Martinsburgh gazette. [volume] (Martinsburgh, Va. [W. Va.]) 1810-1825, 1824-05-20
From the Ne1c York american.


co strewed about Hanover square, sa
we'd from some wreck, and sold al
auction, inquired OF q purchaser
what use could be made of il, re.
marking, that it seemed fairly salura-
ted with salt water, and not a little
soiled with the gravel and filth Of the
street. The information | obtained
was very much to the prejudice OF
snuff tGkers and excited afresf my
dislike OF that unseemly practice.
The man OF snuff was free 10 allow
that the tobacco would not answer for
chc,oing, nor for smoking, on nc.
count of the dissgreeable favor it
would give; bat, being dried aud
ground into powder, it made, iofsooth,
a very delectabie article for stuffing
into gentlemen and ladies noses. /
bethought me, thcreupop, what would
be thought Of a son OF nature, Chcro-
kee, for instance who should witness
the process of snuff taking, and then 60
among the polished, the civilized,
and clearly circles Of our land, and see
them put that vile, that poisonous,
and, thus manufactured, that dirty
powder, into the very fountain and
test of scent and smell, l verify be
lieye that such man would think such
men but little short of fools. can a
gree with chewing, for it seems ma
tural; The mouth having been made to
masticate articles, oc food; and those
who will chew what was not exactly
made for chewing, why let them -.
they have the worst of it. But the
nose is quite different article, and
never was intended for storehouse
Tor tobacco, ground into powder.
In fact y it were given me to choose
between celibacy and a snuff taking
wife, Notwithstanding ] love matrimo
ny, / would cen suffer my generation
to be cut off. Fearful of calamity
so dire, | made it special article of
contract, | do not say "bcfore the no.
y man." but certainly prior to seeing
him, that my betrothcd should not
take snuff, and l would not chew to-
bacco or drink rum. Now in honest
guise, this same beloved were this
lay to take it into her head to violate
Ter agreement and enter upon the snuff
akiT% system, with its concomitant
evils OF snuff bottles, red bandanna,
bad breath, discolored skin, and usaaI
lone of voice, l believe in my heart |
should be tempted TO set off for her sep
GrGte and individual use, benefit and
behoof, one third of my estate, as in
laorc melancholy cases made and pre-
vifed ~.
You see how it is, ladies', and not
alone, but you also, gentlemen snuff
takers. The Diggers at the south, as
Harry Birch calls them, address them
selves, first to the care and culture of
he infant tobacco plant, and then to
curing and packing it. Such as es.
capes the danger OF the sea, must, rot,
SIC /. manufactured into plug, pigtail,
and ladies twist, and the inferior quail
lies ale prepared for smoking-But
such as will answer for none OF the
aforesaid purposes, because loo filthy,
is carefully dried with Quanlum suf
Iicient Of mud and gravel ground into
snuff. Then comes tie oil of roses
The powdered glass, and any thing
and every thing, even TO old coffin
boards, as the arecdotc goes, which
can make the nose Jingle, the principal
thing in reguisition, as ] take it, with
snuff takers. On the whole, it is an
Infamous habit, and in women, detcs
table as it is, it is still more so in men.
And what makes it more insuf'erabIr,
is the fact that it rarely has the plea OF
necessity, being in nine times out of
ten practice as idle and useless as it
is unscemly and vile.
Habit and fashion exert an extraor-
binary influence over men, and in
different ages Of the world have
wrought divers and most singular
chanses in the manners and customs
Of civilized society. Since then, we
are so much the creatures Of habit, and
possess, like race OF animals lille
lo1cer than ourselves in the scale Of
being, the initiative faculty and incli
nations in an extraordinary degree,
all that remains is, to make as wise
selection Of habits as possihlc--and OF
the bad ones, since bad ones there are
and mist be--choose those the least
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