Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1902-04-25
CHEWING GUM TRIUMPH:
ARTICLE OF COMMERCE

Kansas City Star: No matter
whether the constitution follows the
flag or not it is certain that chew
ing gum does. From the United
States. its real birthplace as an ar
ticle of commerce, it has moved with
the soldiers into the new island pos
sessions and has sprung into favor
there almost from the start. The
tropics have taken kindly to it..
There is yet hope for the civiliza-
ton of the Filipino. That hope lies
in chewing gum. When every man.
woman and child in the archipelago
shall be chewing gum the flag will
float TRANQUILITY over peaceable
people. If we are progressive ma
tion and are leading the other coun-
tries of the world. 1t is so because.
as a nation, we chew gum. To bear
this out is the fact that the United
States has been rising in import
ance for the last half century-in
other words. since the first produc-
ton of chewing gum as we know
il today.
As has been the case with many in
ventions 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 il was hard and brittle,
and had it's adherents only because
there was no better substitute. The
real chewing gum as we know il to-
day has for its basic component the
South American gum known as chicle.
New York capitalists first imported
some of il thinking il would make n
substitute for rubber. After tests il
was found unsatisfactory for the
purpose. The whole shipment was
about To he thrown away when one of
the eXeperimenters picked up n
piece of the chicle and pat il into
his mouth. In that motion the idea
of chewing gum originated. The name
of the inventor has unfortunately
been lost. When the Importance of
his discovery is more generally APP
preciated his name may come to
light Then his descendants will
adopt coat of arms-a tri-colored
wrapper on n white field, with pack
age of chewing gum rampant.
that eXudes from wounds made in
the rough bark of South American
tree. This sap of n milky wilderness
and consistency when il first issues,
partly coagulates after continued eN-
posture to the air. but becomes. after
boiling. hard. heavy mass. In this
form it is ready for transportation.
and comes to this country sewed up
in big burlap packages. The first
class of chicle, like the large ham,
mock of Eucatan. is not exported,
being all required for home consump-
ton. 1t is called ''sicle" by the ma
tives. and is prepared by picking the
unripe fruit of saPota and collecting
the thick. white, milky sap. .Sicle is
the perfection of chewing gum. 1t
cannot be bought for less than 81 n
pound. and usually costs more. 1t is
snow white, extremely elastic and
highly aromatic.
The burlap packages of chicle find
their way to this country, and some
of them about twenty tons at n time.
reach a KANSAS City factory and re-
turn to the world as packages of
chewing gum. The process of trans
formation is long and very delicate
one. First of all. man takes the
Jumps of chicle. which may be foot
in diameter. and throws them on
bench which somewhat resembles
trough. He breaks the hard, but not
brittle mass into smaller pieces.
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
uniform heat of $40 degrees Fahren-
heit. When practically all the mois-
ture has been removed il is ready for
the cooking. which is done in large
kettle with double walls, between
which steam circulates. Sugar, cream
paste, flavOrs and other ingredients
are added while the cooking is in pro-
press. \ central shaft with two pro-
iecting arms, such as may be seen in
an ice cream freezer, revolves con-
stantly and keeps the heavy mass in
motion. When ready to he removed
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
il is fit for nothing. The cook must
Judge entirely by the eye. There is
no other way of testing 1t is al
most a natural gift to tell the exact
moment when the cooking should
cease. That is why some men never