The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1874-09-25
sNUFF-DIPING.
The Filthy Practice MOI CONFINED to the
Southern states.

! From the New York Times.
! THO yarions modes OF using tobacco
are bv snuffing, chewing, smokng aud
dipping. It has been generaliy consid-
, cred that the latter pra1 15ce belongs alto
pether to the southern and sonthwes-
tern stares, but it is nos SO; 1t extends
to a certain degree throughout the en-
tire length and breadth OF the land
Snnff-dipping is so called perhaps from
the reason that it is used IN small
quantities obtained from the bottle or
box. as the case may be, by dipping it
sat with stick or small spoon. The
practice prevails to a slight extent in
the state of New York, aud TO a much
greater extent in the cities than in the
country. 1t orig mated ..mong the denlt
monde. and from them gradually made
its way to other classes society Two
kinds of snuff are usedep the dippers,
both of which, howeveh are known as
Scotch; TIE dif5erenG I fI 5esween them
salt mixed with it, ard .siie osiser fas
none. They are known as salt Scotch
and fresh Scotch. Fresh Scotchis pre-
| pared more IN this city than in any
other part of the state. The following
| is the manner of dipping in New York
! The dipper is provided with small
spoon, about half the size of common
| teaspoon, with which she dips q suffi-
cient quantity of snuf from her bottle.
Then seizing the lover lip with the
| thumb and forefnger of her left hand
| she draws it we'll forward and fills the
cavity with the bOnae bOuche contained
in the spoon. There she lets it remain
until it is gradually diffused through
her mouth, expectoratng the while, in
l.N I
veteran. Sometimes the delicacy is
daintily enveloped il a fine piece of
tissue Aper and deposited in the sama
place. In the eastern states the SAT-
Scotch is preferred, bat 1t is not used
in the same way as in New York. There
the dippers use small stick of some
very fibroUs wood, the end of which is
chewed until it assumes a mop-like ap-
pearance owing to the separation of the
fibres. This is dipped into the snuff
and then rubbed on the gums and teeth.
A large quantity of the snuff is used by
the factory girls in all the eastern
states, and it may readily be imagined
how easily habit of that kind may ex-
tend among a people.
In the southwest, that is to say in
Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Lou
isiana and Texas, Scotch snuff i3 used |
exclusively with S ick, as in the east
ern states. The habit is indulged in |
by all classes, in secret by the higher 4
and openly by the lower. In North and /
South Carolina "higli toast snuff is /
the kind in demand. 1t is peculiarly /
strong and puDgent, as it is made by /
very much the same process as the Irish /
Blackgusrd, being dried on heated /
screens before being ground. In Geor-
gia and Alabama Maccaboy snuff is the
favorite. 1t is a strong, black snuff,
salted, and scented with otto of rose.
In all the last-mentioned states the stick,
or " brusa, as they call it, is employed.
In Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey,
Maryland, and the western states, there
is but little snuff-dipping, but there. as
in all other states, the habit is steadily
increasing. The Scotch snuffs above
alluded to are allof light coffee brown.
and are perfectly drygand ground as
fine as fOur The MaeLabQy, which is
80.
So far as expectoration ls-concerned. the
spoon dippers are not excelled by their
sisters who prefer the stick, either OF
them being able to compete with the
celebrated Mr.. Hannibal Chollop, the
gentleman whom Mr.. Chuzzelwit met at
Eden during his travels in America, who
]
ton" and who had "gone ten foot in
circ-lar direction" on a wager
Dipping is apparently very beneficial
to the teeth, and it may be that the
habit is often acquired from using snuff
as a deutifrice. The writer of this ar
ticle bas travelled extensively through
the south and the southwest, aud his
has been that wherever the
practice prevailed the teeth of the wo-
men were beautifully white aud singu
larly free from decay. Tobacco pos
sesses high antiseptic and detergent
properties, and must exercise beneficial
influence in purifying the mouth.
In order to show to what an extent
the habit has obtained, it will only be
to say that in the wear 1873,
one New York firm alone, Messrs. p. ]
Borillard & Co., sold in round numbers
161 900 pounds of snuff, all of which
was of the kind used for dipping, be-
sides more that $50, 900 pounds of the
regular mixtures for the old fashioned
snuffers. Add to this enormous guam (
tity the large amounts manufactured in
the other cities, and some idea may be
formed of the extent to which dipping
is carried in the United States.