The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1914-11-05
THE HAsKIN LETTER
YOUR CUP OF TEA

III tfi1 e Va IL - :. = ~ n y n
YOUR Gu
By Frederiel,
Your cup Of tea, II you take tea,
Is iqnite4a interesting as your cup Of
coffee, discussed yesterday. Assum-
ing that you are the whole United
States, your annual tea bill is very
small compared to your expenditure
for coffee Your. coffee costs you
about 1920, 900 600 a year, at the port
when the. coffee Is landed. AS You
pay for It pound for pound at the gro
Gerry store, IT will run up well to q
quarter ofsa billion dollars. Your tea
costs just about SIS, 000. 900 year at
the ports, and probably something
like $40, geo 900 over the counters Of
the grocery store.
The probable effect Of the great war
on coffee will be to cheaper the price
but It will have the contrary effect
onstea. Tea win go up. In. fact, the
price OF tea hos been steadily advanc-
Ing for, the last twenty years, with
practically no downward fluctuations
in the steady: upward curve. The
average price at the port In that time
has increased from 10 to 10 cents a
pound. A similar increase in the price
of coffee has been accompanied by a
marked decrease in consumption, but
for some reason or other the per
capita consumption Of tea in the
United States remains practically
stationary,
Since 1866, the per capita consump-
ton in. o year was higher in 1873
when twas 1853 pounds, and lowest
in 1910 when 1t was 0.98 Of a pound.
The average for forty years Is Just q
little over. a pound a. year-an aver
age fairly we'll reflected In the statis-
tics for the last three years. In 1911,
each OF us drank .04 pounds of tea;
in 1912, LOS pounds; and in 1913.
0.95 OF; q pound. ,s
Away. back Just after the war,
when tea drinking reached its max
imum, the price was 3S cents a pound
or Just double the 19-cent price that
prevailed for this year up until the
time Of this war.
1t is interesting to compare our
consumption OF tea with that OF
Great Britain. The people Of the Uni.
ted Kingdom consume only six-tenths
Of O pound OF coffee per year per cap
tia, Us against the American con-
sumption of nearly nine pounds. On
the other hand, against our scant
pound lof tea, the English people
drink seven pounds year apiece.
The effect Of the war on the tea
industry is quite as far-reaching as it
is on the two other great crops Of
neutral countries coffee and cotton.
Practically all Of the tropical and
semi-tropica1 Asiatic countries pro-
duce tea in commercial quantities
for export. China and Japan India
and Ceylon, Java and Sumatra, all
contribute to the worlds supply OF
tea. There is SO much difference in
the flavor Of the tea produced in Diff
ferent countries and different cli-
mates that the ultimate marketing de-
ponds very largely upon the fndivid-
'ual taste OF the ultimate consumer.
Very competent judges Of tea de-
clare that the best tea in the world
is grown right here at home in the
United States. A tea plantation in
souh Carolina furnishes small
amount of extraordinary well flavor.
ed tea to a few favored customers
who are willing to pay a fancy price.
The cost Of labor, however, practical
Nv prohibits an extension Of the tea
industry in the United States under
present Industrial conditions. It is
merely something we have in reserve
we can grow tea II we must.
Re Japan, of course, is in the war. but
her participation Is almost entirely
naval. and the war Is having very
little actual effect upon domestic pro-
duction. China Is untouched by the
war SO Ear as military cnerations are
concerned. except in the neiehbor-
hood OF German territory. India and
Cevlon are involved as being parts Of
the British empire. and. although they
are sending soldiers to Europe. the
numbers OF the Evolutionary forces
are quite too small to have any ap-
nreciable effect on home production.
Java and Sumatra are not so import
an. as tea producing countries. and
they are under the Dutch flag, which
is still quite neutral.
The threatened advances in the
prices Of tea, therefore, do not epring
from any curtailed production. There
Is every reason to believe that the
tea growing industry will flourish de-
spite the war. The trouble with tea
is primarily that Of transportation
and secondarily that Of financing ex-
ports.
The transportation troubles are
infinitely greater than such as we
have experienced with our cotton and
wheat crops. Tea must find It's way
to European and American ports
through the Indian and Pacific oceans
and It is in these waters that the
hostile German cruisers have done SO
much destructive work.
For instance, the steamship City Of
Winchester, with q cargo OF tea val
Luad OF two and q ha1f nnil1inn dnl1ars