The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1902-04-25
is a GREATiNDUsTRY.
Manufacture of Chewing Gum In
This Country.

This Country.
Kansas City Star: AS has been the case
with many inventions which have had
material effect upon the progress of the
world, the discovery of chewing gum, came
about by accident. To be sure. the old
spruce gum was then already in vogue,
but it was hard and brittle and mad its
adherents only because there was no bet
ter substitute The real chewing gum,
as we know it today. has for it's basic
component the South American gum
known as chicle. New York capitalists
first imported some of it, thinking it
would make substitute for rubber. After
tests it was found unsatisfactory for the
purpose. The whole shipment was about
to be thrown away when one of the eX-
perimenters picked up piece of the chicle
and put it into his mouth. In that mo-
ton the idea of chewing gum originated.
The name of the inventor has unfortu-
nately been lost. When the Importance of
his discovery is more generally appre-
ciated, his name may come to light. Then
his descendants will adopt coat OF arms
"a tri-colored wrapper on a white field,
with a package of chewing gum ram
pant.
The chicle of commerce is the sap that
eXudes from wounds made in the rough
bark of a South American tree. This sap
is of a milky Wilderness and consistency
when 1t first issues, partly coagulates
after continued exposure to the air, but
becomes after boiling, hard heavy mass
In this form 1t Is ready for transportation,
and comes to this country sewed up in
big burlap packages. The finest class Of
chicle, like the large hammock of Yucca
tan, is not exported, being all required for
home consumption II is called ''sicle" by
the natives, and is prepared by picking
the unripe fruit of saDota and collecting
the thick, white, milky sap. Sicle is the
perfection of chewing gum. 1t cannot be
bought for less than 81 a pound. and
usually costs more. 1t is snow white, eX-
tremely elastic and highly aromatic.
The burlap packages of chicle find their
way to this country, and some of them,
about twenty tons at a time, reach Il Kan
saS City factory and return to the world
as packages of chewing gum. The pro-
cess of manufacture is a long and very
delicate one.
First of all, man takes the Jumps of
chicle, which may be a foot in diameter
and throws them on a bench which some
what resembles a trough. He breaks the
hard but not brittle mass into smaller
pieces. These go into the chopping ma
chine to be cut still smaller. -Four big
knives move up and down continually
while the wooden table carrying the
chicle goes in trays to the drying room,
kept at Il uniform heat of 40 degrees
Fahrenheit. When practically all the
moisture has been removed 1t is ready for
the cooking, which is done in large ket-
tie with double walls. between which
steam circulates., Sugar cream, paste,
f,avors and other ingredients are added
while the cooking is in progress. a CEN
trail shaft with two projecting arms, such
as may be seen in an ice cream freezer,
revolves constantly and Keeps the heavy
mass in motion. When ready to be re-
moved from the kettle the gum has almost
the color of molasses.
The cooking Is the critical part of the
whole process. If the time is too long or
too short the gum is either too soft or too
brittle. In either case it is fit for moth
ing The cook must judge entirely by the
eye. There is no other method of treat
ing. 1t is almost a natural gift to tell the
exact moment when the cooking should
cease. That is why some men never be-
come experts at gum manufacture They
lack gum eye" 1t is said that there
are only twenty-five successful gum maxi
ers in the United States. A man may
look on for ten years and then not learn
The dough is then lifted out of the pot
on to table and rolled and lineaded as
bread would be. In place Nof -four granu-
lated sugar, powdered very fine, is used
The loaves are. cut into smaller pieces and
passed between rapidly receiving rollers
to be iattened TO the proper thickness. In
this form the sheets of gum are passed
between rollers which have knives set
In their face, marking the sheets into the
proper sizes of packing. After drying for
day the gum, now in sticks. is ready
to be packed and put on the market