Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1919-06-19
The Story of Coffee.

There is a tradition to the effect that
coffee vas found growing wild in
Aarbia some six hundred years ago oy
Hadii Omar. a deryish. Hatii Omar
was diving of hunger in the desert.
when he found some small. round eer-
ries and tried to eat them, They were,
however, too bitter. After roasting
them he finally steeped them in water
and found the decoction as refresh
ing as if he had partaken Of solid food.
Upon his return TO Mokha, he brought
his discovery TO the attention Of "the
wise men," who were so well pleased
Herewith that they proclaimed Hadii
Omar a saint.
In the Bibliotheque Rationale at Pa
ris there is a manuscript written in
Arabic BY one Abdelcader, who AYERS
that coffee vas drunk for the first time
in Arabia in the fifteenth century.
Other authorities have il that coffee
was used in Persia as early as the
ninth century. but there is little evi-
dence to bear out their contention.
Abdelcader's story of the discovery
Of coffee is as follows: A certain Arab.
Gemalledin. i Judge in Aten, while
travelling TO Persia,-or, as the his
torians correct the manuscript, to Abys-
sinia,-ooserved people using coffee as
medicine. Gemalledin so employed 1t,
and was cured of an illness. Later, on
becoming a monk. he taught his breth-
rem in Alden the use of the berry.
No opposition to the use Of coffee aP-
pears to have been offered until the
middle of the sixteen century, when the
Egyptian sultan sent a new governor,
Chair Bey. TO Mecca. This governor
knew nothing of the beverage, and be-
came greatly enraget at the sight OF
dervishes drinking coffee in the NOS
ques. Upon consulting with two
Persian physicians he decided that cot-
fee was a substitute for vine, which
was prohibited BY the Koran, and that,
therefore. coffee drinking vas & viola
ton OF Mohmmed's law. The result
was a decree forbidiing the use OF
coffee. All berries that could be
found were gathered and burned in the
market place. when Chair Bey re-
ported his action TO the sultan. II Is
said that he received this written re-
ply:
"Your physicians are asses. Our
lawyers and physicians in Cairo are
better informed. They recommend the
use Of coffee, and | declare that no
faithful will lose heaven because he
drinks coffee"
The honor Of Introducing coffee into
Europe may be disputed between the
English and the French There is,
however. an interesting story about a
distinguished Italian traveller, Pitero
della Vale. Writing from CONSTANT
nople in 1918, he tells a Roman friend
that he would teach Europe in what
manner the Turks took what he calls
cahue. It appears by LeGrand's Vie
Priyee des Francais that the celebrated
Thevenot, in 1858, gave coffee after
dinner. but that it was considered 70 be
the whim of ar eccentric, since neither
the thing itself nor its manner OF serv-
ing was inviting. Ten years later a
Turkish ambassador at Paris made the
beverage highly fashionable.
An Anglo-Turkish merchant brought
a Greek servant to England in 1852,
who. knowing how TO roast and brew
coffee, opened a house for its public
sale. He announced the fact by is
suing hand-bills to the following e.
feet:
"The vertue Of the coffee-drink first
publicly made and sold in England BY
Pasoua Rossie, in ST. MichaeI's Alley
Cornhill, at the sign Of his own head.
For about twenty years after that the
practice Of drinking coffee vas Wig
orously condemned. In 1904 there Vas
introduced the Women's Petition
Against Coffee. In the reign oi
Charles II a royal decree closed the
coffee houses for a while. But after q
short time the general discomfort
against this ruling emboldened the
merchants and retailers Of coffee and
tea to petition for permission 10 re-
open Their petition was granted, with
the condition that the houses might re.
main open for a certain period under
a severe admonition that the masters
should prevent all scandaIous papers
books and libels from being read ir
them, and should hinder every perso1
from spreading scandalous reports
against the government.