Show THE TEA DRINKERS From Ceylon eylon to Australian Bush ush Yesterday when wo we 0 vent went out driving with our Australian friends wo yo took look with I I us In tho cart Crt some tea and te teacups Cui i The The- tea already mixed with milk and I I cream was cor contained In a a. tin wrapped trapped I around with flannel to k keep p In the tho heat I It Jt was T as not that hat wo we going far Car afield but butas as w we should l be bo out out at l the usual I time for tor or ten tea we took with us us' our sup sup- I ply I Today we wo went for tori a longer lonser excursion Into the bush so ro w we carried d with 1 u ua Us the tho I dr dry tea tta leaves es and a a billy bills bill vo We ob obtAIned ob- ob I tamed water nt at a farm and azia at ot 4 o'clock wo we tied the horse lighted a a. fire tire of ot dry eucalyptus s twigs picked up by the wayside way way- side and soon lOon had hod tho ho wat water r boiling and I the tea tM made Tea IK JS Indeed a 0 necessity to theAu I Wo Se have vo I tea In tho the early carly mornIng morning morn- morn Ing Ins and BUd tea at breakfast At 11 o'clock we again have tea with cake cako or biscuit biscuits and fr fruit lt An Australian Invited to tea unless afternoon has boon booti specified Is III likely to drop in at 11 o'clock o'clock for for at least In country towns and In the bush this little midmorning meal is an Tea may be served with lunch It must not be ml missed ed In the afternoon and It appears again at supper Nor are We wo an any lon longer er surprised J If we are arc offered tea ten Just before foro retiring to bed Tea la is one o of tho the things which In the bush Is III never ne refused to the sundowner tho Australian namo nam-e for fors the forthe the hobo It Is the standby of ot tho the vagabond yet no less lessof lessof of all who work ork and all who travel If you go SO by rail and at any station the tho train waits walts for a a minute or two you will sec ceo a a. rush to the tho refreshment room and the men no less than the tho women from third class or 01 observation car seek nock the counter where re tea Is served There allIs all allis allis is ready for them the tea Itea scalding hot well made and Dond mixed with milk beIng poured out in cups as s the train appeared and placed on a shelf shel below the counter counterS But before you have reached th the tho station station station sta sta- tion the tho car conductor has asked It If you ou wish for tor tea and brings It to you on onIL ona ona a IL tray so IIO soon scon as as' as the station Is rached Tea Is In much gr greater later demand In Australia than In Ceylon where so 80 much of ot It grows grons To be sure lure the natives of ot Ceylon do not like to bo be seen either eating or drinking and so during our visit to the Island we we did not exactly discover discover discover dis dis- dis- dis cover to what extent tea Is consumed by tho the But those facts that wo we O ascertained during our walks through h the plantations provide excellent matena material mate mat na rial for tor small talk wh when n Australian visitors vis via Ho drop In at 11 o'clock and sometimes remain to chat on the tho veranda veranda- till lunch Is 15 served The fact tact that proves prove most Interesting nt Is that the different kinds of or tea come from the tho same plants plants the the buds or tips lips providing flowers lowers and these them With tho the first young leaf orange orangeS pekoes while the older leaves give gho and congon congon con- con gon bOn tea With what curiosity did we obtain our fIrst view of ot a tea tta field In th the hIghlands highlands high hIgh- lands of Ce Ceylon the lon the cultivated d soil soli giving giving vIns v- v ing Ins In the distance the effect of ot a great r rod red d patch on the tho wooded side of a moun moun- lain tain As you OU approach the garden has the appearance pp aranco of ot a vineyard in the south of or France In ln California or southern southern south south- ern em Australia Every year or so the bushes are aro pruned so 10 that they do not grow fOW to a a. height of more than a few feet above the tho ground The leaves are area a shiny green reen and the small white blossom blos bios corn som ha has a sweet scent like the flower of ot an orange tree In many of or the plantations plantations plantations plan plan- wo we saw rubber robber and other forest trees growing glowing among the tea and also allio beans peas and clover plants having the power of absorbing nitrogen front from the tM air and thus enriching tho the soil The tea plant 1 is IR not Indigenous to Cey Cey- Ion lon It was we were told not not- cultivated cultivated cult cult- to an any large larse extent until toward the latter part of the tho nineteenth cen con tury tiny Tea forms now the principal export ex ox- port from the island leland and it proved the salvation Uon of the planters whoso whose energies were orl originally devot devoted d to coffee grow grow- ing The coffee cortee mania says a writer was at Its climax in In 18 Capitalists from J England arrived by every packet So d dazzling was as the prospect that expenditure was unlimited The rush roah for or land I I I I I I I I I I I I I I the movement I was wall paralleled only bY California and Aus hUll the mines of ot toward rd trails but bul with this P painful n J Ceylon instead that that the enthusiasts enthusiast in of ot thronging to disinter were hurrying theIr gold to bury The boom wa followed by tho I nevi table collapse which in turn was i succeeded suc- suc d b bv by brighter days for tho the planters Then Th a fungus blight that has proven largely largely- ineradicable swept over tho the mountains destroying toe tIle coffeo plantations planta- planta Sons Those Thos that remain are arc now largely larsel scenes s of ne neglect lect It was M as the lie growing demand for tea which at this critical mo- mo mont saved Raved the situation for the thc planter They are mostly Englishmen these planters who when they first came out omit outto to the Island island as ns appi apprentices entices are kno known n n nas las as 85 creepers substitute In the slang of or Ceylon for lor the tenderfoot of or the west wesl o otho or orthe orthe the tho new chum of Australia On their plantations high on on th the tho Inland mountains many of or these planters pass their lives Uve largely of ot Isolation from their fellow rellow white men and often tho they dwell In rain or ml mist t for a great part of or the year Th Tho coolies under their direction are industrious and friendly but It Is necessary necessary essary that discipline should b be strictly maintained and punishment where It IK is needed Is likely to come In a a. rough and ready rend f nn It Is la a 8 remarkable experience nce to come from Ceylon to Australia In Ceylon tho employer is ts Is indeed a master and a as asserts as- as his hil supremacy by treating th tho natives natives' na- na tIres tives' usually with consideratIonS consideration certainly not with cruelty but largely as they ap apparently ap- ap parentI expect as 88 as if they were altogether altogether altogether alto alto- gether and unalterably inferior Their rate of wages Is from 30 to 50 SO cents a day doy of or Ce Ceylon Celon Ion money or money or about 10 to 17 Amei- Amei Ican cents In Australia thou AustralIa though h. h of ot course one does not compare white labor with with that of ot the oriental oriental oriental-it It lt Is tho the employee who may maybe bo be said to bo ho master of the situation and 2 a day appears to be a a. sort sorL of ot minImum minimum min mm- w wage ge But the coolies of ot Ce ceylon Celon lon are well con content tent with what they earn earno which indeed supplies all their wants and Is much touch more than they would receive in India The majority of ot the tho workers on the tea plantations ar are immigrants from the northern country and these will work ten hours hours' a a. day without ceasing whereas the nathe natIve are by no means fond of ot labor In the fields Wonderfully Wonderfully- picturesque Is the sight of ot ott t the dark duk hued m n nand and women in n brilliant costumes standing amid the deep green foliage of ot tho ho tea tell which often gro grows n In wild and rock rocky places where you Would suppose no plant could flourish It is chiefly women and children whose deft lIngers fingers are ere employed employ In nipping off oft the bud at tho top lop of ot the tea shoot and one two O or three leaves heaves below I It tIme the crop being dropped into b huge h go ge baskets carried on the lie back At about 4 In the afternoon afternoon an an an hour when a great reat part of or tho the civilized d world orld Is occupied in tea drinking wo drinking wo would see seethe seethe the coolies coones arriving with their harvest at atthe atthe atthe the factory where hero In duo duc cO course the leaf is withered and rolled and fermented dried with hot air sifted Into grades and packed In lead lined boxes Green tea Is made nade In tho the same manner as black except that the process of fermentation Is 18 omitted omit omit- ted loo ed Tho The Tho last stage of all fg fa tho movement nt ot of f the tho tea clients chests to tho the nearest railway station or to Colombo in th the primitive bullock ullock carts with their big hoods of palm aim leaf leat Wo We would watch them driving off ff over the bright red roads that wind through tho the jungle and the tho its forests of ot palms palm alms Oh tn the polo sat the tho driver half bait naked aked a colored cloth wound around round his middle and tho the bullocks Were curiously marked marke sometimes over o the entire body aM fid the head with which Indicated In- In the owner and his caste Somo Some of oC the he are re inflicted at the direction lon Ion of the native animal doctor to cure or r to ward ore oft ailments aliments Thus go tho the chests to the docks to be dropped into the holds of ot ships and carried car- car sled led to the ends of of the earth One Ono can picture all the movement of ot the warehouses ware ware- houses the houses the merchants and the brokers brokers' running down dOn when the ships aro are unloaded to draw their samples the samples sam sam- plea ples b being infused in little white cups awaiting the Judgment of ot the t tea a taster the he valuing the tho cataloguing the bu bustling cene scene of the sale by auction the tilling filling up of or weight notes and warrants and orders order to carriers or railroads And so somehow or other the tea does at last reach the grocer and com comes around In his rattling van to your our door It may be served d in a 8 sliver silver teapot pot I borne orne in instate state b by the butler attended by I his ils little cove covey of footmen It Il may appear appear ap ap- pear in delicate china brought In by a dainty maid It may moy come in an earthenware earthenware earthen earthen- I ware pot Come Como as it will or it may it itis I is welcome But sweetest of or all all aU is the tea tea from the I billy IHy made over the fire lire your own hands I have havo built In the bush bush bush-a. a sr green n twig laid across the top of or tho the can to keep the lie thona na flavor nar r of ot smoke from the tho water And It needs nOt not to make moke it acceptable the I flavor of 01 scandal and small talk which tho the I gossips sit around their teapots toa- toa pots of silver slIver and china of ot priceless pattern pattern pat- pat tern ern and amid color in the drawing dra rooms of or Vanity Fair ANNA WOODWARD |