Morning journal and courier., 1883-07-26
ssEea-Bulking.'' ''
One More Mystery of the Trnde-A New
 System.


 From the London Globe.I
 1 The report of the East and West Indis | Dock company just issued speaks of new ] system of s.tea- -bulking' which has been in. vented by one of the company's staff, by l which it is hoped that much larger share o1 | the tea imported into London may be attract l ed to their warehouses in Fenchurch street I and Crutched Friars. So much is mysterious l in connection with the tea trade that this in- | cidental allusion to one more mystery will l hardly, perhaps, awaken passing curiosity l in the generality of the public, who, as 8 ruIe do not know at all what 'ttea-bulking' may be, and will hardly feel it 8 very hope l full subject of inquiry. Yet 1t is 8 matter not altogether without it's interest for most ! of us, as will be readily apparent when it is stated that this "bulking'' is simply turning | the tea out of the chests or boxes in heap, partly for the purpose of thoroughly mixing, | so as to insure perfect unifornlityaof quality | throughout ''break,ss-and partly for the l purpose of 'ftaring' the receptacles in which 1 the tea arrives. Ordinarily the contents are l turned out upon the warehouse floor, well mixed up with wooden shovels, and then re- turned to the chests, into which-incredi6lt 1 dictU-the warehousemen get, and tread 1 down the tea with their boots and 1t has been noted by some who ought to know g l good deal about these matters, as very re
 markable illustration of the great care with I WHICH luG proceeding IS CdEII6a OuG Dy Iu1e l company, that the men are not permitted to l do this treading with their dirty boots en. | tirely upguarded, but are compelled to put 8 1 cloth over the tea before stepping upon it.
 It Is more than hinted that in some estab- | lishments this little precaution is neglected. The great objection, however to the ordina ry mode of ''bulking" is that the tea. being
 turned out in heap in the warehouses in
 which it is practically exposed to the open | air, Is very liable to lose much of it's fresh ness and aroma, and, indeed, the whole pro- l cess of exposure shoveling and reilling is c .lculated to deteriorate it's quality. The secretary of the company, the warehouse superintendent, (Mr. Adams and one of the engineers have, therefore, been turnin g ! their attention to this matter, and they have contrived machine which sesms to do ell the work very efficiently and to l avoid all the objections. Instead of being
 turned out in 8 heap upon the floor and tipped out of the chests or boxes into re- volving drum capable of holding, if com p1etely filled, about one hundred chests. Some fifty chests are poured into this, and then the machine is shut up close and set revolving by hydraulic motive power. In side the drum is system of iron rods so arranged as to toss the tea about well, and
 three or four revolutions are sufficient to thoroughly ''bulk" the contents. When
 this has been accomplished the mixture is
 poured out again into the chests that have in the meantime been s'tared' and placed
 in position on a scale which constitutes an adjunct to the machine. The tea, how ever, will not fill into the chests in so close and compact a body as before it was turned out, and treading or something equivalent to it must still be done. For this a very ingenious provision is made.
 A flat iron ''presser" may be brought
 down upon the tea. fitting into the recep
 tacle, and thrusting its contents down gen.
 tly and evenly, whilo upon the sides of the chest the machine brings to bear four iron
 beaters, which. by an ingenious method of
 rapidly turning on and cutting off hydrau- lie power, are made alternately to fly out and fall back to the sides of tho chests
 with succession of thumps that shake down the tea into a close, compact mass. These beaters have already been in use for some time past in the company's coffee 1 warehouses in the docks, and their applica-
 tion to this ''bulking" machine appears to
 render it very complete and satisfactory | operator, though what may be thought of l it by the wielders of the wooden shovel, l and the wearers of the hob-nailed boots, | whose services will, we suppose, be mate- rially curtailed, is different question.