The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-12-27

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 The American people take so kindls
 to new ideas. that they have become a
 nation of faddists. First one thing and
 then another strikes the popular fancy and sweeps the country like a mighty ! wave. Sometimes these new ideas are l original and sometimes they are bor- rowed from foreigners. but each new notion that wins popular approval ] means fortune for It's lucky inventor. Some of these fads have no merit and die as soon as they lose their novelty, while others have practical fundamen- tals and endure on account of their usefulness.
 The souvenir spoon is an adopted fashion that has had it's greatest im- petus during the present holiday season. Tourists going abroad al quarter of a century ago found spoons iu most of the Eurs p an countries, especially Germany, England and Scotland, bearing the name of the place and often the distinctive feature that had attracted attentions castle mountain peak. the head of a hero or poet, or sofne such distinctive design. A few were brought home. Then a ieweler from Salem. Massachu- setts went abroad. saw the possibili- ties of the Idea from an American standpoint and came back to start a fashion that has Involved millions of dollars in It's manufacture, has added millions of dollars to the income of thrifty silversmiths and souvenir ven- ders. and has given pleasure to millions of souvenir collectors
 This Salem man recalled the stories of witchcraft that had made his city famous two and half centuries before, and designed a coffee spoon and a tea spoon that bore a witch riding broom handle, a cat, and the date of the set tlement of the town of Salem. Rarely did an idea become so popular. Even the Teddy bears have not touched it's popularity. In the first two years the Salem jewellers has sold @100,0oO worth of the spoons.
 Two years after the first witch spoon appeared, jewellers in the leading cities of the United States looked on the idea and found 1t good, and soon historic houses and medallions of great people appeared with impartial promptness on spoons of all sizes and weight, and a new fashion was well established. Pa- triotic organizations have found them an excellent means of raising money for use in their work of building mon uments. or preserving historic or bat tlehelds. The spoons on sale at Mount Vernon have aided materially in in- creasing the income of the place. and moro than one southern city has found 8 neat fund realized for some pet mon- urnent scheme from the sale of the ever popular spoon.
 Chewing gum is purely an American product. manufactured for a purely American trade, and responsible for the fad of gum. chewing that is known only to Americans. Chased under confec- tions. several thousand boxes are ex-, ported every year. but these are not de- signed for the comfort of some foreign palate; they are to supply the demands of the American tourist who Is doing the continent or exploring Asia of A. rica in truly American style and wants all the comforts of home on the trip.
 Every year there are from 25,000, 900 to 3o,00O 900 boxes of chewing gum made in the United States. representing something like a gross income of ESQ., 100000 to the manufacturers. and prac- tically all of this is consumer by Amer fcanss The average foreigner looks up- on Rum-chewing as a pernicious habit savoring of the crude manners of the days of the cliff dwellers.
 The greatest consumers of chewing. gum are wheelman. athletes. ball play CTS. and railroad employees of all grades, especially engineers. It is said to be the best known aid to thought concen- tration, and chess players recommend 1t to all other brain workers. It Is even argued by devotees of the habit that it is a potent cure for both physi- cal and mental disorders. The use of gum has greatly decreased the annual consumption of chewing tobacco. Man ufacturers of chewing gum prohibit It's use among their employees: while on the other hand. gum is freely distributed tc the pickers in strawberry fields s a helpful means of getting better work and more fruit.
 Twenty-Five years ago the congealed sar from halsam and frs. cherry and swcaf gar.S was Hrnctically the only gun fired to che~ers. chicle was not known to be useful In this way After It's discovery the manufacture of chew ing gum beran o1 q large scale with tho result that 2 national fad has been crea ted. nilllona!res have been made from the profits 0f ttp business and tho Chewing Cum Trust is a big factor in the commercial world II was to defeat the aims of this trur' that Representa- tive Kustsrman of Wisconsin last win- ter introduced a bin In Congress to re- move the tariff on chicle.
 chicle is the gum from the juice of the sapote tree Of Mexico and Guiana. It is gathered as maple sugar is gath cred in the New England states, the Indians going from tree to tree to col- feet the sap after a rain. It Is then