Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1889-01-02
CHEWING GUM.
SOMETHING ABOUT THE HABIT
THAT HAS GROWN ON US.

SOMETHING ABOUT THE HABIT
THAT HAS GROWN ON US.
s,one of the Girls Are Asked why The,
chew-Evolution ia Gum Making-Opin.
ions Of Physicians on the EAects-Ton
Are Manufactured
In spite Of the manifold warnings Of
! physicians; in spite of the fact that Tho
shape CT Cupid's bow is changed; and II
spite OF all the contemptssa. y and sarcas
tic remarks which are constantly. appear
ing in the papers, gum chewing In thit
country is rapidly on the increase.
Two-thirds of the girls, be they pretty
or otherwise, that one meets on the high,
ways of this city are either working
their jaws for all they are worth or have
a email lump tucked away in some oh.
scure corner of the mouth and give it o
gentle squeeze between the teeth when
they are sure of being unobseryed.
Gum chewing is less disgusting than
tobacco chewing.
And If it becomes q natural habit, az
it seems likely to do, we may comfort
ourselves that the gum chewing Ameri.
can is far preferable to the snuff dipping
Mexican. :
And gum chewing is not as exclusively
confined to the female sex as is smoking
to the male, for many men use gum to
help still the craving for tobacco, thus
jumping from the frying pan into the
fire. perhaps.
True, gay young women are lately be-
coming somewhat addicted to the use of
tho tvanxJ S,Instr,srrr fIn< IS - Isl
right to put their feet or the mantel and
make a room Llue with smoke why
SHOULD they be denied the privilege.
since it has such n soothing effect on the
temper And If women can find any
thing that has a salutary effect upon
their tempers what folly to deprive them
of it!
UNSATISFACTORY REASONS.
Why do women chew gum? You do
net know, and even the chewers them
selves do not seem to.
90, chew because + can, I guess,
said one pert young miss upon being
questioned.
And because my mother tells me
not to" said another, with q niischievous
laugh.
q chew because / like the taste and
because everybody else chews," said a
third indifferently, and likewise an
swered they oil; the truth is, they really
did not know why they chewed and had
never. thought to ask themselves the
question.
The history of chewing gum is like the
growth of allanimal and vegetable life
oneo of evolution.
Children began to chew the exuda-
tons from differenttrees, from the peach.
plum, pine, spruce and sweet gum, thus
putting it into somebody's mind to make
an artificial gum. 5sy8
1t was first made of beeswax, gutta-
percha, and other rubbery and sticky
substances, which were perfectly pure
and harmless, and costly in preparation.
But three years ago. some inventive ge-
MUS discovered that by boiling some of
the baser elements Of petroleum aus:
mixing ines;smail amount OF beeswax a
gum similar to the expensive could
be produced which was quite susceptible
to Iiayors and trifling in cost.
BY the use OF scents and large quanti-
ties OF sHgar, which is the principal
article used In the composition of any
gun. the aisH ggTs:s,f.b ia taste and odoT of
petroleum was entirely obliterated and a
salable article was produced. About2the
SNfN- ~ 6ntiA sSilita ftDdlSdtn LOU
was produced, which also found a ready
sale, particularly among children, and
then "Parafiinp In alEof its fiayors ard
mixtures had, its day. s
One variety of white gum was for
some time quite extensively manufac-
tured in China, That country has a tree
peculiar to itself which possesses an at
traction for an insect with a queer
Chinese name which one will neither at
tempt to write nor pronounce. Numbers
of them collect upon the tree, and when
they have departed to pastures new
branches are found to be literally coy
cred with o waxy deposit. BY boiling
the branches. the wax is separated from
them, and wien the water and twigs are
drawn Off the white deposit remains,
MORE THAN $1,000, 600 A YEAR.
This rs purified, sweetened, favored,
cooled in cakes, and little fancy picture
pasted ontop, and we have the old white
gum which SO many of us have chewed
until our jaws ached. The sale of this
variety was enormous, but it has now
been supplafted by newer kinds, rs has
the old rubberwax.
Physicians differ considerably in their
views. onthe subject. An eminent phy-
stefan from Ohio declares that gum
chewing seriously affects the eyesight,
and that he ~ fails to detect the use
of it by an examination of the eve.
Another says that themuscleso OF the jaw
and face near the temple are enlarged
and hardened and the curve of the lipsis
destroyed. And, OF the other hand,
doctors without number advise. its use
to cleanse the teeth and aid digestion.
It's quite the fad ut the present time
=. rrx~ eco. -A.. ~ ~ ZELa