The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1875-04-23

| ElOdtti lhdll llOSc VI NlHt. lHlS
was productive of not a little merriment.
"He has tasted wine, then" many exclaimed.
The authorities took the matter seriously.
The unfortunate debater was INDUCED with
eighty stripes as punishment for his viola
tion of the rules laid down in the Koran.
Khair Beg requested permission from the
Sultan to prohibit the sale of coffee in Mec-
ca. He closed the places of entertainment
where it was sold. Being informed that a
prominent citizen had continued the use of
coffee in his family after receiving notifca-
ton of the prohibition, Khair Beg had him
publicly chastsed for the offence.
The Sultan, however, soon altered his
mind. The wise men of Cairo, more learned
than those of Mecca, announcing that coffee
was an innocent drink, the Emir was nduc-
ed to revoke his prohibitory order, and the
use of coffee became more general In 932
of the hegira, the Shek Sidi Mahommed
Ben-Arrak being informed that the cafes
were the scenes of criminal conduct, in
structed the governors to close all public
places where coffee was sold restricting its
Use to private families. After his death the
cafes were reopened.
But the persecution of the innocent berry
was not to stop here. In 94l of the hegira,
fanatic spoke with so much force in the
Mosque against the use of coffee that the
people, excited by his words, ran to the
cafes, broke the furniture, the vases in which
the coffee was kept, assaulted the guests and
treated the proprietor to the bastinado.
These model CRUSADERS" asserted that on
Resurrection Day coffee drinkers would ap-
pear with faces as black as the pots in which
they prepared their favorte drink The dis
cussion prevailed to such length that it be-
came necessary to have a judicial consulta-
ton The Shiek convoked his doctors of
laws, who decided that the question had
been formerly set at rest by previous con-
vention, which had declared in favor of the
purity of coffee The Shiek ratified the
opinion of his distinguished savans. Thus
all the efforts that were made to prevent the
Use of coffee in Mecca proved Intellectual.
In 962 Of the hegira, during the reign of
Solomon H., called the Great, coffee was in
| trOduced into Greece and Constantinople.
| A man from Damascus, named Schems, and
citizen of Aleppo, named Hekem, went to
Constantnople and opened cafes, where their
customers were served reclining on sofas.
These establishments became very popular,
and were frequented by savans, professors
and dervishes
The Turks became great coffee drinkers
Their capital was soon filled with Kawa
| kanes, where coffee was sold at all hours.
| Men of leisure congregated in these places
in great numbers, and young girls were em-
| ployed to entertain them with songs and
dancing. But this raised q furious storm.
The priests alleging that the faithful desert
ed their places of worship to witness the
dancing in the cafes, created great disturb
ance.
They asserted that in the heating process,
coffee became carbonized, and that every
thing partaking of the character of carbon
was forbidden by Mahommedanism. The
Mufti sustained the priests, and, prohibiting
the sale of coffee in the capital, closed the
cafes. But they were soon reopened Dur
ing the war under Mahommed w., the
Grand Nizier Kuprugli, for political pur-
poses, again closed the cafes, but as this
| action diminished the revenues of the king
dom in a critical period, the prohibition. was
revoked, and the use of coffee became so
general that in Egypt and Turkey to-day
the husband is obliged to furnish his wife
with certain quantity. The refusal or fail
ure from any cause to do this is a Just and,
legal ground for divorce. "a.
In 1902 a merchant, named Edwards,
returning to England from the Levant, was
accompanied by a Greek who was noted for
his skill in making coffee Edwards intro
| duced it in London where it became very
popular.
During the reign of Charles H. coffee was
subjected to the same persecution as it suf-
| fered in the East. In 1915 the king had all
| the places where coffee was sold closed He
| regarded them as centres OF reasonable dis
cussions. but thisrigorous measure produced
an effect contrary to what the king desired
it only added to the popularity of coffee
| But this popularity was short-lived, as the
general use of coffee gave place to the use
of tea.
Ten years after its introduction into Eng
land, coffee was carried into France. This
was not its first appearance, however, for
Leonard Raunolf, in 1888, mentions having
seen coffee in France. ..
Prosper Alpn, famous physician and
botanist published a work in Venice, in
1891, wherein he gives a description of the
coffee plant which he had seen in Egypt,
and to which he gave the name OF bonn,
ban, or bonn Bacon, in his "Sylva Sylvan
um," speaks of coffee as drink very popu
lar in the Fast, and Mcsner, in 1921, pub
lished a treatise on the subject.
In 1914 Venetian, Pedro del Valle, in
troduced coffee into Marseilles. A short
time afterwards second traveller not only
brought with him large quantities of coffee,
but he also introduced the small silk nadkin
embroidered in gold and silver, then in use
among the Turks.
In 1871 foreigner opened a small saloon
where hot coffee was sold. This was the
first cafe in France.
The use of coffee became general from
this date, Notwithstanding the opinion of
the physicians that it would prove injurious
to the climate of France. At this time it
was almost unknown in Paris.
Solomon Aga, ambassador from the Su,
blime Porte, was the first to introduce coffee
in Paris, He brought it to the notice of
several prominent men of the time, who
continued to use it after his departure.
Pascal Armenian, several years later
(l67l, established cqfe at the Saint Ger
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