of kindness and affection she If
a prey to / ] I'D impulse in the d.
rection of scratching out masculine
eyes. inherited from the traditional
brandt, bush which blinded the
three wise men of nursery poetry.