Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1883-08-29

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mixed with Prussian blue, earthly sub
stances, a kind of French chalk and
magnesia. Gypsum is also used to q
great extent in adulterating tea, and it
is often loaded with sand or particles
of gravel, each particle artistically
rolled up in the leaf so that it cannot
be discerned by the eye, and is only
discoverable by chemical analysis.
Then, again, they make tea from a
powdered tea, or dust, in which nc
leaf at all is used, rolled up into pellets
like shot, held together by sort Of
gum. This is known as shotty gun.
powder 1t is not tea at all"
ARTIFICIAL AND POISONOUS.
"Is all green tea artifcially colored?'
Certainly There is demand for
tea of green color in some parts Of
this country and Europe. 1t is not a
question of flavor, but of color with
some people. Making tea green does
not improve the flavor 1t is rather
the other way. Of course, Prussia
blue and such adulterations are abso.
lutely poisonous. There is not enough
in the tea to kill, perhaps, but | have
no doubt they cause disease. If you
want to know how green tea is made
read this from book of travels just
published in London. l was reading
it when you came in -
The superintendent of the workmen
managed the coloring part of the pro-
cess himself Having procured por-
ton of Prussian blue, he threw it into
a porcelain bowl, not unlike chemists
mortar, and crushed it into very fine
powder At the same time quantity
of gypsum was produced and powdered
in the same manner The two sub
stances were then mixed together in
the proportion of four parts of gypsum
to three parts of Prussian blue, and
formed light powder, which was then
ready for use This coloring matter
was applied to the teas during the last
process of roasting. About five
minutes before the tea was removed
from the pans the superintendent took
a small porcelain spoon and scattered a
portion of the coloring matter over the
leaves in each pan. The workmen then
turned the leaves rapidly round with
both hands, so that the color would be
equally diffused. During this opera
tion the hands of the men were quite
blue. | could not help thinking that
if any green tea drinkers had been
present their tastes would have been
corrected. 1t seems ridiculous that
any civilized people should prefer dyed
teas to those of natural color No
wonder the Chinese consider us to be
barbarians.
WHERE PURE TEAS COME FROM.
"As to black teas" Mr.. Davies con-
tinued, "they cannot be adulterated
with as much ease as green teas, al
though the lower grades Of souchong
are beginning to be mixed with an in
ferior leaf which is not tea They are
also beginning to ship teas that are
earthly. In transportation from the tea
districts to the coast in China tea some
times gets wet and is dried out and
cured over again. This makes it musty,
and sometimes it has come here abso-
lutely rotten. The largest proportion
of oolongs now come from Formosa
Up to ten years ago Foo Chow Foo
and Canton were the leading ports of
export. | have never discovered any
adulteration in these oolongs. From
Annoy large quantity of low grade
oolongs are sent here. There | find
they have got to mixing the tea with
ankoi leaf. In my judgment this is
not tea at all, but wild shrub There
are also quantities of very low grade
of souchong, which is not fit to be
drunk. 1t comes from that section of
country"
AN OFFICIAL STANDARD OF PURITY.
Examiner Davies, after consulting
with the Appraiser, with the largest
tea importers and with Professor
Batchellor and DR.. Davis, the chemists
at the government laboratory, recently
agreed upon standard for determining
the percentage of impurity which shall
be hereafter deemed sufficient to exclude
all colored teas, whether from China or
Japan, and especially to be applied to
tea dust According to this standard
seven per cent of foreign substances
will be permitted, but where cargo of
tea is found to exceed that proportion
the examiners will refuse to pass it.
The new rule will doubtless be approx
ed by the Treasury Department at
Washington, and will be put in force
Immediately in all customs districts in
this country.-N y Herad