Evening star., 1902-03-29
Is A GREAT INDUSTRY
MANUFACTURE OF CHEWING
GUM IN THIS COUNTRY.
The Process Of Making-Recent Wars
Have Greatly Increased It's
Consumption
From the Kansas City Stnr.

From the Kansas City Star.
AS has been the case with many inven-
tons which have had a material effect
upon the progress of the world, the discoy-
cry of chewing gum came about by accI-
dent. To be sure, the old spruce gum was
then already In vogue, but II was hard and
brittle and had its adherents only because
there was no better substitute. The real
chewing gum. we know IL today has
for Its basic component the South Ameri-
car gum known as chicie. New York capI-
talists first imported some Of it, thinking
Ii would make substitute for rubber At
ter tests 1t 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 chlc.s
and put IL into his mouth. In that motion
the Idea OF chewing gum originated Tho
name OF the inventor has unfortunately
been lost. When the Importance OF HIS
discovery Is more generally appreciated his
name may come to light. Then his de-
scendants viii adopt coat Of arms-a tri-
colored wrapper on white field. with a
package OF chewing gum rampant.
In Its Original State
The chicle Of commerce is the sap that
exUdes from wounds made in the rough
bark OF South American tree. This sap
Is of milky whiteness and consistency when
1t first issues, partly coagulates after con-
unued exposure to the air, but becomes
after boiling, a hard heavy mass In
this form il is ready for transportation,
ana comes TO this country sewed up In big
Durlap packages. The finest class OF
chicle. like the large hammock OF Yucatan
is not exported. being all required for home
consumption. 1t is called ''sicie'' by the ma
yves. and is prepared by picking the unripe
fruit of sapota and collecting the thick
white, milky sap. Sicle is the perfection
or chewing gum. 1t cannot be bought for
less than 81 a pound, and usually costs
more. IL is snow white, extremely elastic
and highly aromatic
The burlap packages Of chicle find their
way to this country, and some of them,
ebout twenty tons at a time reach n
hahsaS city factory and return to the world
as packages of chewing gum. The process
or manufacture Is long and very delicate
one.
Process Of Making Gum.
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 choppine machine
TO be cut still smaller. Four big knives move
up and down continually while the wooden
table carrying the chicle revolves beneath
them. From there the chicle goes In trays to
the drying ROOM kept at a uniform heat of
140 degrees Fahrenheit. When practically ali
the moisture has been removed II IS ready
for the cooking, which Is done In a large
Kettle with double walls. between which
steam circulates. Sugar. cream paste
favors and other ingredients are added
while the cooking is In progress \ CEN
tral shaft with two projecting arms, such
as may be seen In an ice-cream freezer re-
wolves constantly and keeps the heavy mass
in motion. When ready to be removed from
the kettle the gum has almost the color of
molasses.
The Critical Time,
The cooking is the critical part Of the
whole process. II the time is too long or
too short the gum is either too soft or too
brittle. In either case 1t is fit for nothing.
The cook must Judge entirely by the eye.
There is no other method of treating. II is
almost a natural gift to tell the exact
That is why some men never become ex-
perts at gum manufacture. They lack
gum eye" 1t Is said that there are only
twenty-five successful gum makers 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
to table and rolled and kneaded as
bread would be. m place OF -four grauu-
lated sugar, powdered very fine is used.
The loaves are cut into smaller pieces and
passed between rapidly receiving rollers to
be fattened TO the proper thickness. In
this form the sheets of gum are passed be-
tween rollers which have knives set in their
face, marking the sheets into the proper
sizes for packing. After drying for day
the gum, now in sticks, is ready to be
packed and put on the market.