February i, 1892.I THF TROPSCAL A0R10ULTURI8T. 
567 
exett all Iheit energies to compel everyone to beoom^ 
teetotalers." 
And it ia with a wish to emphasiso this advice that 
I uow venture to nsk yen for a further portion of 
your spaoo. Sir Wilfred Lmaon, iu hia iette/ of 
" tippeil " which you publish todiiy, although you 
slate it has i>ot your eympathy, writes : — 
"It is one of the glories of Eugland that her citizens 
abound in good works for relioviufi: the sick end 
afflietad." 
Now, I should like to ask this " good " citizen 
wliose fault in it that tho labouiiog classes in our still 
gluri .'US " Uuited Kingdom " are utterly unable to 
obtain a cup of really geiiuiuo good coffee wlio;i they 
Aek for it? There has recently been a pomewhat heated 
discussion in th3 Loudon and provinciul press on this 
very subject. Tne British Medical Journal ot the 
7th instant, under " The truth about coffee," to ik it 
up vigorously with the view of upsettinj; my statement 
that 
" Today, in all probability, ours ia the only country 
where, hy its tax Uws with respect to the sale of coftee, 
the working classes are almost unablo to procure it 
in a pure slate." 
Tho Daily 'Telegraph o;i the 10th instant, in an 
editorial occupying n ore than a cclumu refutnd the 
statements made by the editor of tho British Medical 
Journal, and, in fact, made it" very hot" for him, as 
folio -vB : — 
' With regard to the adulteration thfory,it positively 
asserts that pure coffee is mora easily to be obtained 
in this conn'.ry than in France, Anstrin, Italy, or 
Germany. Why ihis should be sr>, howevt-r, does tiot 
appear, and we confesi our;elv( s unprepired to place 
implicit f«ith in so sweeping an allegr.tion while totally 
unsupported by satisfactory evidence to its oorreotuesp. 
Even should it be cor.clusive'y demonstrated that coffee 
is purer in London than in Pari?, or any other conti- 
nental capitil, we should only bo compelled to avow 
our prettrence for the impurer article, iLasniuoh as it 
is unquesticuably much more palatable than tho 
genuine stuff as prepared for us iu our own dear 
native land. This is u fact as tlioroughly apcertained 
.and unanimously recogni^^ed by travelled Biigiisbmen 
that it carries convict'Oj with it as to the superiority 
of the French, Austrian, and Gorman methoils of 
preparing coffee over our own. Yet the British 
Medical Journal, whii-^h certaiuly has tho courage of 
i;s opinions, boldly asserts that we " all know 
how to make good coffee," which may be regarded 
as one of the most amaz.iig statements ever 
put forward in tho columns of a BcieLt flc periodical, 
but that " Ihero is no one who cannot make it." 
Having pro|ouncicd these tremendous BfiBertions, it 
straightway pfoceeda to liipprofe them, &c. 
The Standard of the 12th ii.st, had alsn "a gora " 
of an anicle on this subject which cughtt i be dear 
to ti e heart of nil " good teelotnlers" like Bir Wilfrid 
Ijitwsoi;, who are only too anxious ti be enpaged in 
doing "good wmks for relieving the sick an<l afflicted." 
Here is a i-horl extrnct from the article referred to: — 
Good teotQialers nre diaraayed and distressed to 
find that tho consumption c f ccfl'ee is declining in 
Gi eat Britain ; but the fact naay be esplaiaati, perhap?, 
by the sample of oolfee Dr. Stokes h*s discovered 
containing net less than 70 per cent of chicory. Acup 
of good co£fe'> ought to be qnito aa oa-y toget as a 
oup of goed tea Bnhlisb houslmlders should buy the 
berry fr«3b, adofresh grind it in their own kitchens, 
and servo it hot, strong, and above all, transpfirent. 
Tho Stiindiird, reCeriiig to the lost taata for " pure 
coffee" in EugUud, concludes by saying: — 
fa timo It may become tho duty of food inspectors 
and public analysis lo detect ami pani^h the adultera- 
tion of chicory by means of coffee, and as tho demand 
for the irmor gradua'dy renders it more expensive, 
and tho diduao of the latter makes it a drug in the 
mirki't, we nball, perhips some day purchase n pocket 
of somebody's pure chicory, which will turn out to 
b) mixed with 70 per cent of coffee. 
Tho Brilislt Altdical Journal, in long editorial 
notes, again retucnod to the subject on the 
lUh aud 2lBt instant, under tho reapeotive , 
headings cf " Orffee »• it is made in England," 
and " The Ooffee Drinker's Lament." AU the papers I 
have referred to are well worth reading, not only by 
" good teetotalers," but by "good citizens," generally, 
and particularly by promoters of such " glorious " 
institutions as " village clubs " referred to iu your 
editorial of tod^iy. When it is remembered what Sir 
i^isdrew Clark (one of the ablest physioians ot the 
present day) has htely had the courage to say 
with respect to the effect of " strong tea ;" 
and whit has appeared in the papers I have 
referred to with respect to the excellence of " pure 
coffe?," r.s a stimulating bevorage, there is every 
reason why we should have two strings to oar 
bov7, a demand sooner or later mnet be made upon 
our L>gi.slBture for an amendment ot the present 
pro >tit ited laws with re«occt to the sale cf coffee to the 
peDple of tho United Kingdom. In this connection, 
and in tho intereft ot all conf erned, I cannot refrain 
from calling public attention to the following ex- 
tract from a letter, dated the 17ih instant, re- 
ceived by me in reply to my inquiry from tho 
secretary of the London Chamber of Commerce : — 
" As regards the purity question, you are quite right 
in asauming that this Chimber was interested in 
the matter some years ago, when Mr. Gladstone's 
Bill, to which ycu refer was passed. We did all 
we could in Parliament to get the 'exact proportions 
of the different ingredients indicated on the 
labels. Tho President of tho Clumber (at this time 
Mr. Maguiac, M. P.) h ought in an amendment to 
this effec', lat the groc 'ry interest, which preferred 
that no indication shou!d be giver, was too strong 
for ns, aud we had to ^ crept the comp-omise oontained 
in the Act as it row stands." 
That is to say. tbo great Liberal leaders of that 
time, the G. O. M. beiiTg ihen the head of the Govern- 
ment, by allowing free licence almost to the grocers in 
the sale of " chicory mix^id with coffee" and sold sim- 
ply as a coffee mixtuie, secured tlie grocers' votes, but 
drove tlu- p op'.e of this cc.nt.try t orn coffee — anyway, 
it must be logically conceded, diova them more and 
more in tho direc;' ion of the beer and wbi-key taps — 
for, as Dr. Smokes, th ■ pii'oHc aimlysi, fi r Faddington, 
states (see i-'tandard of 12tb int t nit) : — 
"The people huve n.>i(ber the (imo nor patience to 
road all the flummery v/hicb may le given away with 
a pound of coffee — -the pnrchsi'er oegbi: to possess a 
legal right to get what he asks for niid pays for." 
And yet thtsa eamo astute Liberal h ador s, who, not 
caring then one jet as to the const quences, entered 
into this disgracefully abominable ::rrangement with 
the grocers, are actually ai. the same game with the 
teetotalers, who are to solve their "Local Option" 
Bill paeeed, if they will, by tho^r votes, in the mean- 
time but cOfisent, to s'mp and act aa a fulcrum to the 
lever of the U.O. M. while he makes his second and, 
no doul t, finf.l attempt to topple over the United 
Kingdem. Should he succeed, tho story of Barason 
Agouittes will bi» repe-ited, only on a nsore gigantic 
scale, and W B G. will become — is this his little va- 
nity ? — o gn al, bii-toricsl personage for all time. Well, 
" good t< etotiil 'ra," while listening to the voice of the 
charmer, will, I have no doubt whatever, remember, at 
a crisis like tlie pr.-sent, that, thongh they are " good 
tettutalers." tin y are, ticst of all, GOOD Citizens. 
Nov, 26th, 1891. 
[The truUs seems to be that preference ia more 
and more given to tea from its greater cheapness, 
its more easy preparation and its freedom from 
adulterution But all the same coffee ought to 
receive fair play by the proportion of chicory admix- 
ture being uiwaya stated on tho packets. — Ed. T. A.] 
THE GKASS FAMILY, 
BY H. C. C. 
Madge came in fro.m aoiong the flowers, washed her 
hauils, bathe. 1 her hot face, and as the heard the 
tea-bell, walked to the dining-room saying, " I am so 
tirod of this horrid grasB that I promised grandma to 
keep out of hot flower beds. What's grass good iof 
