The Opelousas courier., 1891-10-24
A JAPANESE TEA GOODWIN.
HOW THE LEAVES ARE PREPARED
FOR MARKET.
Repulsive Sights in the F'iring-Room
The Tea Taster's Art-An Aes-
&naeso Go, ~ -HYa TFao,,

I visited in Kobe, Japan, a tea-frning
godown, an immense and most interest.
ing establishment, but / would not adj
wise any one who is fond of tea to make
an effort to see it fired and prepared for
market. It is a privilege rarely granted
and I appreciated it, but it did not in
rensify my fondness for tea.
There were 1900 men, women and
boys employed, and if I had never had a
glimpse of Japan before and should never
have another that visit to the tea firing
impressions in regard to the people of
that curious land. We were first taken
into the sample room. 1t was crowded
with Japanese farmers who h brought
in the samples of their teE crop, by
which they make their sales. The walls
were lined with tin canisters, labelled
with numbers, containing the samples
for comparison when the whole quantity
is received. Notwithstanding it was an
apartment of the s~trictest business and
contained nothing but what was necessary
to the business, yet Japanese taste and
decoration had made it attractive. The
gaudy trade labels which we see on tea
boxes in grocery stores were worth ex-
animation in a collection OF such great
extent. Each grocer in the United States
who imports japanese tea has his own
label-one designed especially for him
it is his own property rigidly protected
by law. The names of Kansas villages,
California towns, New England hamlets
stared at US with important conspicuous
ness. Chrysanthemums, storks, drag
ons, lotus blossoms, the jolly god of
wealth and a host of grotesque dieties
rioted in brilliant array.
Another agreeable BIT of this apartment
was a set of shelves filled with caddies
and tea pots of satsuma, ~so-called, each
containing a pound of the best tea of this
house. They were prettily decorated
and seemed to be worth much more than
the price asked for item with the tea
included.
In one corner of the room was a table
for the use of the tea taster-an impor-
tant functionary. On it was a bronze
tea kettle cheerily boiling over an .hiba-
chi OF burning charcoal and several OF
the tiny japanese teacups, which are sans
saucers and sans handles and resemble
baby house teacups which have sur
yived, in this bereft condition, some i'm
mense, unluekly crash. A professional
s'tasterh is employed for the season. He
spends the days slipping, smacking and
splitting, for the tea must not be swal-
lowed and the splitting actis what brings
out the flavor and decides the quality.
Three or four cups at one time have tea
leaves of different qualities put in them
and the boiling water poured on, then
they are tasted in turn and the quality
decided; if one sample should be swal
lowed the others might be Influenced by
it, which accounts for the splitting. We
were very much fascinated with the tea
bibbing corner and wanted, too, to sip
and smack and spit, but until we were
assisted with information as to which
was the most expensive sample we often
decided in favor of the cheapest ones.
That did not prove that we were unac-
customed to good tea, but that our dis
cernment had not been cultivated on
the proper splitting system.
From this very entertaining Office we
passed to the place of the preparation of
the c~oloring powder. In a long, low,
dim shed rose a greenish blue dust from
the sieyes pulled out and shaken by the
copper-colored men and women. It was
n of the hottest of Japan summer days
and their reeking, rocking bodies seen
through the thick, livid air of the build
ing made the scene sufficiently horrible
to be entitled to a very expressive word.
This coloring is popularly supposed to be
used to convince the conGding custom
ers thatthey are buying green tea and it
does furnish into rather dainty, superior
appearance what otherwise would be
brown and course, but we are told at
the goodwin that it has the legitimate
mission of preserving the tea by IFS IN
crustations, and Of course no visitor who
was receiving the Inequalities of the
place, even to the experiment of tea
tasting in expert fashion, would be so
1mpolite as todoubt ii.
We gladly left behind US the yawning
door Of this cave and passed through 4
succession of large rooms where various
branches Of the business were beng car
RED IN. In h the boxes were can
covered for shipping; in another, the
labels were rapidly slapped aud pasted
by jolly little boys, who seemed
nightly amused that we should be
amazed at their deftness.
The firing room-the sight we had
particularly longed TO e-W reserved
for the last. just outside the entrance
door wandered throngs of ~forlorn, filthy
little children, waiting to see their moth
ers at the noon hour. They were Of all
and sizes, many with a baby strapped
or their backs. / had grown accustomed
to that sight, but not enough to prevent
my being achingly sorry for one extreme
Little case. She was a very small girl
she was lngging about on her back
9 very big baby, yet she was playing
sstags and dasLing up door steps, over
and barrels, apparently uncon.
scious Of her burden, or Of the conse-
quence which might come Of 0 tumble or
slip. Think of play under such diff
Inside the roo1a were long,
close rows of desp iron bowls, with char
coal fires under them. and over each
bowl leaned d man or a woman stirring
with the hands the hot tea leaves. These
tea firing laborers are from the lowest
q fact which would have been
quite evident even il it had not been told
US. Old hays with their stumps of
black ~lacquered teeth, scraggy, starved
old men. b0Vg and Girls with. I