The free press., 1892-10-06
TEA GROWN IN SOUTH AMERICA
A substitute for the chinese Article oseo
bv Thousands in This Country

A Substitute for the chinese ArtiSA~
bv Thousands in This Country.
Taste that" said tea merchant
TO a New York Tribune reporter tne
other day, as he handed him a curl
ous shaped bowl. full of a tnlh,
brownish liquor. with something that
looked like a tobacco pipe resting IN
if bowl downward. The reporter
mt his lips to the stem of the plpe'
and sucked at it cautiously
What is it?" he asked. III TASTES
like weak tea"
nThat's lust what it is" answered
the merchant. "hut it's a brand OF
tea Pm pretty sure you never tas0eu
before. That's a genuine American
tea: grown in America, cured IN
America, indigenous to America ana
consumed in large quantities lot
vears by hundreds Of thousands OF
Americans; and yet Ill be bound you
never heard OF 1t "
t.Perhaps not" admitted the re-
rortar plIardedlY. "What state is it
raised in9 Is some four-storY brick
tea farm down here in Water street
responsible for it? Willow leaves,
arsenic and patent essence OF
theine. or something Of that sort,
eh?"
"Not at all, said the merchant, a
little Indignantly. ITS perfectly
genuine and unadulterated article.
Its native state is Paraguay, and that
country raises enough for its own
consumption and 5000, 600 POUNDS
annually for export to other South
American countries"
"Oh. South American" exclaimed
the reporter sYou misled me by
saving American"
Did T." said the merchant sar-
castically. "Any why, pray? That's
one of the annoying peculiarlties OF
this people. They're too conceited to
get themselves distinctive name,
but in lordly way dub themselves
Americans. They speak OF Brazilians,
Canadians, Chileans, Paraguayans
and the other millions as if they had
no right to that title at all. !"
But about the tea?" interrupted
the reporter apprebenslvely, "What
do you call it?"
"Matc is the name Of it," replied
the merchant, pronounced match.
And many South Americans are very
fond of it. You have just had the
pleasure Of drinking it in the native
manner. That curious bowl is not
made of papier- as you might
think, but is gonrd, trained into
that shape while growing. The ma
tives are experts in that line, and by
binding the green gOurd here and
there with cords, or bending it one
way or another they made it take a
diversity of shapes before it becomes
ripe enough to be cut, dried, scooped
out and used as utcnSil. 1t Will
not stand fire. Of course: but the
mate Is first put in the gourd, and
then boiling water is poured on IT..
After few moments pipe or tube
is inserted. and the liquor is drawn
off by suction.
"What looks like the bowl Of the
pipe" continued the tea merchant, as
he lifted it from the liquid and al
lowed the reporter to examine it, sis
in reality a strainer, which prevents
the grounds from reaching the
mouth. 1t is made in the shape of a
bulb or ball, and this one is Curl
osity in its way, for il is all woven by
hand, in very fine meShes, from a
species Of dried grass. Metal ones are
more common, and the rich have sill
YER strainers. This is an old style one,
and ] value it on that account. 1t is
called a bombila. The natives like
their mate, as we would say, red hot.
Its effect is much the same as that
# the tea YOU arc accustomed to,
stimulating and restorative, and, OF
curse, has its enemies, who pro
nouncc it slow poison, and its friends,
who call it the ParaguaYan equivalent
for the cup that cheers, but not,
etc"
"1s 1t real tea, botanically con.
sidered?" persisted the skeptical re
porter,
"Well, if you come down to bot
any," admitted the merchant, "it',
really a aspecies Of holly, Hex Para,
guayensiS, but it contains in large
proportions the constituent which
makes other teas useful, that ot
theme. Its leaves and green shoots
are collected, dried and ground M
unevenly; that is, some of it gets tC
be fine powder in the rough method
OF preparation, and then again you
will lind twigs in ii an inch long. A
large number of people get employ
nent in its growth, preparation and
export, but | am not aware that il
finds market in any but South
American countries"
IT is no trouble TO get striking
,.tn Of