The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-06-07
Leaves of the Second Moon

worth seeing. When the first leaves ar rive the Chinese tea brokers array them selves in costly silks and are carried in richly decorated sedan chairs to the mart where samples are offered Then is the tea taster, who is invariably an English man, indeed king and his sway is ab- solute But he has his professional linn itations and during the exacting season must drink positively nothing but soda or mineral waters In fact. if it leaks out that a taster has been known to take a glass of sherry or bitters at his club, it is taken as an unfailiug signal that the decline of the season is at hand, that the influx of choice teas is waning and the city, relaxing it's tension, goes upon a general carousal, just as does Mini Nov gorod at the end of the market The professional taster never swallows a mouthful>of tea and in his discriminating inspection he employs his eyes and his nose as well as his tongue. When a sam pie is presented to him it consists of a few leaves most carefully weighed and and placed in shallow cup of boiling water. He notes carefully the manner in which the leaves unfold in the water and observes how the liquor turns to a deep, rich, clear, coffee-brown. Having satisfied himself on this point, he inhales the fra grance of the essential oil as it is car ried away in the vapor. Next follows the judicial sip. in which the tea rests for a second only upon his tongue and is in- mediately elected. His decision is law and from it there is no appeal to Caesar.
 The professional life of an official ta ster is not long and at the end of 10 or F years his nerves and digestion, in spite of the fact that he has not swallowed a drop of tea, are so impaired that even the aroma of the market induces an at tack of tea-tremens. in truth, tea-tre- mems is recognized by Chinese and Jap anese physicians as a disease as absolute and acute as delirium tremens and pro- hibitionists should note that other stirn- plants besides alcohol may wreck a hu- man life and other beverages be abused My Lady Theine is by no means a white ribboner.
 America and Great Britain no longer get their tea from China, as the products UT 1Huld dIlu Ccyioi HdNC SuPPiuHtcu euc Celestial beverage so that we of the United States are in ignorance as to the delights of genuine cup of Chinese tea So delicious is it that dozen chests of the first crop are always sent to the Em- peror of Russia for use in the palace. The best quality Is known as leaves of the second moon and Is the crop of young leaves unfolding at the tips of the new twigs of the evergreen camelia bush in April. They are carefully picked by hand. while all others are cut with a knife. and are pale. downy leaflets. The process of curing Is carried on at the tea farm; they are wilted. rolled, fermented and dried. the fermentation changing the cole or to a reddish brown and converting most of the jamie acid to sugar This is the difference between black and green teas the leaves of the latter being dry when they come from the bush. I am sure that if the Greek gods had been con- versant with China they would have sub stituted the black tea of that land for their famed nectar.
 Hankow is situated upon the Yaf1gtse river and just opposite 1t is Hanyang which is the Birmingham of China and It's beds of iron ore, are put 70 miles away It manufactures railk. rines and smoke less powder. The Yangtse is quite ca pricious stream. rising without scarceIy 'a moments notice and falling just as