Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-07-06
THE TEA WE DRINK.
Various Processes Through Which 1t
Goes From Plant to Cup.
FLAvoRIEG OF CHIkA'S PRODUCT.
Picturesque Scenes the Tired Traveller
Encounters in Toxic.
PUBLIC GAMES AND ADJUSTMENTS
WRITTEN FOR THE DISPATCH. !

| WRITTEN FOB THE DISPATCH.
On entering Yokohoma harbor, the trav-
eler's vessel is boarded by native health and
custom house officers. They are uniformed
and conduct their work with exactness and
dispatch. On the wharf ones bagg age is
subject to a respectful examination by simi-
lsrly uniformed officials, In the streets,
native police adorn the corners. Post boxes
swing from the lamp posts. A net work OF
| telephone and telegraph wires are overhead.
The streets are wide, we'll paved and clean.
The buildings, VIII lie not tall, are spacious
and welI-built. Indeed, were it not for the
picturesque costu mes of the people and the
numerous jin-ri ki-shas, or peramhulators
for adults, that are flying hither and thither,
one would think oneself in some prosperous
Southern town.
In the capital, Toxic, the scene is still
| by a railroad, with neat cars, Japanese
guards, porters, engineers and all. The en-
tire road, bridges, tressels. etc., are all the
work of Japanese. In Toxic the streets are
s till more roomy. Gay stores and bazaars
filled with both foreign and domestic goods
are everywhere. Imposing public build
| ings, court houses, barracks and schools are
met with at every turn. Soldiers In uni
form, half German and half French, march
the streets. Everything indicates advance
refinement THRIFT, cleanliness and high
| degree of civilization.
FULLY UP TO THE TIMES.
In our thoughts of Japan, we must not
| forget that she has an excellent standing
army, well equipped navy, thorough
| police system, public schools everywhere,
Government hospitals in almost every town,
| university that ranks with any in the
world, postal, telegraph, and cable system,
railroads fast stretching to every part of the
country and numersus churches where Christ
| is worshiped.
japan is very paradise for children, and
every possible device for the am basement of
| the little ones NAV be found in the streets.
| Foremost among these is the "cookie" man,
who carries on his shoulders, balanced on
either end of stout pole two charcoal fur
naces or stoves with copper tops. These he
sets down in some corner and soon the
youngsters of the neighborhood flock
around HIM and purchase for one-half or
one-qusrter of a cent a small cup of
sweet batter and cooper knife. They then
proceed to bake their own cakes on the hot
furnace tops; shaping them into dogs birds
or men, and after the fun is over, enjoying
the result. Then, there is the Midzer-Ame
man, who has preparation of malt, of the
consistency of dough, which he moulds into
all sorts OF fanciiul shapes at the childrens'
suggestion; or blows the paste up into bal
looms or pipes and attaches bamboo stems to
them. Then there are street acrobats and
performing monkeys, and sweetmeat ven-
dors and toy Sellers and in fact everything
which the shaven-headed Japanese baby
could wish is at hand.
ADJUSTMENTS FOR THE EDDERs.
The older people are also very childlike
in their amusements and enjoy games as
much as the children. The principal ad-
vantage is taken of this feeling in spring,
Then all the parks are thronged
with happy people in holiday attire,
playing tag, and all sorts Of
childish games among the blossom laden
trees. During the games, the outer gar
ments OF the girls are thrown off, revealing
the gay silken robes of red, blue, lavender,
pink and every delicate shade imaginable.
The pure white of the cherry blossoms, the
green turf, the tall pines rearing up their
dark heads here and there, and the gaily
dressed and happy throng, laughing, rum
ming and playing beneath the trees, with
natural grace in everv motion, make pict-
ure never to be forgotten.
The times for the blossoming of the plum,
the wisteria and the crysanthemum are OBJ
served as similar holidays. Indeed Japan
garden country that it is-seems to divide
its year into the different blooming times of
their favorits flowers, rather than the four
seasons; and the terms tfwhen the cherry
blossoms were out" and "when the kiku
(crysanthemum) are in bloom" are fire.
quently substituted for "spring" and "fall."
HOW THE TRAVELLER FARES.
Japan is also q paradise for the traveller.
After a weary days travel along the Kings
highway, or Tokaido, you are driven in to
the cool garden of some wayside inn. In
stantly flock OF pretty girls appear and as
sist you to alight. A silken cushion is
thrown on the broad step of the porch, and
one girl. kneeling at your feet, deity re-
moves your heavy shoes and slips your feet
Iieves you of hat and bag, and gently fans
you, while asking your wishes. A third
hastens to bring tea and cakes.
You are then escorted over the soft mats
into a quiet room, open on all sides, with
with sliding doors, through which you can
catch glimpse of the garden, with vista
of shade trees, miniature water falls, quaint
stone bridges and shrines beyond. Here
you rest among silken cushions; and as you
sip your fragrant tea you realize the bliss OF
having every want so gracefully minis
tered to. In the meanwhile the pullers of
your jinrikisha have had buckets of cold
water brought them to wash their hot and
tired feet in, and are already enjoying a
quiet doze over their tea and pipes.
THE TEA OF JAPAN.
Speaking of tea, few of us in this country
realize the vast superiority of japanese over
Chinese tea, rs far as cleanliness in its
manufacture is concerned. Briefly, the cul-
tivation and manufacture of tea in Japan is
as follows:
The seeds of the tea plant are planted in
circles of about two feet in diameter. After
the seedlings reach a height OF six or eight
inches they may be transplanted. The
plants are then allowed to grow for two or
three years without being picked, but are
prumed and shielded from the sun by mats of
straw and cared for constantly. A tea plant
is at its best during the fifth year of its
growth. One or two crops OF leaves are
picked yearly. The leaves gathered are the
new growth, and do not include the hard
leaves Of the year before.
The picking is done by girls, and one girl
can pick between seven and eight pounds of
green leaves a day, which, however, when
prepared will only make about one and a
hall pounds-about ten cents day.
TREATMENT OF THE LEAVES.
The tea farmers sell the Leaf to the tea
merchants OF the villages, and the next
step in its preparation is proceeded to. Six
or eight pounds of the green leaves are put
into a sieve over large cauldron OF boiling
water and covered. This process is called
''steaming" and is continued only until the
natural oil of the leaves has been brought
to the surface and the leaves are partially
wilted. This usually takes about five
minutes, the condition of. the leaves being
carefully watched by an attendant.
Then the contents of the sieve are dumped
into the firing tray. This consists OF large
wooden box. lined with plaster or mortar.
five feet long, aud three feet deep and vide.
The bottom OF the box is filled with glow
ing charcoal we'll covered with charcoal
ashes. A wooden frame, over which
stout white paper Is stretched, forms
q tray which covers the top of the box and
h.