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Show Tei Driukin--. The custom of tea drinking is as old as the Chinese empire, and as early as 780 A. D. a duty was levied on the tea that grewwild on the Chinese mountains. mount-ains. But it is within two centuries that its use was adopted by the English, when the East Tea company imported it and it was sold at $35 a pound. Its uso waa confined to the royal household. In the reign of Henry VTI a refreshment consisting of tea and cakes was called a voide. Ou the occasion of the marriage dinner din-ner of Katharine of Arragon and Arthur, prince of Wales, the court chronicler wrote: "The evening refreshment called voide was brought in by fourscore earls, barons and knights, walking two and j two. Ipocras and comfits were offered. One noble servitor presented the golden spice plate, a second the cups, while a third of lower rank filled the enps from a golden ewer." Since then what Washington Irving calls the "motherly teapot" has become a power in the world. Detroit B'reo Press. |