The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1896-09-04
CHEWING GUM.
DISCOVERY OF THE MODERN ARTICLE
FIRE ACCIDENT.


Gum and shoemakers' Wax the Prede-
csssors of the Modern Favorites.
We'll" said the dealer, 'there are Is
varieties In that show case. Take your
choice"
Fifteen different kinds of chewing gum
seemed an elaborate assortment for so
small store, and the would be purchaser
inquired how many varieties of that con-
lection were in the market. He replied
that, being only small dealer in the arti-
Gle, he did not feel competent to answer,
Tat added, That young man over there
can tell you all about it.
A prosperous appearing young man,
with sample case in his hand, stood at
the opposite counter and without more
questioning said: "A hundred or more, at
u rough guess. have samples here of 2S
brands, and they are exclusive of scheme
goods, or prize gum, of which there arc
many brands"
This man was small manufacturer and
general wholesale dealer of gum exclusive
". \ quarter of Il century ago there were
practically but two kinds of chewing gum,
the regularly made spruce gum sold in the
stores and shoemakcr's wax, which the
boys used to beg or steal. Then the white
paritlin gun!-coal oil gum thcyoungsters
call it-canc out and was IL ladies' favorite
from the start. 1t was soft and did not
tire jaws like the tough, unyielding spruce.
Besides, it would not dislodgc IL set of false
teeth, was cleansing and could be used in
emergencies to cover over black, decayed
spots in the natural teeth. This was fol-
lowed by "tatfy tolu" and Swapping
wax" both of which acted as pioneers for
the trade, inducing by their seductive
sweetness and tiavors far more general
use of the article by adults.
Following these came the still more
popular brands OF today, which n few years
ago were used almost universally in great
quantities, and from the manufacture of
which colossal fortunes were harvested al
most in Il season. l was in the business at
its best, and l made little, but l lacked
the experience, the capital and the luck to
make even u fair share of the big money
that some of the gum men got out of it. l
added the word luck because il it ever had
Il proper place anywhere it belongs right
there. I'll tell you why:
The largest eastern manufacturer or
chewing gum got into the business, so
understand, in this way: He was peddling
small articles, like raZors and combs,
among the sailors along the docks, and
one day with probably hundreds of others,
was idly examining cargo of Mexican
chiclc gum that had been brought here az
ballast in the hope that it could be sold
to bookbindcrs and the makers OF leather
tips for bound books. 1t proved to be
worthless for those purposes and was to
have been towed to sea and cast overheard.
This pcddlcr tasted it, found that it would
chew, thought of its adaptability as chew
ing gum, gU5 the whole cargo for shovel
ing it out Of the ship, and today is a mil
HOnaire several times over. Wasn't that
luck?
Tho case of the other man. who has
made as many millions and perhaps more
out of the business, was very similar in so
far that Il happy thought was the chief
factor of his success. He had, by great
industry and after many years of hard Ia
Dor. succeeded in getting his goods fairly
well introduced and in moderate demand.
But he lacked leader. The sale of his
best brands had never even Appropriated
the phenomenal as had some of the best
ones from tho east here, and, like all the
other makers, he was always experiment.
ing in al effort to produce an article that
shorld excel all others in merit and popu-
lar favor. At last, just before Christmas,
in 1886, il occurred to him that rs pepper
mint candy was general favoritc with
children. why should not n peppermint
favored chewing gum be so? He tried the
experiment, got gratuitous advertise
ment as n compliment one of the local pa
pers paid to the gum upon receipt of n box
lie had sent as u Christmas present, and
in two years had erected large factory,
quadruplcd his working force, and was
from three weeks to three months behind
in filling the orders that poured into his
,ili,. fhnt 70 hn Hnv
he has employed hundreds of hands.
Where does all the gum go-who chews
it? l don't know. This man has told me
that when he went, n stranger, to the city
where his success has made him one of its
best known capitalists he had slept on q
pile of straw under Il Siaduct and had man
uiacturcd his first chewing gum on Il COM
mon kitchen table after cooking it in the
tealcttlc
The man is shrcwd. though. I will
tell you an anccdotc that illustrates that
fact. This chiclc-that is, the basis of all
the best gums ut this timc-was originally
handled almost wholly by three shippers
in small Mexican ports on the gulf. The
natives gathered 1t from wild trees in tho
forests of southern Mexico and the Central
American states, and it was cheap. This
man sent an agent to Mexico, ostensibly to
see Inc 1IllnuIiCJtllpu article, DllU Wncn his
trip WAS ended it was discovered, to the
everlasting sorrow of most of the rest of
Us, that he held signed contracts for the
next two years output of these firms.
Chicle Ut that time, if l recollcct, was sell
ing for % cents IL pound, but before the
close of the next season the price was
$l.35, and it was difficult to get it at that.
In order to put upon the market the same
large sized piece as was then in vogue the
rest of US were compelled to add more
sugar. and as the price advanced to still
add more sugar, until our output would
almost entirely dissolve in the mouth, leav-
ing only Il piece of gum ns large as n pea.
The result was that his goods became ae-
tually far superior to the general run OF
gums, and eventually most of the newer
concerns were compelled to quit.
"A Louisville firm ut one time made
good chiclc gum that contained some kind
of an extract of tobacco, and looked for
phenomenal sale of their output, but Uncle
sam decided that he was entitled to the
regular revenue tax for manufactured to-
bacco upon that article, and that, of course,
made it an Improbable product ut any
price it was possible to obtain for it.
Its al big business, but I'm afraid it's
being Ovcrtlons. New York Times
ABOUT THE SPOON.
The Fork Has Tl.:en Its Place Wherever