Evening journal., 1901-05-25
ABUSE Or TEA BY
ENGLISH WOMEN
The Result Upon Them Of
Excessive Use Of the
Beverage

! Nothing has more seriously injured lhe
health of women than the cheapenlng Of
tea. have no hesitation in saying that
Il is the constant drinking of strong tea
which makes the women Of our t0iing
masses delicate and their children amaze
mic for not only do these latter inherit
that weakness from their mothers. but hc-
come even greater sinners In this direc-
tion than their parents.
It may be wondered whether the house
keeper or mistress of an average estab-
lishment has any idea how often their
servants drink tea in the course of the
day, or Of the strength of what is inn
bibed. just as IN their own homes, they
put the teapot on the hob and let IL stand
there from morning till night, the stun
Itself being a stewed concocton. They
drink tea before breakfast. at breakfast,
lt n o clock, after midday diner, at tea
time, and sometimes even before going
TO bed, the tea being so strong - TO be
almost poisonous. one of the constituents
of tea, as everyone knows, is tannin, and
.hat. taken in tine quantities consumed by
our servants, is absolute destruction 20
the digestion. SO that none of the whole
some food they take is properly assimi-
lated, with results of IN nourishment
bloodlessness, want of breath, and weak
ness One after another Ia a large house
hold fails, and If one takes the trouble
to inquire. # will be found that they have
an been living ON strong tea.
Tea is, of course a mild sort Of stimu-
liant. ana for the moment refreshes and
pulls them together They know nothing
Of the effect Il has on their health, nor do
I I, l,.t
stantly sounded In their ears. When China
tea was the only description procurable
the quantity that could be imbibed was
much less. Moreover, It was not nearly
so potent as the Ceylon and Indian teas
which have taken its place; nor did It
contain so much tannin, and, conse-
| auently. people could drink it with greater
impun.ty. In every well-ordered house
hold the quantity of tea per head is regu-
lated and II that amount We're adhered
to the mischief would be lessened. Nearly
every servant however. buys tea over
and above her allowance, so that there
is no check on the habit
We take every precaution that our
women servants should be sober, and vet
we allow what is quite as bad as dram
drinking to go on unnoticed. The effect
Of drinking tea I'm the quantities and OF
the strength indulged I'm by nearly all our
domestics is really a very serious matter
and every head of a household should
make it her business TO find out its ex
tent and stop 1t, as far as she can One
cause Of the increase of ten drinking /.
the custom OF giving beer money, instea,
Of, as formerly allowing a certain quan
tity OF beer per head, ana # is a constan
occurrence when engaging a servant TO
her TO mention that she does not drinl
beer. No doubt this is true but as
| substitute she takes tea, which, I'm tn
quantity she consumes Is more harmful
than beer.
At this moment experienced housekeep
ers could put their fingers on dozens o
girls who are unfit to remain I'm their sit
uations from this cause, and unless som
stand Is made against it the numbers VII
go on increasing If the strong tea 4
stopped the remedy works like magic, an,
strength and color are soon regained, be
? cause food nourlshes and the blood cease
to be impoverished. Inquiries from an.
doctor pracucing among servants vii
bear ont these contentious. and IT is wei
that the attention of all mistresses shoul
be directed to them. Coffee and cocoa ar
not only harmless, but nourshing. an
can always be kept ready. The evil is
perhaps. even greater in the kitchen tina
in other departments of the house, OWN
10 the heat in which cooks and scullery
maids have to work. and these beverage
are as easily prepared there as tea !
may seem. perhaps. a small matter
Itself but 1t deserves attention, as tn
habit is really undermining the health q
our servants all over Great Britain.-Lon
: don Telegraph