Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-12-22

practice of chewing gum or tobacco or some
substitute is a habit that IS practically con-
fined to the United States; but the facts are
quite to the contrary, for the jaws of the
world are continually masticating in unison.
All over the globe people-white, black,
yellow, red and brown skinned-are chew
ing, chewing, chewing, like so many cattle
1t would not be at all strange If the universal
habit was but survival OF race instinct
that possessed our ancestors in the ages of
long ago.
The masticatory we are best acquainted
with, since we see it so freely consumed be-
hind the counters in department stores, and
among the fans at baseball games, chewing
gum, was formerly made from any one OF
half-dozen different bases. Since the bust
ness of manufacturing it has grown to large
proportions and become systernatlzed, 1t IS
almost all made from what is known as
chicle.
This is the gum of the naseberry, and is
gathered in Central and South America. 1t
IS an elastic, rubbery sort of stuff naturally,
and has to be artifcially favored, sweet
ened, and made palatable before 1T IS formed
into the little bars or lozenges calculated to
be good fit for the average mouth.
In some of the New England States ma
tive gum is preferred to this manufactured
compound, and the natives there favor the
pure gum just as it IS gathered from spruce
trees. A little of this is found on sale IN the
Adirondack villages in New York; but not
enough is gathered there to make it an I'M
portant article of commerce.
In Vermont the druggists will be found
keeping spruce gum as regular article of
merchandise; but the quality is not very
good, and for the last three years the Yer
mont crop has been practical failure. In
Maine the industry thrives, and spruce
gum gathering is recognized business; tor
the total crop gathered in that State APP
proximates a hundred thousand pounds
yearly Little of this gets out of the State,
as in every drug, stationery, and notion
store it is displayed for sale in little packages
that contain from a half-ounce to an ounce,
and the inhabitants of Maine have not as
yet asked much assistance from the Jaws OF
the rest of the nation.
When one gets down in the Carolinas and
Tennessee he finds quite different mastica-
tory to be the favorite; for this is the local
ity where the clay eater prevails. even IT he
does not thrive But the clay with which
these people prepare their systems for an
assault by the industrious hookworm is not
at all like the red clay of New Jersey and
Pennsylvania.
1t is as white as flour and as soft, and is
not at all unpleasant to the taste; IN fact, 1t
has hardly any taste at all. In one respect
the CLAW chewers differ from the chewers of
every other substance; for, while Others
swallow only the juice, the clay chewer swal-
lows the clay itself. Under the benevolent
care of a Standard Oil millionaire, their
number has somewhat decreased; but they
will probably always exist, for in that sec
ton of country clay is preferred to tobacco,
or the sweetened compound favored by the
shopgirl of the North.
THE United States provides good bit of
material for the jaws of the rest of the
world to work upon, in the shape of tobacco.
Lest suspicion may linger in the minds of
some that chewing tobacco is an American
CUSTOM it may be remarked that during the
latest year for which figures are obtainable
the exports of chewing tobacco to Great
Britain amounted to twelve million pounds
Six thousand tons of plug will supply
work for good many vigorous jaws, and
there is little probability that it was all ex-
ported for the use of Americans spending a
few months abroad 1t would seem that
John Bull must be considerable of chew
ing animal to get away with million pounds
a month in addition to the other substances