El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-03-02

slaves as their navy would require,
chewing gum, spices, etc. The gum,
he said was TO come from ChiOs, and
1T has been reasoned from this that the
chewing gum of COlumbuss day was
a sort OF gummy clay. which was re-
pUted to have medicinal qualities
But the habit of chewing gum may be
traced even beyond COlumbus's time.
According to an ancient Sanskrit poem
the soft-eyed Hindoo maiden, even IN
the times when the Aryan Sun-worship-
pers were a budding people, had the
habit of chewing ''kashnir'' gums which
were supposed TO sweeten the breath,
redden the lips and put color into the
cheeks.
ChicIe in Mexico.
The story of the discovery of the
availability Of chicle for chewing pur-
poses reads like romance and in
wolves some of the leading characters
OF American history. IL Gen. Sam Hous-
ton had not banished Santa Anna from
Texas, or IL the attempt to make gum
shoes from chicle had not proved
failure. the chewing gum habit as
America knows it, might not have been
acquired by our people.
Back in the forties q young man
from New Jersey went to Mexico, where
he made the acquaintance Of Santa
Anna He spent some time in that
country and then returned home. When
Santa Anna was banished from Texas,
he went to New York. looked up the
young friend of his better days and, ii
is said. lived with him incognito for
some time. During his stay he sug-
gested to his host that the sap of a
certain Mexican tree might be made
into gum overshOes. When he returned
TO Mexico he sent a bale of raw. hard
gum for experimentation. The effort
to prepare the stuff for gum shoes
was a failure, and a big chunk of IL
was relegated to the woOdshed as use
less
Fortunes Made In Gum.
But the boys of the neighbOrhOOd
soon set aside the useless" verdict
They began whiting off pieces of the
gum for chewing purposes This was
a suggestion 10 the father and he again
got out his kettle paraphernalia. This
time he made it into unflavOred gum
and placed it upon the market BY do
ing so he laid the foundation OF a
princely fortune.
The next proposition was 10 get
flavoring into the gum. This was
task TO which the embryo chewing-gu gum
millionaire was not equal. so he en-
piOyed an Englishman. who was an
amateur chemist to conduct series of
rOwed $500 from outside sources and
with this perfected the original process
OF flavoring chicle gum.
From that time the success OF the
chewing gum business was assured
Today those boys, who taught their
father the secret Of utilizing the old
junk in his wOodshed, are miIIionaires.
Before they gave him the tip that was
to develop into a great fortune. he was
Cd inh
From this small beginning has grown
a business which amounts TO more than
100000 a year. 1t has made million
aires OF more families than this one.
and has helped to pay the rent OF
thousands of stores, small and large.
from the Atlantic TO the Pacific.
Factories Sell to Trade.
Some of the big factories of today
sell their own gum to the trade. Others
are simply manufacturers for the trade.
and advertise to make gum in any
quantity and in sticks of any size, pre-
pared ready for the wrapper. In this way
any person who is willing to pay for
the expense of manufacture can put
brand of his own on the market and
tempt millions to come his way. One
can buy gum at all prices from five
cents a package down to one cent? for
five sticks
II Is SdlQ lDdl WD4lC the aggregate
sales of chewing gum are growing be
cause of the increase of the habit in
rural districts. the competition OF the
nickelOdeOn and other rivals for chill
dren's pin money is seriously felt in
the cities. If the practices of the
chewing gum factory We're generally
adopted. it would mean ruin to the
business. The operatives are prohibit
ed from chewing gum while on duty.
On thesother hand, berry growers fur
nish their pickers with gum in order
TO give them a happy frame of mind
while pursuing their work
Gum Slot Machines.
The advent OF the chewing gum slot
machine as an automatic salesman did
more TO stimulate a demand for pennies
and nickels than any other agency ex-
cept the street car.
1t now requires an annual supply OF
about 100. 100000 pennies and more than
5O,OO0,000 five cent pieces to meet the
demands of the trade. 1t is said that
the penny works Oftener in buying
newspapers and penny-In-th e-slot gum
than for any other purpose.
TOmOrrOw-Sea Island Cotton.