The Russellville Democrat., 1886-12-22
New York Groceries.
[From the New York Tribune. l

From the New York Tribunel
 "That is not coffee," said the re- porter.
 .Who said it was," replied the rosy checked grocer. Are there any marks on it to indicate that it is coffee?"
 ''No, not particularly; but it certainly looks like coffee and tastes entirely different.'
 "Ah, you have hit the nail on the head,n continued the grocer with a smile. "It would not do to let every one know it, as it might shake peoples confidence in their grocery store. The bag, few beans from which you have just tasted, contains an imitation of coffee. It is nothing more than flour, and poor floor at that, which has been shaped like the coffee bean and baked brown. If you will take a genuine coffee bean in your hand and put it alongside the imitation, you can see that there is difference 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 imitation is sold does not require its presence. The grocer is not foolish
 
 for coffee. This would give the bHsi- ness away. But when trade is dull, and the grocer must have something to oc- cupy his mind, it is a pleasant recre- ation for him to mix quantity of flour beans with the genuine coffee. Then it cannot be easily detected. Only just enough of the flavorless bean is used to make little profit. This is not quite one-half. When the honest housewife who buys whole coffee so as to get it pure grinds up this mixture, and the odor steals out from the mill, her eyes snap, and she laughs at the people who are foolish enough to buy the coffee which is ground at the store and can be easily adulterated. The taste of this compound is not unpleasant, and 1t will not injure any one. Even the baby can take it with impunity. If the coffee were drank plain its weakness would be noticeable, but being usually taken with milk and. sugar is, not detected. Years ago all the coffee was ground in the grocery, but the adulteration was carried on so extensively that the prac- tlce was established of buying the whole bean. This led some inventive Yankee humanitarian, who believed that too much coffee is bad for the nerves, to bring out the flour bean.
 ''Hcre Is something else interesting. See these beautiful samples of cloves and peppers. Imported? Well, no, not exactly. They are homemade to suit the trade. They look good, but there is little flavor to them. Some one thought it was Q shame to waste the beautiful and nourishing cocoanut shell, and con- ceived the idea of heating it, and then grinding it to fine powder. This, when artistically mixed with various kinds of oils, makes good spice for pies and other good things. It is a growing industry, and we'll patronized. Some of this powdered shell, after be- ing favored and made into stiff pas te, is pressed through moulds into the shape of peppers and cloves. These, mixed with a 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 little cream in the cheese, a small quantity of sugar in the glucose, and a taint of butter in the 'soleomar- garine."