The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-05-03
THE AFTERNOON TEA.
Mrs. John Sherwood Tells How
To Make It Agreeable.
HOW TO SERVE THE DRINK
History and Literature Of the Cup That
Cheers-secial Customs In
New York.

tooA up the cucgelS foF tea, setting II as
brain inspirer for all time, wrote Rasseias.
On the strength of it Goblet wrote against
It's use by the laboring classes, and the
Edinburgh Rerier Endorsed his arguments,
stating that prohibition absolute and
uncompromising of the noxious beverage
was the fist step toward insuring health
and strength for the poor" and asserting
that when laborer fancied himself .re-
freShed with a mess of this stuff, sweet
ened with the coarsest brown sugar and by
azure blue milk, it was only the warmth
of the water that consoled him for the mo-
ment"
Goblet claimed that the tea table cost
more to support than would keep two
children at nurse.
The Quarterly Rerier IN an article written
perhaps by the most famous chemist of
the day said that tea relieves the pains of
hunger rather by mechanical distension
than by supplying the waste of nature by
adequate sustenance.. but claimed for il
the power of calm, placid and benignant
exhilaration, greatly stimulating the sfon-
ach when fatigued By digestive exertion
and acting as an appropriate dilurent of
the chyie. More recent inquiries into the
qualities Of the peculiar power of tea have
tended to raise popular esteem, although
no one has satisfactorily explained why
it has become so universally necessary to
the human race.
An agreeable little book called ssThe
beverages We indulge in. The herbs which
We infuse"-or some such tifle-had great
deal to do with tie adoption of tea as
drink for young men who were training
for boat race, or who wished to econo-
mize their strength in a mountain climb.
But everyone from tired washerwoman
to the student, the wrestler, the fine lady
and the strong man demands cup of tea
To the invalid it Is the dearest solace,
If 1t is dangerous Tannin, the astringent
elementin tea is, however. bad for delicate
stomachs and seems 10 ruin appetite Tea
therefore should never be allowed 70 stand
Hot waser poured on the leaves and poured
OF into q cup can hardly afford the tannin
time to get out. Since tea drinkers even
put the grounds in q silver ball perforated,
and sling this through cup of boiling
water. thus is produced the most delicate
cup of tea.
The famous Chinese lyric which is
painted on almost all the Chinese tea pots
of the empire, is highly poetical-
''0n slow FIRE set q trepod. I'LL it with
clear rainwater. Boil it as long as it would
be needed TO turn fish white and Holsters
red. Throw this upon the delicate leaves of
choice tea, let it remain as long as the
vapor rises in cloud. At your ease drink
the pure liquid which VIII chase away the
1--WE causes of trouble"
The .'tea of the cells of the Dragons
the purest Pekoe from the leaf buds of
three-year-old plants, no one ever sees in
Europe.
But we have now secured many brands
Of tea which are sufficiently good, and the
famous Indian tea brought in by the great
exposition in Paris in 1889 is fast gaining
an enviahle reputation. 1t has perfect
bouquet and flavor. Green tea, beloved by
our grandmothers and still favorite with
some connoisseurs, has proved TO have so
much theme, the element of intoxication
in tea, that il is forbidden to nervous
people. 1t is this element which makes
tea save food by its action in preventing
various wastes to the system. 1t is thus
peculiarly acceptable to elderly persons
to the tired laboring woman. Doubtless
Mrs Camps famous tea pot with which
she entertained Betsy Prig contained green
tea.
But there is an unusually large amount
of nitrogen in theme, and green tea poxs-
esses so large proportion of il as to be posi-
lively dangerous. In the process of dry
ing ana roasting this volatile oil is engen-
dered. The Chinese dare not use il for q
year after it has been prepared, and the
packer and unpacker of the tea suffer much
from paralysis. The tasters of tea become
frequently great inyalids, unable TO eat.
Therefore our favorite herb has its
dangers.
More consoling is the legend of the ORR
gan of the plant A drowsy hermit after
long wrestling with sleep, cut of his ere
lids and cast them on the ground. From
them sprang shrub whose leaves shaped
like eyelids and bordered with fringe of
lashes, possessed the power Of warding of
sleep. This was in the third century, and
the plant was tea
But what has all this to do with that
pleasant vision of a steaming kettle
boiling over q blazing alcohol lamp,
the silver tea-eaGdy, the padded coy 10
keep the teapot warm, the basket OF cake,
the thin bread and butter, the pretty girl
presiding over the cups, the delicate china,
the more delicate infusion All these ese-
ments so 10 make up the afternoon tea
From one or two ladies who sfaid at home
one day in the week and offered this re-
freShment 10 the many, who grew TO ind
that il was 8 very easy method Of enter
tanning 1.-THE original O'Clock tea which
arose In England. from the fact that ladies
and gentlemen after hunting required
some slight refreshment before dressing
for dinner, and liked 10 meet for a lit
tie chat, out of this simple informal en-
tertainment grew the present party IN the
dav time It now Is used as the method
OF introducing daughter, etc, and is the
ordinary way of entertaining everybody.
The primal idea was good one. People
who had no money for grand spreads were
enabled TO show 10 their more opulent
neighbors that they. too, had spirit OF
hospitality. The doctors discovered that
tea was healthy. English breakfast tea
would keep nobody awake The cup of
tea and the sandwich at would spoil
nobody's dinner The ladies who began
these entertainments receiving modestly
In plain dresses were not out OF tone with
their guests who came in walking dresses.
But, then, the ..ofher side" was this:
Ladies had 10 go TO nine teas OF an after
noon, perhaps taste something every
where. Hence the new disease, delirium
''teamens." 1t was uncomfortable TO
assist at large party In heavy winter
garment of velvet and fur. The afternoon
tea LOST its primitive character and became
an evening party in the daytime, with the
hostess and her daughters in full dress
and her guests in walking costume.
The slipping OF 50 much tea produces
the nervous prosfration, the sleepless-
ness, the nameless misery OF our over
wrought women, and thus . healthful,
inexpensive and most agreeable adjunct
TO the art Of entertaining grew into
thing without q name and became the
large gas-lighted ball AZ ) o'clock where