Charlotte messenger. [volume] (Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., N.C.) 1882-18??, 1886-08-07
HUNTING FOR TEA FRAUDS.
TIE WORK OF AN IMPORTANT
CUSTOMS OFFICIAL.
A Position that only an Expert can
Fil-An Examiners Duties-do"
Tea is Adulterated.

A Position that only an Expert can
FiIl-An Examiners Duties-HoW
Tea is Adulterated.
The tea examiner is person of consld-
cradle weight He owes his existence In
the large importing circles to the pass
age of an act in 1882 providing that in
the collection districts of New YORK,
Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago and san
Francisco there shall be an official known
as q ''lea examiner" His duties are to
examine all tea importations with view
to keeping adulterated goods out OF the
American market. He is connected with
the Customs Department and acts imme-
diately under the appraiser. Every
package or lot of teas imported must I'M
dergo inspection by this examiner.
While it is true that tea is on the free
list the regulations governingits impor-
tation still emanate from the customs au-
thorities and among them is the right OF
inspection under the law.
It may seem strange that when there
are so many foreign articles coming In
1 on the free list, tea alone should have
been selected to stand the search for
adulteration. But the truth is that the
ease with which teas in China are fixed
up; the readiness with which the skill
full manipulation is employed by the hi
nese merchant and factor to do it; the
difficulty of detection by anybody but an
expert, and the injurious effects of adul-
terated and copperas- washed substances
which the adulterators use, convinced the
heavy tea importers that some kind of
national authority was needed to make
the Chinese exporters understand that if
they sent their bogus stuff here it would
be sent back.
The law under which tea inspectors
are appointed was enacted at the request
of the leading tea importers of the conn
try. The Loves, of New York and San
Francisco, cordially endorsed the idea;
the MacCoudrays. of San Francisco, and
dozen other firms joined in the petit
ton. The tea inspectors get SO, 900
year each, and the law provides that they
shall be experts and shall not be ap-
pointed until after they have passed a
satisfactory examination. They shall be
thoroughly qualified by years of expe-
rience in the handling of teas, and shall
give bond for the faithful performance
of duty.
When an examiner shall have found a
quantity of queer tea in the hands of an
importer, he condemns it. If his report
is disputed by the importing house a
board of arbitration is provided for. Tho
collector names one man, the firm another
and the two agree upon third. They
make an examination, and if the exami-
ner's report is sustained, the tea must
either be destroyed or sent out of the
country. The condemnations under
this rule have been quite heavy in New
packages a year. In Chicago they are
comparatively light, though once in a
while the examiner makes pretty good
haul.
The authorizations of tea are numerous
and adroitly conceived. The most COM
mon, and perhaps the least harmful, is
the mixing of inferior grades with those
of a higher grade, and the coloring of
the whole to improve its looks. This
class of adulteration is difficult to detect.
The coloring, or glazing" as it is
called, is done with plumbago or black
lead, added in fine powder and applied
to the tea by means of revolving cylin-
der. Other authorizations or coloring
material are "china clay" or terra alba,
Prlssian blue, turmeric, and sometimes
gypsum and indigo. The coloring mat
ter, mixed in proportions to produce the
desired shade, is added to the slightly
moistened tea, and the whole agitated
until the color becomes evenly distrib-
uted. The treatment is very general
indeed the expert is rarely able to dis
cover it if the coloring be deity done.
Teas are examined for authorizations by
means OF a microscope-the foreign mat
ter in the chests being distinctly trace
able. A close examination may be made
by treating the leaves with water and
subjecting them to chemical analysis A
coarser adulteration is by means of ex-
hausted tea leaves At the China tea
houses, which are open day and night,
these are collected, and, after drying, find
their way back into commerce, mixed
with small portion of genuine tea. An
other adulteration is what the Chinese
not appropriately call ''lie tea," which
consists OF the dust of genuine leave.
made up by the aid of gum into little
pellets and colored to resemble tea. Will.
low leaves, aloe leaves, leaves of the wild
plum and hawthorn are also often used.
Not all the adultera.ion takes place in
China, however. 1t was formerly quite
a branch of industry in London to adul-
terate teas, and for many years thousands
of pounds OF crooked teas were consumed
in England and this country. There is
a good deal of impure tea now consumed
abroad, but in this country, thanks to
the system of examination in the Custom
Service, the evil is reduced to minimum.
But our neighbors, the Canadians, have
to suffer Very nearly all the adulterated
tea discovered in our Custom Houses
tinds its way across the border, and is
sold to and probably enjoyed by the
Kanucks as much as if it were the genu.
inc article.-C Chicago Herald.
RaducinO Ones WafUhf