The Sunday Oregonian., October 13, 1901, PART FOUR, Page 30, Image 30

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Copyright, 1901, by Prank G. Carpenter.)
.AMAIULNG. Java, May 22. From
the coffee island of Java I Tvrite
tnesa coffee notes for the great
est coffee-lovers on earth. The
Irish are Xamous as whisky-
arlnkcrs, the English as tea-drinkers, the
Germans as heer-drinkers, the French as
wine-drinkers, but the Yankees lead the
vrorid as coffee-drinkers. T7e consume al
jnost half of all the coffee grown upon
wth. W annually -use about 800,000,000
pounds, or, on the average, more than 10
pounds a year for every man, -woman and
child among us. Our coffee hill in190O7
was more than $52,000,000, and- -within 10
years "we have spent as much as ?875,O00,-
000 lor coffee alone.
"Ve take the best of the Java coffee.
The exporters here Jell me that the cream
of the product of this island and Su
matra goes to the United States, and that
the most of it is at such high prices that
it -sells only to the Tich. We take the bulk
61 the coffee of 'Brazil, and of recent
years are buying milch. Irom Central
America, Our consumption is on the in
crease, and there Is no doubt that -we
shall be spending from 550,000,000 to $100,
000,000 annually for coffee during the rest
of our national life.
Coffee in. Onr Colonies.
The matter is being studied by the Agri
cultural J3epartment in Washington, and
-within the next few years experimental
collet plantations -will he established in tne
iia-walian Islands, in Porto HIco, Samoa
and the Philippines. At present the only
coffee-producing country -we have, the
product of -which is of much importance,
Is Porto Hico. It grows some of the best
coffee of the -world coffee -which Is better
than the average product of Java, but
-which, owing to the lack of knowledge as
to its excellency, is sold chiefly in Franco
and Spain. Porto Hico produces 34,000,000
pounds of coffee a year, and its product
might be made 10 times as great as it is
now.
The Hawaiian Islands are just beginning
to raise coffee. There are about 300,000
acres there -which are now being de
veloped, and the plantations are paying
enormously. During my stay in Honolulu
1 -was told that coffee-raising netted 40 per
cent on the investment, and that the Isl
and of Hawaii had already extensive es
tates, and that more were being laid out.
In the southern part of the Philippines,
on the Island of Jolo, I found a German
named Shuck who had a plantation of 35,
000 trees. I went over -the property with
nlm and found every tree loaded. The
trees are only three years old, hut they
-were breaking down with fruit, and Mr.
Bhuck told me that he had already been
offered 14 cents a pound for his crop.
I have traveled through the biggest cof
fee districts of Brazil, Mexico and Porto
llico, but I haye never seen such luxu
,iiant trees as those on the Island of Jolo
iThe plantation was cut out of the forest
land its proprietor told me that it has re
quired little cultivation.
Adapted to Coffee-Ralslner.
Most of the Sulu archipelago is adapted
to coffee-raising. I saw luxuriant trees
at Zamboanga, on Mindanao, and I doubt
not coffee plantations -would be successful
- throughout that island, as well as on the
islands farther north.- X.nzon was at one
time noted as a coffee producer, but the
.trees were destroyed by the blight. Of
i recent years the scientists have been ex
perimenting to counteract this disease, and
the probability is that the Philippine Isl
.sinds -will some day produce a large part
of the 800,000,000 pounds of coffee used by
our people.
You may Temember that one of the best
brands of the coffee of the past was "old
Government Java." This came from the
'coffee plantations owned by Holland on
this island. For many years the Govern
ment was the chief coffee-grower here. It
nad thousands of acres of coffee estates,
-which it managed by forcing the natives
to work upon them, In lieu of taxes.
These estates yielded a vast Tevenue.
From 1S31 to 1875 Java turned into the
Du,tch treasury about $2SO.OQ),000, and the
most of this came from coffee.
The Government is raising a good deal
of coffee today, but the business is grad
ually going into the hands of private par
ties. During my stay in Java I have vis
ited a number of the Government planta
tions and have also gone over some of the
private estates. The Government lands
are worked on shares with the natives, the
Dutch getting the lion's share. When
k.
(Continued from Page Twfenty-flve.)
omy of nature she enters Into no one has
ever been able to discover. She is a rem
nant of the days of inquisitions and re
fined tortures. Even the proprietors feel
a resentment toward her for consuming
the time of their employes, disordering
stock and trying one's patience. She is
merely a systematic "prlcer," who has
seldom any intention of buying, and who,
still less frequently, buys.
Perhaps the most "'difficult" woman who
appears in the afternoon is the arrogant
Mrs. "Impressed-With-Her-Posltlon." She
has a majestic sweep as she approaches
the counter. Her manner of addressing
the girl is open sufferance. She. is the
type which cannot see why, with the new
fangled cash boxes and highly modernized
delivery system, the stores cannot pro-1
-vide something more mechanical to serve
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Marshal Daendells took charge of the Gov
ernment many of the native princes had
coffee estates which they ran with forced
labor. The Dutch East India Company
took Its tribute in coffee from them, and
arranged with them to buy the balance of
their crop at just about 1 cent a pound.
Daendells urged the people of the high
lands all over the island to plant cofteo,
and he remitted taxes on this account.
This policy was continued later on, and
shortly after the English left Java every
family of certain districts was required to
keep 1000 coffee trees in bearing on cer
tain of the village lands and to give or
sell two-nfths of the crop to the Govern
ment. It had to clean and sort the coffee
and deliver it to the public warehouses.
Here they were paid about 3 or 4 cents a'
pound for it, and this, notwithstanding the
same coffee was selling for as much as
from 15 to 20 cents a pound at the sea
ports nearby. At the same time the Gov
ernment gave percentages to the chiefs of
the various villages according to the qual
ity of the coffee produced In their respec
tive districts.
They established rules of culture, or
ganized nurseries to provide the best of
plants for the natives, and in this way im
proved the Java coffee plant until it was
one of the best of the world. The coffee
used at that time came from plants im
ported from Arabia. Then a blight came
which destroyed almost all the plantations
of that variety and under which the coffee
Industry of Java was about ruined. Just
before the blight Java shipped 300,000,000
pounds of Java coffee to Europe. Today
her exports are something like 60,000,000
pounds. She is raising more of the Sibe
rian coffee, of which I shall write later.
Some of the best coffee estates I have
seen are on the slopes of the Tenger
Mountains, in Northeastern Java. I
reached them by taking train at Soerbaya
and then going on ponies about a day's
ride through the hills. I rode for miles
along the sides of the mountains through
coffee plantations. There were millions of
trees, the most of them not much bigger
around than fishing-poles, covered with
varnished green leaves. In some places
the plantations were young, the bushes
being shaded by banana plants and trees.
In others they were loaded with berries,
which men, women and children were
picking In baskets and carrying home.
There were villages scattered here and
there through the coffee districts, collec
tions of little houses or woven bamboo
basket work, which looked more like play
houses than anything else. Each village
had a gate leading Into It. The houses
were fenced with bamboo poles, set cross
wise. There was coffee drying in the sun
in front of seme of the houses, and be
THE
her-somethlng, anything, that she and
her kind could more completely ignore.
The mere consciousness that the one who
waits on her is of her own sex irritates
her.
She does not know, poor, tawdry bit of
cheap aristocracy, that the girl before
her heartily and justly despises her. She
thinks the girl envies her for her flne
dress and would-be flne airs. She does
not know that the girl is mentally com
paring her with another woman the
"natural-born lady," as they say In the
South the real gentlewoman, who has a
correct estimate of eternal values and be
lieves in the aristocracy of honest labor.
It Is this one high type of womanhood
that redeems the whole sex In the girl's
mind. She knows that the girl has a
heart to feel slights, a mind to draw -fair
comparisons, a temper to show scorn for
pettiness, and usually a fine nature to ap
rrffflmB WOMEN &WNG UBEAN ToFrW.r '
'vEress " StfjP' jy Wnty&pJyj " ' n , . j -i S"S5S!SSSSIS!SS5SSSSS!?M'"-",i,"i'"'MgM,''MP'' r
m SP Jl ' ',,1, gA OREAJ COFFEE E5TATe7T ' ' qT5s
fore others I saw girls pounding the hulls
of the dried beans.
I asked how the government managed
its estates, and was told that the villages
were required to plant the coffee under
government supervision. The officials see
that the land Is prpperly cleared, the
plants set out and the trees cultivated un
til they come into bearing. The people
are paid for this work. After .vthls the
trees are divided up among the families
of 'the village, each having as much as
it can attend to. Each family is respon
sible for Its own .trees and their product.
The different members of the family gath
er the berries, carry them home and dry
them in the sun. When thoroughly dried
they are put Into wooden mortars and the
hulls pounded off. The chaff of skins and
hulls Is then winnowed, and the beans
are carried to the warehouses and sold
to the government at 15 florins a picul or
at $6 for 133 pounds.
This is too cheap for the natives to
make anything. They are not interested
In the business, and they will not culti
vate the plants carefully, I am told that
If the price were doubled, there would be
a great deal more old government Java,
and that of a ,better quality. At pres
ent the best Java coffee is raised on pri
vate estates.
The government cofferwarehouses are
scattered throughout the coffee districts,
and they are also to be found In the
larger cities. I visited one hi the town
of Pocspo, where I stopped on my way
to Bromo volcano." It was a building of
GIRL
preciate true courtesy. She knows,
too, that In the process of hand
ling goods and hearing managers, clerks
and frequently members of the firm dis
cuss their value, the girl learns more than
ever she can about what Is offered for
sale, no mat'ter how extensive her shop
ping may be. It Is to her advantage to
hear the girl's opinion, for it is a law
among salespeople, when thus deferred to,
to give the benefit of an honest judgment
as though buying for their own use.
When night comes and time has been
rung "out" once more, and the vexations
of clerking have been left behind until
the next day, is It any wonder that the
girl finds herself jarred and criss-cross
and rasped past endurance? She has been
compelled, to bear things with Imperturba
ble calm and smiling patience. Instead
of flying over the counter and boxing Miss
Insolence on the ears, she has smiled and
woven bamboo walls and a roof of red
tiles, .with a cement floor. , On the wide
porch in front' of it were scales for weigh
ing the coffee, "and within, piled up like
so much oats on the floor, was a little
mountain of greep coffee beans. In the
pile were two 'wooden scoopshovels for
bagging the coffee, and two half-naked
men were at work preparing it for ship
ment to market.
Near the door, sitting cross-legged upon
the floor, before a table a foo't high, was
a turbaned Javanese in spectacles, He
was the native government official who
bought the coffee and sent It to the sea
coast. He told me that the government is
now paying less than 5 cents a pound for
Its coffee the same that we pay our re
tailers 50 cents for In the United States;
so you see the Dutch are not doing a
losing business With the natives.
Ilwas much interested in the coffee nur
series. These are of great extent. In
places they cover the sides of the hills,
great sheds roofed with bamboo and filled
with thousands of bamboo pots, each con
taining a coffee seed or plant. Some ot
the plants .were just bursting forth; oth
ers were a few Inches high, and some a
foot high. The plants are set out in the
same earth in which they grow in the
nursery. They are put only a few feet
apart and are shaded when young. At
first they are kept free from weeds, but
when the trees grow, the shade from the
ooffee keeps down the weeds.
I wish I could take you on a pony-back
ride through these coffee estates. They
HIND THE COUNTER.
smiled and coined those smiles into dol
lars for the firm.
On one occasion the wife of an eminent
clergyman was heard to remark patron
izingly to ' a girl who had made out a
long list of goods, In a neat, legible hand,
"Why, I can read what you write! So
unusual!" The girl ' waited until , th&
change came (back. Then, after counting
It out with dellberateexactness, 'she re
marked, smilingly: "You see, I can count
as well as write."
Mrs. Dominie looked amazed. "What
did you say?" 'she demanded. "That I
had the benefit of the public school sys-J
tern In my youth," the girl answered,
sweetly. Now thit woman has never been
quite sure that the girl did" not mean some
impertinence, but it has never dawned on
her that she herself was at fault in tne
matter; that's something quite beyond
the comprehension of womeji of her sort. J
are Interspersed with forests, and there
are many monkeys, great, long-tailed
black fellows, which jump from branch to
branch and from one tree to another. You
-see them squatting at the roots of the
branches and creeping around the tree
trunks, grinning and chattering at you.
Now you will see one clinging to a limb
200 feet above the ground, and now catch
sight of one jumping 15 feet from one
tree to another.
The vegetation is everywhere luxuriant.
There are palm trees and banana plants.
There are all sorts of winding vines. The
very plants seem to love one another; the
trees twist themselves about their fel
lows and grow up together. Even the
dead branches are covered with green;
they are clothed with orchids and moss,
the green and flowers of the air forming
a winding sheet over the dead branches.
There are orchids everywhere, and such
orchids! Here one has wound itself around
a branch like a necklace; there one squats
like a monkey at the root of a limb, and
farther over are great masses of green,
out of which come blossoms of many hues.
The soil of Java is exceedingly rich. The
land Is one of volcanoes, but Its volcanoes
spout forth mud Instead of stones, and
this mud is of a chocolate brown, which,
when dry, becomes a flne dust many feet
thick. In the coffee district, it has a red
dish tinge, and is probably impregnated
with iron. The best coffee regions are
'from 2000 to 4000 feet above the sea, and
some of the very best are In the Praenger
or mountainous provinces of Western
Java.
In conversation with some of the chief
American coffee exporters at Batavia, 1
was told that the very best Java coffee
of today comes from Sumatra. It Is from
the District of Padang, and Is of the Ara
bian variety. It brings a higher price
in Batavia than the best Java sold In our
ordinary stores brings at wholesale In
New York, so that what is sold as pure
Java for from 35 to 40 cents a pound in
.our stores Is In all probability not Java
at. all. The best Java and the Sumatra
Java "cost the wholesalers In New York
at least 3Q cents a pound. The exporters
The relations between employers and
employes in the great department stores
Is a subject of more or less speculation,
and one not understood by outsiders.
Many of the ideas current are most er
roneous and unfair to all concerned. The
average employer is a man of humanest
sympathies. Toward the girl clerk he
evinces a marked degree of consideration
and kindness. It is most unusual for a
woman applicant or employe's necessity
to be taken advantage- of by him.
Respect and courtesy are measured, by
him to the girl clerk, full as generously
as to any other woman in the work-a-day
world.
The matter of wages Is being adjusted
In the saleswoman's favor, thus doing
away with one of the strongest arguments
against girls clerking. The girl Is loyal
to her employer and to everything per
taining to the house. It Is a matter of
here tell me that more so-called Java cof
fee Is consumed In the United States alone
than is raised in all the Dutch East In
dies, and this, notwithstanding that a
great deal of the product goes to Europe.
I was told during my stay In Brazil that
the most of the Java coffee sold In the
United States was really Brazilian coffee,
and I do not doubt the statement.
Notwithstanding this, a great deal of
pure Java goes to the United States, but
it -brjng3 very high prices and it Is some
times used to flavor other coffee. The pure
article cannot possibly be sold cheap, so
.when you are told you are getting a bar
gain in pure Java coffee don't take it.
The finest Sumatra coffee comes from
the descendants of Arabian plants. It Is
very carefully cultivated, and after being
picked, Is sorted by hand. In the ware
houses here I have seen scores of Javan
ese girls squatting down, with basket
trays of coffee in front of them. They
handle almost every grain, putting the
small one Into one place and the larger
ones Into another, sorting them as care
fully as though they were grains of gold.
As the coffee comes In it Is of a rich
olive green color. It Is left for some tlmo
on the floor of the warehouse, when It
turns a light yellow- No coloring matter
whatever Is used, and thecoffee is shipped
as pure as it is on the plantation. The
best varieties are sent to New York In
sailing vessels which carry nothing else.
The coffee steams and cures during the
long three months' voyage, thereby so
much Improving Its flavor that sailing
vessels are preferred to steamers. Cof
fee, like wine, Improves with age, and up
to a certain limit the older it Is the better
it is.
Some of the private estates of Java are
perhaps more scientifically managed than
any other coffee lands of the world. At
Slnagar, a vast plantation near Bulten
zorg, everything connected with the curing
of the coffee is done by machinery. The
trees are most carefully cultivated and
the greatest care taken to produce flne
fruit.
I saw, there one machine which cleans
20,000 pounds of coffee In a day. It re
congratulation to most employers that
they have such warm partisans.
Between the clerks there Is more or less
good comradeship, although, of course,
everybody does not know everybody else,
and there are cliques and factions, with
their little hostilities and Jealousies. Let
there be a general appeal for aid for some
one of their number in distress, and there
Is a unanimous response. They are very
human, afterall. In such a complex,
heterogeneous mass It is remarkable that
so much brotherly kindness, so little of
selfishness exists. The Irksome and dull
routine of the life cannot wholly obliter
ate the fact that they .are tollers together;
the least they can do is avoid adding to
each other's burdens.
Humanity is much the same the world
over, and the girl behind the counter pos
senses the same possibilities for pesfect
womanliness as does the woman to whom
duces the dried pulp to a powder, but
does not injure thograln., After this the
coffee Is further cleaned In a simple fan
ning mill. One of these machines costs
about 5320 in gold. I should think they
would be of great value in Porto Bico.
The finest of the Java coffee, as wo
know it. Is from plants of Arabian de
scent. It was this variety that was af
fected by the blight. The trees are small,
slender and delicate, coming originally
from the hlll3 of Yemen In Arabia from
about the same region as the Mocha cof
fee. In that country tho Mocha coffeo
still grows, but there is so little of It that
it Is safe to say that not a grain of it
comes to the United States.
Sold as Mocha.
Twenty-five years ago about 10,000 tons
ot Mocha coffeo were exported, but It Is
said that the production is now not half
that, and that it is all consumed In Mo
hammedan households. During my stay
in Brazil I saw thousands of bags of cof
feo which I was told would be sold as
Mocha, and I visited warehouses where
there were sorting machines, In which
the little round grains were picked out
from the rest, to be put into bags and
sold as Mocha.
The coffee mo3t raised in Java today is
the Llberlan coffee. It Is a coarse, large
grained variety. The beans are three
times as large as the real Mocha, and
they have a different flavor. The Siberian
trees are stronger than any others. They
have larger leaves and they grow thick
and stout. They produce far more than
other varieties and trees have been known
to yield 16 pounds. They will grow at a
lower altitude and In Liberia are found
wild not far from the seashore.
This tree has been taken to Java because
it will withstand the blight and other
parasites, and also on account of Its pro
lific bearing. The plantation on the Is
land of Jolo has nothing but Llberlan
trees, and I understand that there are
large plantations of similar trees near by
in Borneo. I doubt whether this coffee
would sell well in the United States, al
though there is a good demand for It In
Europe. FRANK G. CARPENTER.
she sells goods. Many a woman. In a
more fortunate position, from a worldly
point of view, has cause to envy her.
A girl, may dlgnlfly any position she
holds, and this is what the sneering, half
educated herd should learn to appreciate.
The woman who can say "shop girl" with
a curl of the lip and a tone of disdain
shows her ignorance. She Is stupid In not
having kept sufficiently abreast with the
times to know that "shop girl" Is usually
unite as synonymous with "gentlewoman""
as "customer."
It means, something to be a good clerk.
It means the possession of the traits which
make a man manly or a woman womanly.
The sooner My Lady before the counter
recognizes this and allows It to control
her shopping airs the sooner will the girl
have less cause to despise her, as well as
fewer occasions to wonder if the foor
killer is not slighting his work.
HARRIET SINCLAIR PHILIPS.
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