March i, 1892,] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
679 
the other hanri, are scarce, and economical conditions 
generally triumph. 
A great increase in the sale of quinine might be 
looked for, it is believed, if it were given in a form less 
objeotioaable to the palate lhan that of a powder. 
Might not this difficulty be overcome by compressing 
the drug into easily-awallowed tablets ? Another 
step in the direction of supplying a cheap drae for 
nativecoasurnption hag recently been taken by deciding 
upon the distribution, at coat price, of purgative pow- 
ders, composed of quinine and of jalap grown in the 
ladian G-overnment gardens. — Chemist arid Druggist 
TALGASWELA TEA COMPANY. 
The following is the Direotors' Report for the year 
ending December 31st, 1891 : — 
The Directors have pleasure in. placing before the 
Shareholders their Fourth Annual Report, together 
with a duly audited statement of the Company's 
affairs and financial po.titioaas ou Slst December, 1891. 
During the p^st year the Company's property has 
been vi,sited twice by Mr. E. S. Grigson, in the ab- 
sence of the Managing Director. Mr. Grigson's first 
Report upon the property, a very full one, was printed 
and circulated amongst the shareholders. His second 
Report was read at the extraordinary General Meet- 
ing held on December 29th, 1891. 
Mr. W. Agar became disqualified to act as a Direc- 
tor and resigned his seat at the board Mr. Loos 
having left the Island, and resigned his seat, Mr. 
VanOuyleiiburg was elected a Director iu hia place. 
In oonaequenoa of the larger acreage of tea planted 
on TalgaswaU than was originally intended, 681 acres 
instead of 500 acres of the immediate necessity for 
Bteam power which was not originally contemplated, 
and of the increased factory expenditure necessitated 
by the larger acreage, a debit balance of 1119,51916 
remained at the close of the year 1891. A farther 
expenditure on factory «nd m«cliinery has also 
to be faced during 1892. Realising that to chnrge all 
this capital expenditure agnicst present revenues was 
to postpone unduly the payment of dividends to the 
shareholders, the Direotors called an extraordinary 
gen eral meeting on December 29 ih to submit a pro- 
posal for raising the necessary extra capital (R30,000) 
by the issue of 7 per cent preference shares of KlOO 
each. The propoial was carried unanimously and its 
confirmation will be asked for at a special meeting 
immediately following the annual general meeting on 
Febraury 23rd next. 
The Managing Director's estimate for 1892 shows an 
expenditure of R46,616-80, estimated crop 180,000 lb. 
At a price of 40 cents, a little over R25,0b0 profit will 
be realised. This should allow for a dividend of ten 
per cent after paying interest on the preference shares. 
Should it be p lasible to do so, the Directors will reoom. 
mend the payment of an ad-interim dividend during 
the year. 
The slow rate at which the construction of the 
Railway Bitension to Ambalangoda has been proceeded 
with has caused general dissatisfaction. 
Messrs. T. W. Hall and H. Van Ouylenburg retire 
torn the Directorate by rotation and offer themselves 
*or re-election. 
COFFEE ADULTERATION : A CRUEL FRAUD 
UPON THE POOR. 
To THE Editor of the Rossendale Division Gazette. 
Sir,— I have read with equal pleasure Sir Thomat; 
Jirooka' address to his constituents in the valley a,na,' 
his speech at Rawtonatall last evening, when'aa the 
Unionist candidate, ho opened tbei yo-eleotion cam- 
paign ui a very decided imMMor. Coming to the sub- 
jects nientioi\o;^ i,n his address, he referred, I was glad 
to so,o, m the first place, to " temperance." In the 
coining goiioral election hundreds of speeches will be 
delivered to the electors of the United Kin<Tdoni on 
the same subject by scores of candidates fov Uieir^ 
Butlragos, and rightly so too, tor it is distinctly a very 
pressing quostiou, much more so than that of Home 
italo for Irolaud, and one that will not brook of any 
f 
urther delay. This is now admitted by the leaders 
of both parties. 
I now come to the subject matter of this letter, and 
in order to do so as briefly as possible, will feel obliged 
by your giving publicity to the following extracts from 
letters which have lately reached me, viz. :— 
From the Secretary of the London Chamber of 
Commerce. 
" I am fairly conversant with the question of coffee 
mixtures. Messrs. , one of the largest distribut- 
ing firms in the heart of London, and who confess to 
the introduction of 75 and 85 percent, of chicory in 
theii tins without the slightest intimation to consumers 
as to the extent of the adulteration, have, for years, 
declined to sell coffee mixtures at all, and have only 
given way lately owing to the pressure — if not the 
necessity — of supplying the demand for them, as the 
trade generally continues to sell them in tins as 
mixtures only. As regards the purity question you 
are right in assuming that this Chamber was in- 
terested in the matter, and some years ago, when 
Mr. Gladstone's Bill, to which yon refer was passed, 
we did all we could in Parliament to get the exact pro- 
portions of the different ingredients indicated on the 
labels. — The president of the Chamber, at that time, 
Mr. Magniac, M.P., brought in an amendment to 
this effect, but the Grocery interest which preferred 
that no indication should be given was too strong for 
us and we had to accept the compromise contained 
iu the Act as it now stands. I will, however, consult 
the commercial legislative committee of the chamber 
with the view of considering whether sufficient 
time has elapsed to move for an amendment of the 
old Act." 
From Alfred W. Stokes, f. c; s., f. i. c, Public 
Analyst for Paddington and other London 
Parishes.— December 23rd, 1891. 
" 1 entirely agree with you aa to the idiocy of the 
present exemption (practically) of oofifee (?) from the 
Adulteration Act. 1 have tried to bring public opinon 
to bear on the matter, but it is only from outside 
pressore that we can hope to hsve the law altered. 
— Again, under date 5th January, 1892, Dr. Stokea 
wrote to me as follows: — "I could not send you the 
particulor report referred to by the Standard, — vide 
the leading article on coffee adulteration in that paper 
under date 12th November, 1891, because I had not 
one left. I sent you, however, another that covered 
the same ground. In my opinion there are s great 
number of people who have never had the chance of 
tasting pure coffee, so universal is the adulteration, 
I am very very pleased to see the vigorous way yp,u 
are trying to rouse the public conscience in the ma* ter. 
Would that I could rouse the conscience of 
E. Gladstone, for he it was who under pressure of the 
Grocers' vote, not only gave them licer> ses to sell in- 
toxicating liquor, but at the same time under it& 
Coffee Adulteration Act, 38 and S9 Vict,, o 63, per- 
mitted free license to Grocers to adulterate 'coitee to 
auy extent, even to 99 per cent of chicory if the pre. 
senoe of one per cent of coffee could be proved, 
provided the vile compound was labell?^ simply " coffee 
mixture " and " sold as mixture (^feoffee and chicory" 
on alternate sides of the tina or packets. Moreover 
even althouga "Coffee" should be asked for, and a tin, 
ot ttjis vi'e mixture proffered ih© public analyst is 
under this truly vi<?iou8 law, anable to exact axy 
penalty wha^eyijr, the magistrates ruling that the wosdl 
printed oa the tins were under the Act, a suflioient 
(\el'iin(;e. " Vide Sid/idard, November \2th, 1891. 1 
(januot better describe this truly Bhoeking state ofi' 
things than by quoting some of Mr. \Y. ^1, Gladstone's^ 
own words in his last speech h\ ijipndon before de- 
parting for Biarritz:— 
-' I indicate it with fge];^^.^ of pain, of leooil. aJmosi 
of horror-no word, 4fl^rt ot horrible .4 fit to deaoribo 
It. -W e have So i^lnab tor such a sSate of things. "VVe 
must le. every know what Ls and what is not 
BU onpnco bv clear enumeration. I look forward to 
the issue with cheerful faith when the population 
nmy bit down uiidtr the shadow of beneficent legisla- 
tion, and with confidecoe iu the Lfgisl&tare to live 
and die in contentment and in peace " 
