The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-04-19
Like the Cocktail, the Chewing cu-
Habit OF This Country Follows
the Flag.
OUTPUT CONTROLLED BY TRUST
THOUSANDS OF ACRES OF MEXICAN
LAND GIVE UP THEIR DRODUCT.
Chicle, the Sap of the Zabota Tree.
Drawn Upon for the suppIy-some
Interesting Facts.

much as they did ten years ago?" was the
question asked of a leading downtown
druggist the other day.
Mercy. yes" was the emphatic answer.
i've sold more chewing gum since the be-
ginning of the year than 1 have ever sold
in like period before, and the indications
are that there is going to be an unusually
heavy demand for gum this summer. You
know summer time is the popular season
for gum-chewing. People who would never
think Of buying a package OF chewing gum
during the winter will keep we'll supplied
during the warm months of the year"
Perhaps not one person in a hundred
could tell you what gum is made Of Like
the pie habit. the custom of gum-chewing
is peculiarly American, and, like the cock
tail that George AIDE has his chorus girls
sing about in THE Sultan of Sulu,' it fol-
lows the flag. 1t has been remarked that
wherever you will find piece of pie TO di-
gest, you will also find a piece of gum to
help digest 1t. According to the druggist
alluded to above. and who is quite an au-
thority on the subject. the habit of gum
chewing originated in the lumber camps of
the Northwest, the woodsmen starting the
custom by chewing the resin that oozed
out of the coniferous trees. The first gum
TO be manufactured in America was made
of spruce. and a little later on the manu-
facturers introduced beeswax and parafin
At the present time ''chicle" as 1t Is called
by the manufacturers and dealers, is the
foundation for nearly all of the chewing
gum made
little over four years ago nearly all
of the largest and most important chewing
gum factories In the United States consol-
idated- There are now ten big gum factories
controlled by this trust. Indianapolis has
one chewing-gum manufacturing concern,
but it is Independent of the syndicate. This
city had two establishments of the kind
until few years ago, but one of them
did not prove entirely successful and it's
owners went out of business. The single
gum Misunderstanding place in Indianapo-
lis, on Fort Wayne avenue, is not gigan-
tic establishment. but 1t manages to turn
out a surprising amount Of chewing gum
so much, in fact, that the visitor at the
facory will wonder where all of the little
thin sticks of sweetened ''chicle'' go to.
THE ZABOTA TREE.
Chicle is a resinous sap of the Zabota
tree, which grows in Mexico and in Central
America. The trees are tapped during the
latter part of March every year and the
sap exudes, looking very much like damp
clay when il comes from the trunks. II
is dried in blocks in order to be shipped.
The value of chicle for the purpose of max
ing chewing gum accidentally discov-
cred by Adams, the gum manufacturer of
Brooklyn, about twenty-five years ago. He
was searching for a misplaced shipment Of
goods one day in warehouse in New York
when he CHANGED to run across some chicle
IN bulk. He asked what IL was and when
told that the stuff was a sort Of gum he
broke off a piece OF it and began to chew it
absent-mindedly. An hour later 1t occurred
TO him that the gum he had been chewing
for so long a time masticated readily with
out dissolving and that 1T furnished bet
ter base for chewing gum than any paraffin
or beeswax on earth. And nothing has
since been discovered, either in the forest
or the laboratory. that is half so good for
the purpose.
1.-The trust owns thousands of acres of
land in Mexico" said a well-known East
ern chewing gum man" who was in Indi-
annapolis on business recently, land all of
this land is planted TO the Zabota tree.
Chicle, as it comes from the plantations,
Is filed with bits of bark. stones and
other foreign substances, and it has to be
refined before il can be used at ALL There
Is duty on raw materials in Canada,
and so the chicle refinery is situated in
Toronto. In this way the trust pays i'm
port duty only on the refined product. The
process of refining the chicle is very SIM
pie. The blocks of native gum are broken
into small pieces with hammers and these
pieces are then gone over very carefully by
hand and every particle of foreign matter
is removed. The powder is put in sacks
ready TO be shipped to the factories. The
first step in the process of gum making
IS TO dry the chicle. While the evaporation
is taking place IL is absolutely necessary to
keep the chicIe Gagged. rats are inveterate
gum chewers, and every gum factory has
its troubles with the sneaking little ro-
dents. One floor of big factory is always
devoted TO these screen cages. sugar bar
rels and a dressing room for the girls
where they change their street clothes
for clean starched dresses which they are
obliged to work in. After the chicle is dried
thoroughly II is put into great steam
heated caldrons fitted with grinders which
proceed 10 chew ii up as II they were
enormous mouths. The sugar is boiled in
but the pepsin and the havoring are added
d1teEWdfu Wnen ~ Is done 10 the rlgni
consistency the boiling mass is turned out
on marble slabs. the havoring added and
the whole left TO cool. after which it is
kneaded by hand like dough. Then ii goes
through curious rolling machines which
: gradually reduce the lump OF gum from a
dough lump TO big pancake and finally tC
a great sheet of paper-or, at least, that's
what il looks like
THE CUTTING MACHINES
when the right thickness is obtained
the sheets are laid on trays TO dry. for al
first they are too pliable. and then, wher
dry, they are put through the cutting ma
chimes, which do not make clean. straight
away incisions. but rather perforations. A
company OF girls is employed in breaking
the large sheets up into strips one length
wide. 20 that when the employees in the
wrapping department. get the gum IL is In
the most convenient form 10 handle. The
irregular side and end pieces are thrown
into refuse box and are melted over again
when cut and dried the gum is ready fol
khe wrappers. and this Is really the mos