Inquisitive Sippers

In the Manhattan office of the U. S. Appraiser of Customs, last week, seven solemn gentlemen sat down for a series of unmannerly, inquisitive tea parties. Ignoring social usage, they did not gather at tea time but in the morning when their senses were acute. Ignoring polite tradition, they sniffed each cup vigorously, filled their mouths full, then spewed into large brass cuspidors. No hostess was present to pour tea from the hundred assembled samples, nor was there any host except the U. S. Government. The nearest to such a functionary was, however, John Joseph McNamara, Chairman of the Board and a tea sampler for 14 years. Sitting first, he gathered other tasters around him in this order: Robert A. Lewis, Boston; Charles F. Hutchinson, Manhattan; A. P. Irwin, Philadelphia; Edward Bransten, San Francisco; Arthur T. Hellyer, Chicago; J. J. Shaw, Seattle.

Once a year do the prime teatasters of the U. S. gather for this function. Their duty: to safeguard U. S. tea-buyers from tea that is below standard quality and purity. Each year about 100,000,000 pounds of tea are offered for U. S. importation. In 1922, 1.85% was found inferior; in 1924, only 0.06%. Last year of 93,593,264 pounds, 0.123% was turned down. Usually Canton oolong, the tea Chinamen like, receives the highest percentage of rejection for poor quality. Damage and deterioration in shipping are important quality-lowering factors. Once artificial coloring was the chief cause of rejections for impurity, now teas rejected for this reason are mostly merely guilty of containing too much extraneous matter.

A U. S. citizen drinks a pound of tea a year. Canadians consume six, Britons eight and a half, while Australians and New Zealanders are not satisfied until they have nine.

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