Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1914-12-30
TITS WELL TO ACCEPT
TEA IN PARAGUAY TOWN
Yerba Mate, the Tea of South
America, Is Bitter Hos
pitality.

"Torna listed mate?" (Wili you take
some tea >. is the customary welcome
extended to the Weary traveller in the
rural districts OF Paraguay. and III
the traveller is something of a djplo-
matist he will. And that. too. Ven IL
the host does take the first sip from
the bombilla through which ii is sucked
from the mate. or gourd. in which it is
prepared. AND which Is then passed
over to him; for mate is the drink and
pledge of hospitality all over the coun-
try districts of Paraguay. portions OF
southern Brazil. and northern Argen-
time. The refuse the i.ospltable offer is
to give offense. altho, the courteous
Paraguayan. Brazili~A. or Argentine
is not in the habit of urging the invita-
ton by q little gun play. as is said 10
have been the custom among our COW
BOYS and heroes of tllN west some wears
ago when \ tenderfop1 refused to .haVe
a drink Still, the stranger had hcr-
ter take 2 sip or NV" if he wishes to
become persona glata, even if the
bomhilla has been moistened by other
lips than his, and The tea" is some
what bitter and herby in taste. He Will
get used TO it.
This peculiar tea is not the tea OF
China or J3pan that the average North
American on European knows. 1t is "a
brand that is distinctly South Amer
lean. and is made from the leaves OF a
shrub whose botanical name is lick
"laraguaycnSis. IN "a pamphlet ON Para
quay recently published by The Pan
American union, Washington. -. g..
may be found 81 detailed description OF
this wonderful Weed OF shrub, among
other statements being tho following.
N"rba mate is altogether indigenous
to q Well defined area of South Amer
lea. The aboriginal Indians OF tho
basin of the Rio de Ia Plata. the Guar
ami, knew and used the plant long be-
fore the INVASION OF their country by
the Spaniards. When these Indians
We're subducd. especially hy the Jesuit
missionaries, 'lley We're found to be US
ing a drink made OF a plant that grew
Wild and abundant over the subtrop-
ical region in which ,hey lived. Caa
was the name given 10 this plant by
tho Guaranl. Caa means simply Weed.
and the ~ufop"aii tiansjating litcYal-
lN. called 1t yrrba. euNliNalen: to the
Erglisi. herb. Mate is Spanish for
gould. len0e yc-ba naate-the rourd
Weed cor herbl. OF. more extended. the
herb from which tea is made in a
goufd. for it was. and is rften now.
prepared as ollows a dried gourd is
followed out. leaving AN aperture
Where the stem was connected. into
TINS golrd a small quantity of the
crushed leal es arc pta, "a. boiling watar
poured on them. . little sugar or lemon
juice added, and The tea is ready TO be
suchtd tiiIousl me aper.ufe by means
OF the hollow tube. called bomhilla.
usually u1ade or metal and having a
perforated. spoon sh&red cad Which
serves as a strainci.
The ileN la-rasuuyensis is re.tl~ a
South Ainericaa hoils growing soon-
taneously ia the southern portions OF
Brazil, in the northeastern reg;on OF
Argentine. and In all The eastern and
central portions OF Paraguay. 1t is an
evergreen tree on shrub which grows
from ~ to 20 feet IN itei@ht is very buslv
and beautiful and resembles an orange
tree. IL has no spines, the lea e. are
bright green. the flowers are OF a vel
lowish color. and the any berries are
purplish black. The most suitable
leaves for the tea are small and dark
green. and are picked from the smaller
and younger plants.
In gathering the natives so out and
cut the branches from Inc trees found
in the forests. and pile them up In the
form OF Il haystack. After all avail
able material has been gathered. the
piles are then carried 20 thei, villages,
where they undergo a process of to-
refaction. or smoking. for about three
days and the leaves are then broken I'D
into powder and are ready for ,he
market.
ParaguaNan tea resembles our tca
and coffee in that the chemical ana.y-
sis of the leaves shows that they on
tdlD. III dtdllIoU 10 inc essential D.l3
chlOrorphNl, resins and other vegetable
ingredients. both tanin and caffein. The
tanin content is decidedly less than In
green or black tea. or in coffee. o.
caftein. or matein as it is sometimes
termed, the product contains less thar
does tea, hut about the same propor
ton that is to be. found in coffee. The
decOction seems TO soothe the nervous
system without the injurious effects OF
other stlmulants. and it has been estl-
mated that there are no less than no..
100000 mate drinkers in South Amer.
lea alone. In recent years considerable
quantities arc being xported to Grea'
Britain. Germany and other European
countries. md experiments arc bein,
made within the view OF using II in IN,
army supplies Of those countries. Once
introduced into this country and giver
a fair trial. ii will doubtless become 4.
popular beverage and soon he on tay
in our soda fountains.