The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1902-11-06
A GUM STORY.

/ W. E Curtis writes in the Chicago Rec
ord-Herald:
! Cleveland claims 10 be the headquarters
+ % gum chewing ana chewing gum. IL IS
asserted that more gum is manufactured
! and consumed in thas city than IN any
\ other. difference in population net being
{ considered, and tbs two greatest manu-
/ fscturers OF chewing gum are numbered
among its merchant princes. They ma it
/ difficult 70 spend their incomes But Chi
cago can claim lie second place. and the
/ bes- judges estimate that cur people use
/ abouz ton OF gum q d1y-that is 2.eJ
! tCXes containing -tdo99 pieces and costing
/ SS-o14. That, however, is q very small ez-
/ penditure for the amount OF pleasure aud
gccd that IS derived from the habit; FOR
y bile gum chewing may rot be refined or
1 elegant, II IS considered very healthful for
( tho Same reason that q COW chews her
cud. as I believe the elephant and hippo
| potamus do also Il aiGs digestion, pre-
I vents dyspepsia. cures insomnia. concen-
| trates the mind and promotes meditation
Being the headquarters OF the chewing
gum trust, Chicago has become the srsat
distributing point. and handles about half
OF the entire product of the combination
! which is annually about S..9o.G1 boxes OF
100 pieces each, or total OF Sfl Jo. co..
pieces or gum. which. IT one cent per
stick. represents payment OF Ss.e0J.et3
for gum 10 the trust alone for total
OF about 1000 tons A lightning calcu-
lator or any other mathematical shark
might use these figures IS the basis Of
some very interesting statistics. Pro-
fessor Swing once wrete q story about an
ingenious pastor OF the Church OF Holy
Perfection. who among other things in
vented continuance By which the force
OF the pressure OF the feet Of the ushers
as they conducted the people up the aisics
was conveyed TO q reservoir and used 20
pump the organ, and if the energy eX-
pended in chewing $40 o01. 600 pieces Of gum
could be conserved in The same way il
would be an important addition to the
world economy. Assume that every mo-
ton OF the gum cheWer's jaw represents
.0l0li36 pound. which is sufficient TO raise
one pound one-eighth Of an inch. ana
len make Your calculation.
These statistics include only the chicle
gum manufactured by the trust. which is
less than half Of the total product Of the
country. They take no account Of white
and spruce gum, OF which a large amount
Is sold, or the product Of local druggists
and confectiouers throughout the United
States. Of which no reliable information
can be obtained. Nearly every town has
"a factory Chicago has several outside
the trust which make their o=n special
brands for a local marKet. The agents
o. the trust in Chicago handle about 10
cases, valued At g ol0 a day The retail
eIs profit is about - per cent.
The first gum-maker OF importance in
this country bore the historic name of
Curtis. He founded an establishment 10
make spruce gum in Portland. Ne in
1895. and his children. trading under the
name of Curtis & Sons company. still
turn out Il large amount OF the old-fash-
iCled kind.
Tho gum sold on the market nowadays
Is made from q substance called cflc'e
which eXudes from the za1ote tree. trOp-
zeal frVit. cultivated in Central America.
southern Mexico and s4e countries along
the Spanish main Il bears fruit thot
looks Ike russell apple and conteines
juicy pulp that tastes lie custard. II YOU
put q zapote on the ice until il is thor
ouehiy chilled it Is a good substitute for
ice cream or frozen cnstard. although II Is
exceedingly sweet.