Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1855-05-23
MAY e.
gaNits' Department.
Snuff Dipping.

Snuff Dipping.
We find the following humorous and ORR
ginal article on the Snuff Dippers Of North
Carolina" from tho Petersburg Kaleidoscope,
from the pen of Mrs. r. b. Hicks, EIitress.
We do not hold with strangers {" dipping"
into other peoples affairs, yet as oar fair
Virginia contemporary is not offensive in her
structures on the practice Of Snuff Dip
Plug" we hope our North Carolina Ladies
who indulge will read her article and
profit rs to them secmcth fit:
From he Petersburg Kaleidoscope.
The Snuff Dippers of North Carolina.
''Tis hard to say if greater want of skill
Appear IN writing or in judging i'll
But Of the two, less dangerous in the offence
To tire our patience than mislead our sense
PORE.
Deemiug ourself quite as competent to
write about snuff dipping as aboat the
'Naivete Of Genius, (Which leader we beg
TO say, en- PEASANT, we regarded as our chef
douvre, until better informed BY sundry
Tons, Dicks and HARRYs, who have ia
v9yed US with their opinion ofit), We make
Our most profound inclination to the fair
Carolinians, and hope they will excuse us
for thus unceremoniously dippingi into their
affairs. Strange to say, We know all about
dipping-not expcrimentally, but by way
Of strategy. We have trayersed the Old
North State from Warrenton to Whining
ton, and a pleasant journey it was. We
have, when we were. young and very gay,
gone honcy.suckling in old BERTHE. We
were not nursod upon a cypress knee
but We have caught fish i'll tue old Tar
river We have been down upon the
Sounds, and got aground upon the sand
banks Of Rip Van Wrinkles glorious old
State. We have rung ont, with teams of
young ladies, the soul,inspiring chorus Of
Judge GAsroN's famous song
'Hurrah hurrah! the Old North State forever!
Hurrah! hurrah! the good Old North StateP
w have wintered in Rllcigh, and com,
within an ace of summering at Nag's Head
We have walked up and down Fayetteville
street, from the State House to the Palace
aud we have watched with vigilant eye tn
idiosyncracics Of the matrons and daughter
Of North Carolina.
In a novel we wrote in 1858, to whic
we then looked, as we now look, for tina
immortality to which we perhaps so foolisf
ly aspire, we thus Described the fair dippel
as they appeared to us. We give the e'
tract for what it is worth
But Que defect bad this model fema
Il cannot call it a weakness, for Mr.
BRAXLEY had no wcakncsscs-onc dcfc
had she, which | cannot conscientious
pass over in silence. My beloved reade
will you believe it this neat, orderly, 81
exterminatiug woman rubbed snuff! S
kept n snuff box in her right pocket fill
with the strongest aud most pungentS Scot
snuff and she wentabout all day brandt.
ing u dangcrous.looking hickory stick wi
a mop end, which she was constantly d
ping into this huge black horn box, a
loading with snuff, which, I am sorry
say, was duly deposited in Mrs BRAXLE'
mouth. This singular practice, called
lower Nirginiaa and NoSth Carolina Rippi
is Of respectable standing. | have kno
many dippcrs in my life who, like my al
BRAxLgY, had but that one fault; an
must halt just here, in my description
my aunt, to pay my respects to dippir
Z Ladies who confess to taking a {
are, | regret to say, exceedingly fcroci
on the subject, They repcl iudiguar
any attack upon this ~faVorite and ge
pursuit. They fly at The hopeless vi
with tooth and nail who dares to inv
this their peculiar domain. They wan
hear nothing anybody has to say upon
subject, and will c%rustily bid any on
mind their own business and let them a
who intcrferes in any way with dipper
dipping. At the risk of a pair of
and to the damage Of one head at lea
walk iuto their ranks, and, finging d
the gauntl4t, take up the forbidden
jcct.
Dear readers, the most beautiful
rosy-lippcd creatures will, in North
lima, grow restless and peevish at
ping time They will cautiously d
lover, husband, guest or friend, at thu
tablishcd dipping hour, and draw o
their capacious pockets, away in some
retreat, those formidable and naus
Hooking hickory sticks, with their hol
Mspls. They will, with a gusto
moP2 describe, Gil their
impossib.6~ after load of filthy,
mouths with loadN
low Scotch snuff ~ who, after k
THAT estimable adAAuclaimed
Lor own COW, turned aud prNNbns No,
ton;shed mankind DE gusti% ~ of !
disputanlum,' surely had the gN nro,
sight, and must .have had her ySs,
Z fixed upon troops of dippcN 4
ddNh in the vista of time, gliding q
nZnhln rlnn 10 this rnmnrknhle nurSnl