The Van Buren press. [volume] (Van Buren, Ark.) 1859-1914, 1897-05-22
BAD TEA BARRED OUT.
A startling Statement as TO the Poor
stuff Heretofore Consumed.

A startling Statement as to the Poor
Stuff Heretofore Consumed.
Heretofore more than 10,000,000
pounds of tea have been imported an
nually into this country which were
not fit Cor consumption. This state
ment, made recently by the head Of one
Of the largest tea-importing houses in
New York city, gives some idea of the
Importance which attaches to the work
Of the seven tea experts just appointed
by the secretary of the treasury and
busy in this city determining the stand
ard samples by which all future impor-
ations of tea shall be judged.
when one buys any of this tea I'M
fit for USE" continued the importer
"he is lucky if he gets tea at all. He
may get very poor grade, but what he
buys is more likely to be willow leaves.
doctored and colored with nobody
knows what, or exhausted tea leaves,
from which all the good has been ex-
tracted and of no more strength than
so much sawdust.
This tea, so called, which sells at
auction at from five to eight cents a
pound, is bought by some retailers al
that price, and sold at from 25 to SO
cents IA pound, an exorbitant profit"
There have been regulations here
tofore governing the importation OF
teas, but they have fallen far short of
accomplishing their object.
Under the new law all tea will be
examined at the port of entry by the
tea examiner. He will compare it with
the standards which the seven experts
are now determining, and there ought
not to be, in the vast majority of cases,
any difficulty in his determining
whether or not the tea is admissible. If,
however, there is protest, the tea in
question shall be passed upon by board
composed of three United States gener-
al appraisers, chosen by the secretary
of the treasury, and their decision shall
be final. The law is very careful To
make such provisions that this board
shall have no way of knowing whose tea
is under consideration.
"The price of tea to the consumer will
not probably advance at all" said the
importer, ''as plenty of good teas can
now be bought at wholesale as low as
ten cents pound. We are at present
able to get the best values in the world
in tea right here in the United States.
Russia has an enormous duty and Eng.
land a moderate one.
1.-The best teas in the world come to
the United States, but heretofore the
retailers have dealt in them only to
limited extent, preferring to buy teas
at from eight to ten cents a pound AND
make an enormous profit rather than
tc buy fine grade at from 25 to 30
cents and make good profit.
1.-THE choicest grades of Congou tea
commonly called English Breakfast
green tea, Oolong tea and Japan tea, re-
ceived by this country every season, dc
not cost, laid down, over so cents
pound. If these teas were retailed al
rs cents the consumers of the United
States could drink the choicest teal
grown at this moderate price. A pounc
of good full-strength tea will make
about 200 cups.
"The tea best adapted to the climate
of our country and the nerves of ouI
people is called Formosa Oolong. 1t has
more flavor than the other China teal
and is free from any deleterious quality
1t is grown in the Island of Formosa
the soil of which is new as compared
with the rest of China, having been cut
tivated for tea only about 25 years.
thereafter green teas will be found
to be free from the injurious effects pre-
viously attributed to them, as it is GER
tain that large quantities of this de-
scription Of Pingsuey tea, which con
tains a large amount of coloring matter
will be excluded from the country un,
der the new law.
1.-THE popular superstition agains
green teas on account of their being
prepared on copper is erroneous. The
food grades, these which will be adj
mitted hereafter, are prepared without
any injurious combinations whatever.
1T is a curious fact that when the
average cost of importing teas was 81
pound, as was the case during the war
when duty of 25 cents in gold was inn
posed, and they were retailed at from
$50 to so a pound, the consumption per
capita of our country was as large as
it is to-day, when the same grade of tea
costs to import only about 20 cents a
pound. Tea is the cheapest beverage
known to-day. Its price is about the
same as that of coffee, but pound of it
will go five times as far as a pound OF
! - Tfpaaa