The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1885-04-04
a y Es5 TEPnIE.
peer Tea, the New Beverage, suppiant-
ing intoxicating Liquors to IA Large
Extent, 100 e /

Extent. i . Q
From the Boston GIobel
Ieople are drinking more beef tea
| every day. sald bartender ut is
| getting to constitute one of the most
prohtable and important Of bar
! sales"
Is it used for the purpose of getting
over the effects OF immoderate drink
| ing?"
Not nearly so much as YOU would
! suppose. OF course some people take
1t Tor that purpose. When a mans
stomach Is too shally to retain any
thing else, beef tea will generally be a
! comfort and n consolation to him
mat IS why 1t is used so largely in the
slck-room. No, people drink it for all
sorts OF reasons. during thecoldw wealth
ef especially, and there has been an
unusually heavy demand for it this
| winter. There are men who come in
| regularly at nOOntime and call for IT,.
ana with a cracker or two seem to
make out "a lunch. One man who
breakfasts at 10 and dimes at ) saws
that cup OF beef tea is all that he
needs between the two meals. A
great many soak Il cracker or two in
1t, and say they can keep about their
| business better with the nourishment
| beef tea affords them"
lis 1t used much as a simple bever-
age?"
For fancy drink? Well, suppose
some people prefer it, | don't know
| that 1t Is wise for man to talk too
much about his own business, but
| suppose a large amount of beef-tea
drinking arises from the pernicious
American system OF treating on every
| possible occasion. After a man who
IS only light drinker has been asked
to have something half a dozen times
IN one morning he doesn't feel like
calling for anything alcoholic. and
lemonade and ginger ale are a triile
Hat, and so he takes beef tea Besides
that, there are at least hall a dozen
men who patronize this place who
drink beef tea every day on a medical
prescription. 1t IS supposed to be
great thing IN cases ofdyspepsia. 1t is
a great deal easier to stepinto the bar
room and have it prepared in half a
minute than to keep it at home"
How about the profit on it,"
There are different profits on it.
Oh late years the beef-tea preparation
seems to have become a pretty big
business. From being sold by two or
three houses at stiff prices, there have
got to be thirty or forty brands retail
ing at all prices from 20 cents to 80
cents a pot. These little earthenware
pots contain about two ounces you
see. Some Of these preparations are OF
American manufacture, but the most
expensive is imported. We buy this
here because we think it has peculiar
rich flavor that you don't get in the
other. 1t comes from South America.
| know it is imported because it comes
here often with the custom house label
on it.
"HOw many drinks can you make
from one OF these twO-Ounce pots?"
Twelve or fifteen. You see it is a
thick paste, which looks like soft mud.
They claim that that is the residue
after boiling down seven and a halt
pounds of good beef. We take half
teaspoon OF the mixture, pour boiling
water over it, season with salt and
pepper and it is all made"
'What does the tea retail for per
glass;"
eve charge 10 cents. In many
places they charge Is. The difference
is in the style. Some men would
rather pay % cents for an article
which they can buy elsewhere for 10.
for the sake of being seen in the 25
cent place. If the women were like the
men in this respect some OF our dry
goods houses would 90 up, | guess.
But women, generally, are too sharp,
and. in fact, it is my experience that
these same men who put on so much
style rather expect their wives to keep
the household expenses down about
as economically as possible. But
there is profit enough i'll selling the
drinks at 10 cents, as you can see.
We get about $50 out OF a pot that
doesn't cost us half a dollar"
lis beef tea much OF a drunkard's
drink, anyway"
mo; it rather takes the place of
stimulating drinks to a large extent,
but there is a general idea that a man
can't have the jimiams with this bev-
erage in his stomach, which | don't
doubt has something to do with the
sale Of it. It's a ridiculous idea,
though, as the nutriment OF the tea Is
destroyed by the alcohol and rendered
worse than useless