The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1886-12-25
New York Groceries.

NGW lUIh UIOC6IleS.
sThat is not coffee" said the re-
porter.
"Who said it was?" replied the
jolly. rosy checked grocer. Are
there any marks on IL to Indicate that
it is coffee ?'
'"No, not particularly but it GER
tainly looks like coffee, and tastes
entirely different"
& "Ah. you have hit the nail on the
head" consumed the grocer, with a
smile. sit would not do to let every
one know it, as it might shake peo-
pie sconfidence in their grocery store.
The bag, few beans from which you
have just tasted, contains an imita-
tion of coffee. 1t is nothing more
than -four, and poor -four at that,
which has been shaped like the coffee
bean and baked brown. If you will
take genuine coffee bean in your
hand and put 1t alongside the imita-
ton, you can see that there is a diff.
ference in the color. The shape is
also different. but that is nothing, as
the various kinds of coffee vary in
shape and size. The flavor, of course,
is not there, but the way the imita.
J tion is sold does not require its pres
ence. The grocer is not a foolish
man. He does not sell these flour
beans for coffee. This would give
the business away. But when trade
is dull, and the grocer must have
something to occupy his mind, it is
a pleasant recreation tor him to mix
a quantity of the -four beans with
the genuine coffee. Then it cannot
be easily detected. Only just enough
of the flavorless bean IL used to make
a little profit. This is not quite one
half. When the honest house wife
who buys whole coffee so as to get it
pure grinds up this mixture. and the
odor steals out from the mill, her
eyes suap, and she laughs at the peo-
pie who are foolish enough to buy
the coffee which is ground at the
store, and can be easily aduterated.
The taste of this compound is not
unpleasant, and it will not injure any
one. Even the baby can take it with
impunity. IF the coffee were drunk
plain its weakness would be noticea-
Bile, but being unusually taken with
milk and sugar, the fraud is not de-
tected. Years ago all the coffee was
ground in the grocery, but adultera-
ton was carried on so extensively
that the practice was established of
buying the whole bean. This led
some inventive Yankee humanitar-
Ian, who believed that too much cOf
fee is bad for the nerves, to bring out
the -four bean.
"Here is something else interest
ing. See these beautiful samples of
cloves and peppers. Imported ? Well,
no, not exactly. They are home
made to suit the trade. They look
good, butthere is little flavor to them.
Some one thought it was a shame to
waste the beautiful and nourishihg
eocoanut shell, and conceived the idea
of heating it and then grinuing it to
fine powder. This, when artistical-
ly mixed with various kinds of oils,
make a good spice for pies and other
good things. 1t is growing indus
try, and well patronized. Some of
this powdered shell, after being fla
vored and made into stiff paste, il
pressed through moulds into the
shape of peppers and cloves. These,
mixed with quantity of the genuine
article, give about all the flavor that
it is safe for person to take, and the
grocer does not lose anything, but
goes on paying his pew rent and
building rows of houses the same as
if there were a little cream in the
cheese, small quantity of sugar in
the glucose and faint of butter in
the oleomargarine."-N Y. Tribune.