Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1892-07-30
THE s1RAws WE DRINK THROUGH.
How They Came into ,'sc aud How They
Are Obtained.

How they Came into i'.e aud How The,
Are Obtained.
He was II man V Ind for Ge
tails, and the STRAY Trough which
he was absorbing mint julep at
tracted his attention.
"Where do you get them2" he asked
of the barkeeper, indicating the lit
tie yellow tubes.
"Buy 'em from pe!dlcrs, replied
the mixer of drinks.
"And where do the peddlers get
them2"
"Dunno. Never asked 'em. What's
yours, sir2' and the barkeeper turned
to a company of newcomers, who
didn't ask fool questions about things
that could not possibly help swell the
| receipts.
But the man with the mind for de-
tails had also more than the average
amount of persistence. Having
therefore determined to find out
where the julep straws came from he
went to work on the problem with
the most commendable industry, and
after several days spent in investiga-
ton he learned all about them from
the head of an importing house in
Barclay street This gentleman told
him that the straws had been in use
only about thirty five or forty years.
Previous to that time people who
drank juleps, lemonades and other
similar mixtures, either took them as
best they could directly from the glass
OF employed little glass tubes which
were kept for the purpose. But those
who have attempted it can testify to
the unsatisfactory results of trying
to drink out of a glass filed with a
promiscuous assortment of ice, lem |
ons, Strawberries, etc., and the glass
tubes acted as damper on drinkers
who had advanced ideas on cleanli-
ness
In this emergency an ingenious
Yankee arose, as ingenious Yankees
always do, and came to the rescue
with the straws of today. 1t oc-
Cured to this Yankee that there was
a great deal of waste in the rye straw
that was raised at the time in north
ern New York and Massachusetts for
braiding. The thick ends of the
straw were useless in making braids,
and were invariably thrown away.
AS an experiment lot of these ends
were handled and sent to the market
for bar purposes. Their success was
When the raising of rye straw for
bralding purposes died out in this
country because the grain crop was
found to be more valuable than the
straw, the supply of julep straws of
course went with the other industry.
The saloon men thereupon turned to
Switzerland, where straw braiding is
one of the chief pursuits of the peas
ants, and subsequently to England.
The chief source of supply is now
found in the latter country.
The straws are cut green before
5he grain natures and bleached with
sulphur. They pass from the hands
of the producers to the control of
London commission houses, from
which they are bought by importers
n this city and Philadelphia. It is
aid that there are not more than 4
our houses in the trade, the straws
'eing generally handled by firms en-. |
'aged in the importation of china {
nd glassware. The straws are put t
lp in bundles of 500 fastened to-
ether with rubber bands. Forty
ozens OF these bundles are packed in
case, and in this shape they reach
he United States.
None OF the straws, according to
he local importers, are used abroad
or drinking purposes, and none are a
reduced here to speak of. The :,
travis sell at retail for twenty-five V
ents per bundle of 500. They are Il
ulchased from the importers by
callers in bar furnishings and ped
lers, the latter of whom take them
round at regular intervals to the
tloons on their route. New York
ines. .