Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1897-07-15
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Rad TEA BARRED OUT.
A Startling Statement ns TO 'he
stuff heretofore Consumed.

stuff Heretofore
Heretofore more than l0,0oo'VoV
mounds of tea have been imported am
nually into this country which were
not fit for consumption. This state
ment, made recently by the head o. D
of the largest tea-importing houses ~
New York city, gives some idea OF uie
importance which attaches to the WORK
of the seven tea experts just appoihtee
by the secretary of the treasury aua
busy in this city determining the stand
ard samples by which all future lmpof-
tations of tea shall be judged.
..Nhen one buys any of this tea I'M
fit for use," continued the importer
he is lucky if he gets tea at all. lie
NAV get a very poor grade, but what be
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 q
pound, is bought by som retailers al
that price, and sold at from 20 to 81
cents a pound, an %exorbitant profit
There have been regulations here
tofore governing the importation o!
teas, but they have fallen lar short o.
accomplishing their object.
Under the new law all tea will be
examined at the port Of entry by tho
tea examiner, He will compare II Will
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. II
however, there is a protest, the tea II
question shall be passed upon by a board
composed Of thuee United States gener'
al appraisers, chosen by the secretary
OF the treasury, and their decision shall
be final. The law is very careful t.
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, las plenty of good teas car.
now be bought at wholesale as low us
ten cents a 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.
THE best teas in the world come 10
the United States, but heretofore the
retailers have dealt in them only to a
limited extent. preferring to buy teas
at from eight to ten cents a pound and
make an enormous profit rather thar
tc buy a fine grade at from 25 to 30
cents and make a 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
rot cost, laid down, over so cents Q
pound. If these teas were retailed AT
rs cents the of the United
States could drink the choicest teas
grown at this moderate price. A pound
OF good full-strength tea will make
about 200 cups.
THE tea best adapted to the climate
of our country and the nerves of our
people Is called Formosa Oolong. Ithas
more flavor than the other China teas
and is free from any deleterious quality
II is grown in the Island of Formosa
the soil of which is new as compared
with the rest of China, having been cul.
tivated for tea only about25 years.
thereafter green teas will be found
TO be free from the injurious effects pre-
vicusly 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.
"The popular superstition agains,
green teas on account Of their being
prepared on copper is The
food grades. those which will be ad.
mitted hereafter, are prepared without
any injurious combinations whatever.
1T is a curious fact that when the
average cost of importing teas was 81
a pound, as vas the case during the war
when a duty of 25 cents in gold was inn
posed, and they were ~retailed at from
$3.50 TO 81 pound, tie consumption per
capita of u country was as large as
it is to-day, when the same grade of ten
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 a pound Of i
will go five times as far as a pound q
cofTee."-N. Y. Times.
ChiIi's Splendid Fleet.