Semi-weekly interior journal. [volume] (Stanford, Ky.) 1881-1905, 1883-06-12
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE
"PRAIsE THE LORD"

DAEsroS, LONDON, +. May %, 'S3 (
Dear Interior;
Some Of your readers, whose lives
are spent in quiet housekeeping, will APP
preciate this letter, il others do not. do
not wish to forget any. Some will be i'm
patient Of anything but accounts Of chris
tian work; some are bored with half col
umn on that subject, but would read for
hours about Rotten Row; another class, not
specially interested in anything but what
is eaten and drunk and worn, shall be at
tended TO in this epistle.
Promising then in round numbers that a
penny is about cents, a shilling quarter
and pound S., let US get at the true in
wardness of housekeeping. "What sort Of
coffee and tea?" do you first ask? | will
try and answer you. In the first place the
kinds Of coffee in vogue with us are not
found here. "Old Government Java" and
"Rio" are unknown. We searched in vain
for both. OF course these drinks are main
ly matters Of education and as l had long
ago been delivered from bondage 10 them,
it was a matter Of little moment TO me
what brands Of coffee came to the London
market. Some ransacked the grocer shops,
seeking still for good cup Of blue Grass"
coffee. We tried it roasted and ground"
roasted and not ground; the raw bean and
that Of various sorts; but nothing "panned
out to suit fastidious Kentucky palates
At last, weared with the complaints Of my
nestlings, brought home from the city, in
sheer desperation, pound Of ground stuff
labeled as follows: French Coffee. A lux
ury unknown in England. Prepared as in
Paris by peculiar process in roasting and
grinding and mixed with the very purest
Bruges chickory; 10 pence pound" This
label / tore off and burned, after letting
Marie into the secret. | had my own the
DRY about this fastidiousness in meats and
drinks and wished to test it. 1t was need
full to take the housekeeper into the con-
spiracy, and my little girl, delighted in be-
ing delivered as victim, entered with all
the zeal imaginable into the pestiferous
plot. The decoction was brewed; our con-
noiseurs fell into the trap. Mama, Ken
lucky born and bred, and judge Of coffee
from her cradle; the Doctor, familiar with
the choicest preparations of New York res
taurants; fastidious Will and Charley,
George don't drink with one accord
smacked their lips and pronounced it
nearer the mark than anything yet tried.
Then we let the cat out Of the bag, and as
Consistency is jewell" we agreed TO drink
this adulteration, labelled as such, and sold
at just half the price Of the pure csfiee,
which we have done ever since. BY the
time We get another cup Of the coffee Of
our mammies, we shall have such demon
allied palates that we shall have 10 learn
to drink that over again. So much for
coffee. London tea is a standing mystery.
In India we paid rupees 8 annas pound
for it at the government factory. That is
8 shillings. Here we have the choicest
brands, staringly advertised in every gro
GERS window at shillings for the best; 2
and 6; 2 and as low as l and 4-pence for
"siftings," which latter is warranted to
draw a good, strong, rich liquor" Just
now certain "rich, syruppy, Congo" is
the favorite at 2 shillings and G-pence. Some
light is shed upon the subject when one
goes TO Bethreal Green Museum and finds
one case devoted TO "Tea and its Adulter-
ants, and another Coffee and its Adulter-
ants" There you find that among a doz.
en- different vegetables products used, the
leaf OF the common English sloe is the ia
vorite for adulteration. As for coffee,
chickory takes the lead, and after that
roasted rye, barley, bread crusts, &c sc,
until one rejoices in not having to drink
either decoction. Sloe leaves. / will add,
are pretty fair drinking. SO is chickory.
| am told you can get things at the West
End at fabulous prices, and | am bound to
believe that the aIistoeracy get simon-pure
tea and coffee both. But We plain, COM
mon folk do not. The subject Of Food
and Drink and their Adulterations," all
know to be a worldwide one.
In sugar we found this peculiarly;
GRADUATED is the American standard.
Here il is simply unknown. Nice brown
sugar can be bought for a pence a pound.
Cut loaf II 4.pence. When We want granu-
lated, we pound our cut loaf in mortar.
The crushings and fragments OF white su-
gar made in cracking up the great, old
fashioned loaves by hand machines are sold
as a sort Of substitute for our pulyerized,
but it is not very clean, and We prefer US
ing the peslle and mortar when We want
that sort for our oat meal, in the morning.
II Is all very curious and old fashioned,
and not what one would expect in the me-
iropOlis Of the world, but am simply jot-
ting down facts. So We have pure coffee
at 4Oc pound; mixed with chickOry, Zoe
tea adulleraied with slOe leaves, etc, at an
average Of o2lc; sugar, lump, Sc; brown, DC.