Ways of Living.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 379, 13 August 1903, Page 2

Ways of Living.

i CHEWING GUM. claims tq b&Jbhe head®«*r quarters ■.lots gum;: f Jag and Hs2l shewing gum, -It-ig; assorted tbat more gum is manufactured asd coßsumecJ.ia (that city, than in any other, difference population"? not being considered, greatest manufacturers of chewing gum are numbered among its merchant princes. They find sit difficult tprpp?nd their incomes. But ii sayai; the'|Record Herald/ can claim and the beßt judges estimate that our people use about a ton of gum a day—that is 2900 boxes containing 2sosooMieceßi and costing very small expenditure fax tie amount of good thet is derived from the habit; for, while'gum chewing may'not he refined or elegant, it is coagijdered very healthful fpr the fame , reason that a cow chews her cud,'as* t believe : the elephant and - hippopotamus do .also. It aids digestion, vj>rev»ntßj cures insomnia!, ebncetftfatga tie mind and pro- '' 5 * S? _Being the headquarters of the chewing gnm'trust, the great* distributißg.point, and handles about half of the entire product of the combination, which is annually about 8,400,000 boxes of 100 pieces each, or a total of 840,000,000 pieces, of gam, which represents a payment of 8,000,00bd018. for the gum to the trust alone for a total of about 4000 tons.

A lightening calculator or any other mathematical sharp might use these figures as the basis of some veryHntereating statistics. Prof. Swing once Wrote a story about an in?eai6ui; sf' 'tifte? , Church of Holy Perf amoagi other things, invented •which, the force of the pressure of :%© fee| ; S^vtEjS^.ushers as they, the aisles was reservoir!; and used to pump tee nrgatiy and if the energy expended in chewing 840,000,000 pieces of gum could be conserved in the same way it would be an important addition to tbe world's economy. Assume that every motion of the gum chewer'e jaw represents .0101426 psuud, which is sufficient to raise one pound oneeighth of an iucb, and then mute your 'caicuiatipii.:;'; hj. lift) rr >" T f-' s T These statistics' include only the etiiclff guift.mannfaotured bjjhe is less than half of the total product ortEe country. They take no acooust of wuite and spruce gum, of which a large amount is sold, or the product, of ,lpcal djue;gists, and confectioners throughout the United States, of which no reliable information can be obtained. Nearly every tawu has a factory. Chicago has several outside the trust, which make their own special brands for a local market The agents of the trust in Chicago Handle about 150 cases, valued at 900Odois. a day. Tee retailers' profit is about 40' per sent. The first gummaker of important in America bore the .historic name, of Curtis. He founded an establishment' to 'make spruce gum in 1835, and his'children, trading under tho name of Curtis & Sons Company, still turn out a large amount of fee old-fashioned . kind, j But;, nobody knows who started the fashion'. Charles F. Granther, who is better poSt&d' on the subjects thaffany other man in Chicago, says that ;thera.neien.fc Egyptians, way back in the time of Cleopatra and tbe Pharaohs, used to chew gum, and perhaps Abraham and Isaac and perhaps Solomon and tho ,Q;aeen of Sheba had; <<he'habit/ but, there is no exact information oh the subject.. Tho guifl sold off the market nowadays is made from a- Bubstance called chicle, which exudes from ''the' zapote". tree, a tropical fruit, cultivated in .Central America, southern Mexico and the countries along the Spanish main. It bears Sa fruit* that looks like a russet apple, and contains a .juicy pulp that tastes like custard.! If you put a zapote on the ice until it is thoroughly chilled it is a good substitute for ice cream-or frozen custard, although it is'exceedingly sweet.

THE COST OF LIVING. Highly interesting side lights upon the cost of living in the middle of the eighteenth century ... are obtained from a perusal of an old pamphlet. The pamphlet is in the form of a letter sent td a city merchant, - and-is called Thoughts on a Modern Position, that £SO a year is abundantly sufficient for the Subsistence of Clerks. The writer says:—To show that this statement is as absurd and impudent as it is false and malignant, I-have made the following estimate .—- ■-•"" Breakfast. :.- . b. d. Bread and cheese and small beer; from the. chandler's shop ~ ~ 0 2 Dinner. Chuck beef or scrag of mutton, or sheep's trotters, or pig's ear . soused.- cabbage or potatoes, or parsnips, bread shd small beer, with half a pint of porter ,i 0 7 .oJ l . Sapper. Bread and cheese, with radishes,, ~or .encumbers, or onions V. ... 0 3 Sinan beer, and half a pint of .._ porter ..' 0 1-J-' Tit —_—_ „ Multiplied hy 7 :a:OX-X .:.w..;,.;. ~--? 710J 'Ansaaultionalrepast onSnndayJ. 0 4 The old-time writer alio irsJii. 6d.a week for lodgings. Pleasures include : Saturday night's club, one tankard of porter, 3|d, and under ' apparel, coal, candles and other necessary expenses," Embrace: : A wip, 18s>1 four/'day shirts, l&l 17s 6d; making do., 10s; two .coarser shirts to lie in, that- the dayi shirts may "be kept the cleaner, 9i. ~_,., :-, v .,,....-\ Church eipenseFare also put down, at 10s. The ,6nabite L m is ' the landlady's maid at Christmas,' who is to be transported ,by the present of a shilling. However, the writer makes his theoretical clerk spend MQIiHi and Bave 12s 9d out of his .£50.: The''result' is;: however, -not happiness* as Mr. Micawber would have us believe. - ; .,»,.