White Bluffs spokesman. [volume] (White Bluffs, Wash.) 1907-1938, 1931-08-20

Society. Washington, d. CO.
THE recent announcement that
coffee consumption in the Unit
ed States climbed to total of 13
pounds per person in 1880, adds
interest to the checkered career of the
beverage since it was first brewed in
the Near East a millennium and
half ago.
There are about 80 species of coffee
plants but only few Of them are
extensively cultivated for commercial
use. The coffee plant is cousin Of
the cinchona tree from the bark of
which quinine is produced. Gambler,
which furnishes tanning material and
dyes that bear the same name, and
madden from the roots of which
substance is extracted that is impor-
tant in some red dyes, also are re-
lated to the coffee plant.
The coffee plant started its world
wide ramblings centuries ago. Begin
ming in the hills of Ethiopia, it
Jumped" the Red Sea and coffee
plantations began to rise above the
soil of the extreme southern tip of
Arabia where the famous Mocha cot
fee now is produced. Later it was
carried to Europe (about $50 years
ago) and then to the West Indies and
Brazil.
Tradition has it that the discovery
Of coffee's stimulating effect upon the
human system was an accident. One
story runs that the plant was dis
covered in the Fourth century by
group of monks who had been driven
out of Egypt and found refuge in the
Ethiopian hills. The monks main
tanned themselves by agriculture and
sheep and goat raising. One night
monk reported to his leader that the
flocks would not rest-that they were
wide awake and frisking about during
the hours when they should be quiet.
The leader started investigations that
led to the coffee plant which he found
the animals consumed while browsing
on the hillsides He chewed few of
the berries from the strange bush and
found that they kept him unusually
alert during the night services which
were held in accordance with his re-
ligion.
Although coffee did not strike a
popular cord among Europeans until
the Fifteenth century, as early as the
reign of Charles II, in the middle of
the Seventeenth century there were
more than 1000 coffee houses in Lon
don. Today coffee is a popular brew
in every continent and on the civilized
islands Of the seas. with the United
States as the worlds leading con-
sumner. More than 1.599.nOO,OGO pounds,
of coffee were imported by the United
States lest year.
First Used as Paste.
But the coffee berry has had it's
ups and downs during it's rise to fame
in the beverage world Its first use
was in the form of paste which
was eaten Early Moslems were not
permitted to drink wine. so they.
learned the art Of making brew from
coffee berries. The name coffee is
derived from the Arabic word Kah-
web. which was pronounced Kahveh
by the Turks. Kahveh was the gen
eral Arabic term for Intoxicating
liquors.
According to some authorities. the
first cup Of coffee was drunk as
refreshment at Alden. Arabia. in the
Fifteenth century. Cairo began drink
ing the beverage about 20 years later
Meanwhile Moslem leaders held
meeting at Mecca where they decided
that coffee should be banned. That
was in 1911 AS result Of the Mecca
decision, coffee warehouses were burned
and coffee houses were closed in many
parts Of the Mohammedan world.
Some of the coffee house proprietors
were beaten with their own brewing
utensils by fanatical MosleR,s.
The ban in Egypt lasted only thir
teen years. when Sultan Selim gave
coffee his stamp OF approval He en-
phasized his approval of the brew by
ordering the execution Of two Persian
doctors who had denounced the nse Of
coffee as injurious to health. Today
Egypt is among the largest coffee
drinking regions of the world. Some
desert people Of Egypt and the Near
East use the beverage in connection
with religious observances.
In the East. coffee is usually used
in powdered form. The coffee beans
popularity known in the United States
are placed in mortar and pounded.
Then the powder Is put into boiling
water. The coffee maker serves the
beverage only after prescribed cere-
mony He pours small quantity of
rinses each cup with the brew. After
all cups have been rinsed, the rinsing
liquid is poured on the fire as a
tribute to Sheykh esh Shadhilly. the
coffee drinkers patron. Half cup