The Dickinson press., 1883-07-14
PIPES N

PIPES AND PUFFERS.
Popular Bowls. Economical COPS,
and Valuable Meerschaum Stems.
From the Philadelphia Press.
The true home of the pipe and the
fragrant weed smoked therein, tobacco,
is America. Few persons will dispute
that fact. The discoverer equally of the
virtues of the tobacco and the tobacco
pipe was, undoubtedly, the original in
habitant of America, the red Indian; so
Americans have excellent reasons to
take the FULLEST interest in all that con-
Germs the pipe and its manufacture.
The pipe of primitive smokers-and
your true smoker. it is said, prefers a
pipe to a cigar-was a clay. The latter is
the only kind ofpipe priced by smokers,
unless the corncob can be accepted,
which has always been manufactured in
this country, from the era prior to Co.
lumbus to the present Gay. North Car
olira and Virginia is where it is made,
the latter state receiving the palm for
excellence. The Powhattau pipe of Vir-
ginia is supposed to be the sweetest
smoking clay pipe manufactured. 1t is
Teu UTOWn al COiOT, K CONSTRUCTED
and hand polished. The principle
Hatcher, who realizes a large income
from the sale. Another celebrated pipe
is the luted clay, made by the negroes
in North Carolina, the material being 80
porous that water will drop through it.
The most renowned American clay pipe,
however. is a rongh-looking bowl made
by a woman in North Carolina named
Sally Micheal. She used to manufac-
tEre them before the war, but she was
driven sway from her pits by the Yam
kee armies. When peace was signed
returned to her diggings and resumed
the making of pipes, stamping them
with the advertisement, "From the
same old Pit" Any of the above men,
toned clay pipes can be purchased for
hye cents a bowl. A more expensive
pipe is also a Norh, Carolina product,
hand-fashioned by negroes, from what
they call American meerschaum.
The cheap short clay pipes made COM
England, Germany, France, and Turkey.
a rare red clay, beautifully carved and
inlaid with gold, costing from ST so to SIS.
Chnrchwardens are exclusively made in
England. The Knickerbocker Club of
Smokers in New York, a coterie of fine
old gentlemen, meet annually for the
sole object Of smoking pipe after pipe of
tobacco through the long fragile stems.
During the operation they imbibe many
goblets and tankards of ales and strong
waters, and consequently at the end of
the sitting a certain unsteadiness of the
understanding is the result. Each man
departs to his home taking his "church-
warden" with him. In nine cases out
of ten he breaks it before he arrives at
his domicile, If he succeeds, however
in retaining his pipe intact he exhibits
it proudly at the next annual session of
his club and is Immediately anointed
vice president.
In the South all classes smoke pipes,
very sparingly used. In the Northern
states of America cigars are in the as
cenJant. and until the wal pipes we're
rarely seen. Now pipes have by de-
grees became not only popular, but
fashionable. Men about town make
beautiful collections of quantity carved
merchants and rare wooden pipes.
There are any number of varieties. In
this city there are two large factories of
a cheap pipe made from applewood
and laurel, looking very much like
briars. The latter variety, with the ex-
ception OF pierced corncobs from Vir-
ginia, Kentucky, and Missouri, about
concludes the list Of American pipes.
Meerschaums are imported from Ger
many, the best from Vienna. The blocks
are principally dug up by Truks and
sold to the Germans, who show a WON
derful amount of skill in carving an
lmials, figures. or faces, in the shape Of
pipes. Any tobacconist in the city will
take a photograph from an anlorous
white m%eerschaum the profile of his
ladyloye. From Germany, also, come
pipes generally affected by university
students.
The dudes pipe is the French briar,
that is to say, the carved and inlaid
specimen, for the plain French briar
is really in more universal use than any
other pipe excepting the clay. Briars
cost from Is cents to $25. The expen-
sive ones are often complete works of
art, 80 unique in their carving and SO
perfect in their finish. They are some-
times .inlaid with gold end silver for
men who are Sybarites in smoking.
Gambler briars are the best in the
world and most costly.
Then there is the violet wood pipe
from Australia, a sweet wood which
perfumes the air while it is being
smoked; the bread pipe supposed to be
made Of pressed bread, but in reality
of m%eerschaum dust; the charcoal pipe,
the cherry wood pipe, and any number
of pipes Of queer shape and eccentric
fashion, made of any of the materials
mentioned above. A hundred and one
whims and fancies are displayed by
pipe smokers, and often a warm friend
ship is developed for q black-coiored
clay or a strong-smelling briar, difficult
to understand ny any one who is not a