The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-04-24
SUGARS EARLY HISTORY
WRAPPED I'm OBSCURITY

for the exclusive right of refining sugar
for term Of years. but the Queen re-
fused the request.
Meanwhile the Spaniards had become
in their turn the great disseminators of
the sugar cultivation. The cane was
planted by them in Madeira in 1420; 1t
was carried to the West Indies in 1906,
and it spread over the occupied portions
Of South America during the sixteenth
century. Yet sugar continued to be a
costly luxury. an article subject to the
control of the physician and confined to
! the apotheeary's shop. till the increas-
ing use of tea and coffee In the eighteenth
| century brought it into the list of princi-
pal food staples.
Sugar was believed to be an antidote
to alcohol. Bacon warmly supports the
theory of the. power of sugar not only
to render wine less Intoxicating, being
mixed herewith at the time of drinking,
but also when eaten afterward to re-
move the i'll effects of too copious iiba-
lions of unmingled wine. Falstaff 1t
may be remembered, always took sack
and sugar.
The increased use of sugar was cred
tied with having extinguished the plague
in Europe; 1t certainly contributed to
suppress the native malady of England.
the scurvy. There used to be a custom
in Wales on Ascension day for children
to form parties to take sugar and water
at neighboriDg WE'LL Each child was
provided with sugar and a cup. The
day was usually designated sugar and
water" day The superstition was that
! all who drank of the mixture there on
that day would be proof against Illness
and protected from evil spirits for twelve
months. Hone mentions a similar GUS
tom being prevalent in Derbyshire on
Easter Sunday under the name of .'su-
gar cuppng."
Sugar tongs at meals came in during
the reign of Queen Anne, and the use
or them was long confined to British
households. DR.. Johnson is commonly
supposed not to have been over-nice
about his table manners, but he pro-
nounced the French IAN indicate peo-
pie" because they knew not the article
when he visited Paris in ITS. A famous
parliamentary anecdote hinges on sugar.
Pitt dord Chatham), when speaking,
F-~DAS VA ehc w tSl iHuldH slave QueS-
ton, began his speech. Sugar Mr..
Speaker" the popularity of its COM
mencement eliciting a roar Of laughter
from the house. Nothing daunted, Pitt
began. Sugar. Mr.. Speaker" The laugh
ter was renewed, but not so vehemently.
third time the great orator reiterated
the same formula in a voice of thunder,
turning round about with look which
effectively stopped any further display
or visibility, and amid perfect silence
continued his speech.
All other sugars beside cane sugar and
sugar of milk were unknown until the
year 1747, when a German chemist named
Margraff first produced sugar from white
beet root. No practical use was made
of his discovery during his lifetime
However, in 1893 his pupil and successor,
Archard established beet sugar fac
tory in Silesia, soon after which the
chemists of France, at the instance of
Napoleon, largely extracted sugar from
the beet root. 1t was not however, till
after 1880 that the industry secured a
firm footing, but from 1910 onward 1t ad-
vanced with giant strides.