Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-12-28
WOMEN WHO CHEW TOBACCO.
The Demand for SNUFF in Kentucky Drug
stores-A Disgusting Habit.


The Demand for Snuff In X Kentucky Drug
stores-A Disgusting Habit.
LoaisgUle ECenino Post
rive cents worth of snuff said a
/ little woman as she bent over the counter
OF drug store this morning and whis-
! perez Jne order IN the clerks ear with a
mysterious mien. Glaneinp furtiveIv
around to assure herself that there were
no witnesses to the transaction, she
I added; Its for another lady. l never
use the hOrrid stuff.' Picking M a neat
" wrapped little bundle in white paper.
she placed 1t to her nose to assure herself
that IL was tne genuine article, then flung
down nickel and hurriedlv left the
store.
Here, Johnny" asid the clerk, turning
to boy who was standing behind the
prescription case in Conversation with n
reporter OF this paper, ''put up some more
snuff. All those packages we made last
night are gone already. Hurry! Here's
street. From the way She stares tbronob
the door l judge she wants snuff. All.
this rs crushing business =, he Continued
aside 70 the reporter, who had let fall
his under jaw in utter amazement.
twenty packages of snuff this MORN
ING, ana the day only begun. dare say
these people nave forgotten their Thanks
for their holiday pastime instead, This
prevalent habit"
Who are your chief patrons in this
lineH yentured the reporter.
why, the ladies, Of course. We have
no male callers for snuff at all. The men
cheW TOBACCO instead. OF course, no wo-
man buys the snuff for herself. The pur-
chase is always made for a neighbor or
friend: L have seen women come here
with the brown juice dry in the corners of
their mouths and complain of the dirty
stun, which they said they were buying for
anOther woman. The habit, l understands
very fascinating, and, when once begun,
IS more binding than either chewing to-
baccO or smoking. In its strength to
enslaVe the will it approaches the power
of narcotics
'HOw does snuff chewing compare
with tobacco chewing?v
"Ihere Is but little comparison between
the habits" answered the clerk, as his
lace assumed an expression of deep dis
gust. las dirty as tobacco chewing il. ,,
he continued, sit has no comparison with
the nlthlness of snuff eating. The only
ground OF comparison is the nature of the
two stlmulants. Chewing plugs are made
OF the better varieties of leaf tobacco and
are Favored and put through a process
Wnlcn more or less mOdifies the original
stems OF the strongest varieties of I'd
co, which are ground very fine and
compressed into large balls that arr
closed In bladders to prevent any ev
alton OF the strength. The snuffs y
are now used exclusively are ma
this way without any fiavOring wha
There is also material difference e
waT they are chewed. Tobacco is
tieated between the teeth or above
lie loose in one side of the mouth,
chewing - &c ...ss. s.....Sgusung spect
a man can we'll be called upon to WITH
ana is rendered the more revolving n
the fact that it is almost exclusively
female custom. just imagine a LADY
friend with a long, dry roll of thickN
black mass OF pasty consistency pressed
between her lips! The most attractive
feature of the face is made hideOus. The
mouth of a snuff eater is never inviting.
There is always a sediment from the
brown saliva that suffuses the corners of
mouth and the edges of the lips"
Glow is the habit acquired2''
The acquiring Of any habit is hard to
explain. / suppose that snuff eating is
contracted very much in the same way az
tobacco chewing and smOking-from the
desire for some stimulant. L have been
told, however, by some who are addicted
to the habit that they contracted it from
the use of tooth wash in which snuff
was used as an ingredient. A very
/ tavOrite tooth wash is composition made
of equal parts Of prepared chalk, ground
charcoal and snuff. 1t has quite large
/ run. 1t is again cOntended by others that
/ the habit grows upon person from the
continual use Of the powder as cure for
/ tOOthache. However the habit is ac-
/ quired, it is spreading very rapidly, and
no person who does not deal in the dirt
! could have any idea of the number of
women who are addicted to it.
Every drug store in the city keeps it
/ in large quantities, and the consumption
| is growing from day to day. For casual
/ clippers we keep an open box on the
| counter, and nearly every person who
| enters takes pinch"
Elbow is the stuff chewed?"
! There is quite an art about snuff chew
/ ing which YOU would not imagine. The
| fine powder is dipped up with small
/ brush, and then twisted and twlrled in
/ the mouth and about the teeth with an
/ artistic curve till the mass is moulded
/ into a small plastic ball, when it is placed
under the upper and lower lip, to the
| front of the mouth, till its strength is
l absorbed in the saliva that is excited
| from the glands. Some people use a
| cancels hair brush, but the majority pre-
/ fer brush made from chewing the end of
/ the twig of tree. l understand that
/ there is a lodge room in this neighbOrhOOd
where a dozen or so of snuff chewers
meet periodically and hold a feast. At
/ such times our snuff sales run away up"