The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-05-26
THE CHEWERS OF GUM.
A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PRO-
CESS OF MANUFACTURED.


Gum-Chewins at the Roller Skating
Kinks-Use Of Gum as IN Aid to Di-
gestion-youns Girls just Out of School
Practice of Employees.
"ITe are the lar lest manufacturers Of the
article in this country, but should Ju ge
that there arc not l,ss than twenty other
large firms in the business besides large
number OF smaller manu- acturers altered
throughout the country, who supply the
local trade in their respe tive localities.
the smaller manufacturers make the cheaper
kind Of chewing, gum IRON paratflne and
sugar or glucose. Th, mixture is harmless
and but very little ii any deleterious stu!f is
used, as rarail:ne is very cheap and there
tore tnere is but ve;y little temptation to
introduce adulteration into its Manufacture.
We first started in tie business i'll lojS but
chewing gum had b Ell manufactured for
many years before that time.
Our business was light the first year, but
grew rapidly and we added new brands OF
gum, the chief ingrei;ien0 being the gum Oh
tanned from g fruit tree in Mexico, the fruit
of which is known Us sapoailla. The fruit
is about tho size and shape OF an appl,, with
O brown shell; it has Il delicious havot and
is largely used Ey the natl ei as an article
of diet The gum is gathered by the In
dia1s and brought to rnarket on pack mules,
each mule CARRYING aoout twelve arrooas o.
nearly 800 pounds. The gum, which is
known as chicle, was Introduced into this
country By lis III 15j;S, it being up to that
time totally unknown outside Of Mexico, the
compilers OF encyclopedias not even making
mention of it. Si.,ce its introduction it has
grown in favor and is now used for chewing
purposes throughout tho civilized world,
being staple article OF export AMI bring
in. to Mexico a large annual revenue AS
the gum became known business increased
and has been continually increasing ever
since.
GCM-CHEWINci AT THE sIlAKING RINK.
"lVhen the roller skating craze broke out
a few years ago the demand for chewing
gum increased wonderfully. Nearly every
ole who attended the rinks became addicted
TO Jhe habitof chewing sun, which can be
explained upon natural reasons. Every
one who has attended a roller SKATING rink
knows that there is moro or less dust ralseI
during the skating hours, which is inhaled
by the skaters, and results in dry, parched
fl cling in the throat AMI mouth. 1t was
only natural then that chewing gum was re
sorted to, in order to create u flow of saliva,
which cleared tie mouth and throat from
the disasreeable dIynes5. or late years,
however, many physicians have recon-
m~nded It's Use as hip to
,I-f,ll
known fact thot nearly all cases OF indyes-
ton can lie traced to Il lack OF tho Low of
saliva, which is absolutely ne cssary to
properly digest food, es je:ially that kind OF
.ool containin., star. h. sich as flour, pota-
toes AMI larinuceous substances Chewing
gum e%,ites a Low of the necessary sali.a
and many cases have been reported where
people have been entirely cured oil inuigcS-
tion by It's use.
II presume the public would be interested
by description of the manufacture Of tho
chewing gum Til gum is shipped 10 Us In
boxes or barrels from Mexico. The first
thing we do is to refine tho gum in order to
remove any foreign substance. After thu
refining process the gum, which then is about
the consistency of putty, is milel wit:
run through large rollers, watch iiattens II
out to the necessary hickness 1t remains
on tile dryers Tor two days and is then run
through a cutting machine, which cuts tb,
gum into the size required. it is then put
into boxes and properly marked, and is
ready for Shipment The gum sticks are
usually divided Into five equal parts, so that
a chew can BE- obtained for l cent, or a
whole stick Tor ) cents.
YOUNG GIRLS JUST OUT OF school.
The reporter took up q favorable position
one afternoon on the corner Of Joralemon
street just as the young girls we're released
from their studies and counted those who
appy ared to lie chewing gum Out of l.D
young girls who passed eighty, Or over one
half, were chewing something, presumably
gum The chewers We're of all kinds: some
chewed as ii they thoroughly enjoyed it,
making their Jaws work in a manner so en-
erGetic as to give the observer a disagree
abe thought of how those jaws could anl
would probably work when the young miss
had attained to the dignity of mother-in
law Others chewel mechanically, as if it
was q matter of duty wuich must be per-
formed Others alternated chewing with
conversation, but none OF tho chewcrs was
seen to eNpec.oratc.
>"Meeting young lady friend who is at
tending Packer institute the reporter ill.,
quired low generally the practice was in
dulged in by the school girls of her acquaint.
ance why nearly every one of Us chew
gum" she said, showing the reporter num-
Der of pieces o. gum in her hand bag. OF
course it's against the rules, but that don't
make any difference. When we see any of
the teachers watching us we slip the gum
out of our mouths and sick it under our
seats or desfis Some Of tho girls are real
mean. for they steal tho gum OF the other
girls when they are not looking, anu others
arc continually borrowing gum, just like
tic men borrow tobacco from each other"
One of the floor walkers in one Of the large
Gry goods houses on Futon street said that
gum chewing was largely indulged III by
the girls employed, buL as they do not as
rule expectorate tho practice was not Oh.
iected to iy the firm. The girls employed
in the tobacco factories are all gum
chewcrs, as it helps thein to free the mouth
from the tobacco dust which fills the rooms.
-BrooKlyn Eagle.
ss,vJ,. H;nJ, Of yi,n,,, (,o1I n1;no