Fair play., 1874-07-30
4 Short Essay on Tobacco.

IL appears almost i'm the light of IA hard
ship that the civilized world should have
been deprived Of tobacco until Christopher
Columbus could discover America. bur
such was the fact. 1t is difficult to imagine
how they got alOn. without the weed any
how. What kind of neigiborly feeling
could have existed when a man couldn't
pull out his tobacco pouch in answer To
request for a ''clIaw,'' And how incom-
plcte social banquets must have been
when they didn't pass around the ci igars.
While enlighted nations knew nothing
OF the sOlace nc..aled in a chew, or the
rapture wrapped up in cigar. the Ameri-
can Indian was thoroughly posted Oh the
subject. and enjoyed a monopoly Of the
trade. When Columbus first landed
among the natives he was urged on all
sides "tO take a SMOKE and both plug
and fine-ciit were pressed upon him. Pig
tail'' there was, though not 80 plenty ~ il
has been since Chinese emigration sci in
SO briskly. lie saw Il little .'Ni"ger-hcad."
too; but Columbus, prophet as he was. in
Tact an immense prophet To everybody but
himself, could never have dreamed "i Scr-
ing the niggcr'head to the extent that he
Is now. But We won't discuss that subject
| here. smoke:
Columbus was much deceived al first
regarding the population. there were 80
| many tobacco stores. with wooden lnj uu>
standing in front of them. which his unar-
custOmed eye took to bc vcriiahie flesh
and blood >avagcS. He discovered his error
when hc attempted 10 knock one down
for dropping Il iOmaliawk un his pet corn.
by the way, it is all Il mistake about
Columbus trying TO make an eg@ stand. il
was cigar stand. the first one started. ami
| stanI. at I.ip,r l,,,-i
ness. White men took TO the weed VERY
kindly. 1t was long before they not
only smoked themselves. bat smoked Ia.
Indians nearly out of the country. They
chewc,l tobacco and - cllewcd up the ma
tives all at the same time.
Sir Walter Raleigh introduced tobacco
smoking into England and made it fash
iOnable. Everybody said it WAS Il capital
thing, raty. jean NicOt. French Minister
to Lisbon. first brought tobacco from
Spain to France. and il is from his nam.
that the terms icotinc ttlic essential oil "i
tObaccO) and ''NicOtian Weed arc'crivc'l.
Enemies of the wcc' are ready (" adept tn,
theory that it came from ''O!d Me
| There is a great variety of pipes. The
clay pipe is the most common. but it l. Il
mistake TO suppose il WAS invent ri 10y
Henry Clay. of Kentucky. lie WIS Of nu
| 0itN. liz NouHItl tE.tt
troubled himself 10 invent common clay
pipe. MeerSchaiIm pipes are made of the
foam of the Sc:i-scc if they aint. Suggest
that they are ma,lc of anything else hut
sca-:Oam. and the Sc, toams about il. Ii
takes siXty-t0ur gallons to make "a pipe in
wine measure. Now, if you know how
much foam a gallon of water will produce.
you can readily figure on how mucl. foam
| il takes to make Il pipe. The ladies of Tur-
key smoke a kind of pipe known Is Il
''hOOkah." and nothing makes Il tcmal,.
Turkey so mad As to hooker pipe. The
Indians called their pipes ''tOhaccO>.' from
| which the term tobacco Is suppose To b;.
derived. But the derivation is in dispute.
| Some claim it from TaboScO. in the Gulf of
Florida. But cultivatorS of the product.
! nOwa,lay are not 80 much concerned aS
| to where tobacco comes from As they arr,
! where it is gOin" to. AMI what they are
likely to get for it.
The enemy to the tobacco trade. next to
| Il Government infnrncr. is the tnl ;icco
worm. This worm is born with an inor-
dinate fOndnrSS for chewing tobacco. Ii
can't wait for il to grow and pass through
the usual process of manufacture. bilt
takes it in the leaf wilou; :" much Il
saying. ''by your leaf" But it i never
known to buy your leaf. or 90 by it. either.
without troubling it for Il chew. II is
rather small business hunting the to!racro
worm. as it has To- fe lone with Il micro
scope.
While some people chew tnbocro and
Others smoke it. there are ill others who
get il up the nO>'. And the better they
like it the more they seem IT, turn up their
noses at it. 1t is no unusual thing to >e,
an ag d couple. after TAXI . snuff all their
days. degenerate into pair of >nuiiarS.
and finally snuff themselves out upon this
subject; snuff said.-Eat Contributor.