The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-09-08
srRAws USED WITH DRINKS.
Their Use, Its Origin and How They
Are Prepared.

Their Use, Its Origin and how They
Are Prepared.
From the Neio York Times
He was a man with mind for details,
and the straWs through which be was
absorbing a mint julep attracted his atten-
tion.
"Where do you get theml' he asked OF the
barkesper, indicating the little yellow
tubes.
buy 'sm from peddlers," replied the
| mixer Of drinks.
And where do the peilers get EN-"
dunno; never asked EN- What's yours,
| sirln and the barkeeper turned to company
! OF newcomers who didn't ask fool questions
about things that could not possibly help
| swell the bar receipts.
But the man with the mind for details
had also more than the average amount OF
persistence. Having. therefore. determined
to find out where the julep strRws came from,
be went to work on the problem with the
most commendable industry, and after sew
! eral days spent in investigation, he learned
! all about them from the head OF an import
ing house in Barclay street. This gentle
man told him that the straws had been IN
use only about thirty-hve or forty years
Previous to that time people who drank
iuleps, lemonades, and other similar MKT
rectly from the glass or employed little glass
tubes which were kept for the purpose in
every first-class barroom. But those who
have attempted 10 can testify TO the unsat-
isfactory results OF trying to drink out Of a
glass filed with promscuous assortment
Of ice, lemons. Strawberries etc, and the
glass tubes acted as a damper on julep
drinkers who had advanced ideas on clean
illness.
In this emergency an ingenious yankee
arose, as ingenious yankees always do, and
came to the rescue with the iulep straws OF
to-day. 10 occurred to this yankee that
there was a great deal Of waste in the rye
straw that was raised at that time in North~
ern New York and Massachusetts, for braid
ing. The thick ends Of the straw were use
less in making braids, and we're invariably
thrown away. As an experiment lot OF
these ENDS were bundled and sent to the
market for bar purposes. Their success was
immediate When the raising of rye straw
for braiding purposes died out In this coup-
try. 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 thereupou turned
to Switzerland. where straw braiding is one
of the chief pursuits of the peasants, and
subsequently to England. The chief source
of supply is now found in the latter
country.
The straws are out green before the 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 the importers in
this city and Philadelphia. IL is said that
there are not more than four houses in the
trade, the strews being generally handled
by firms engaged Ia the importation Of
china and glassware. The straws are put
up Ia bundles Of 500, fastened together with
rubber hands. Forty dozen of these bundl les
are packed in a case, and In this shape they
reach the United States. None of the
straws. according TO the local importers,
are used abroad for drinking purposes and
none are produced here to speak Of. But
despite this fact, there is a protective duty"
OF IS per cent. levied on them, though ex-
actly whom it is sought to protect is not
very clear. The straws sell at rstail--that
Is TO the saloons-for 25 cents per bundle OF
500. They are purchased from the import.
ers by dealers in bar furnishings and ped
dlers, the latter of whom take them ar ount
at regular intervals to the saloons on their
route"