The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1882-03-24

ab Ut n liberated
Jape.= @aS:
General Stohcl, u. ). Consul, at Hi
ogo, Japan, in his l0test.repori says
"I avail myself Of tt is occasion to
call the attention Of the Department,
and Of American consumers OF tea, to
the fact that most Of the teas shipped
from Japan to the United States are
now artIfcially cololed Formerly, this
was not the case In the early years
of the trade, say 1859 20 1869 the
manipulation of japan teas by the ex-
porter was confined 70 IA mp'e retiring,
which was necessary IN order TO cure
he ,eai sufficiently to enable it to en-
dure transport through the tropics and
to retain its qua tiles whi,c ID store.
The leaf WAS improved by this process
and Japan teas were then Shipped in
their natural condition aud honestly
called Uncoored.' lbout 1870, how
ever, consumers (?) began to call for
higher color than any natural process
would furnish, and although this de.
mand Was long r,slsteu by the shippers
III Japan, aud at some loss to them
selves, yet ultimately : prevailed and,
or some years past, ar,l6 lal c'lorlng
has been The lu!e, so that Japan teas,
which are naturally "a biackish Cor
brown sh) greer color, are now made
t resenlb the bIusn gray or graysh
blue t,a- shipp' d from China as green
teas The mate,iiia us Il to produce
these shad' ar, not very pcrnicIous {?),
being nothing WORSE, Us general rule,
'han indigo aud gypsum, but they Ger.
tainly dc nothing TO the value Of tea
leav for drinking purposes. There is,
therefore, nothil Z to be SAID III iavor OF
the practice, exctpt tha' dealers in
America prefer teas Of Cus' description.
Their rol,g 50 is prcb bly, explained by
| the fact tna n teas 20 c0iulcd coarse,
eav may pass wilh'u election, and
| this IS 20 doubt N, cause Oh he grad
a, deter orar ga Of lie quar'y Of the
Japan as -xportcd to erica during
r, III years Thc auuiiota M will
probably coDiiuu ~ ioue as consumers
IN America buy Teas on according to
the appearance OF the Lat, regard ess
OF IT'S drawing quail ten and as ,oug as
tue mp secre OF makin- the lufus.
ion is 20 litrl uuderato9t IN our country"
Quoting the abovc rrpor # General
tahr', he Hiogo New Of July Both,
1881, says.
" We are glad to be able to quote an
.thorItativo opInop IN the puruy of
'ea- prepared IN N'he giveo by dis
interest d person pos csSlGg "very means
# ascertal"ing th, ,Xtct !ncls .t is
vld NJ that Shippers have no object in
doctoing W teas beyond 6bed nee to
Z ,rslstence OF cus.,'m rs at the other
..c"i the Pacific Blu; there rs doc i.
"a and do,toriug Ala isis of eleven
M Japan teas, made last year
D. - 81 sco, showed that four con.
-" usslan blue (fero cyanlte Of
"a. ME plumbago BLACK ead), and
tie ,euainipg two simp'y INDIGO and
gypsum. This bears out Gen Stabel's
remark on the adulterauts used here
| Kobe), suppOsing that the two, out of
eleven, coup ratively inhocuous imples
were from teas produced in this district.
At all events, american (?) onsumers
are alone to blame for any admix,ures
the result of their demands for teas of
a particular and unnaturs, color, and
they also have the satisfaction of know.
lug that the remedy lies entirely in their
own hands,
COMMENTS Having dealt largely in
natural leaf Japan teas for tn, past
three years, and also b wing been tamil
lar with this class of teas since their in
PRODUCTION into this country, We desire
to state our belief that tieoeral Stahel
in the foregoing, has IN ie as fair a re-
mort as was consister- with ms duty "a
the commercial interests OF the country
he repr sents. But he errs In placing
the responsibility oi sdulterating Japan
cas- up,n consumers. Tor neither con.
sumers nor retailers were IL fault Con.
sumers never Gale ; t"r colored Japan
teas, neither did retailers ask for them,
but both parties Were I'm toscd upon by
shippers importers, iobbers, and their
s,lesmcn, by the gradual and, at first,
almost imperc p,bie change to colored
teas, winch, however, increased until in
some instances whole families were made
| e;oi, ,yitb tho naisnn contained IN tLo -,
called Dust, or Sifings* from such teas
Whether th is s. rious matter or not
Japan tca.dr kcrs must decide; We
think il il, md shall entirely exclude
the co'ored imposition from our bust
n,cs, and, therefore, press it upon youl
~ mt on
tings Tom uncolorod teas are pure
wholesome, ahd &C InCmical.
nunoomho 0}oovno q r.