Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1884-08-14
PIPE-SMOKING.
The Pipe Superseding the Cigar
Fancies of the Smokers.

conist the other day, ''and they show
their good sense by so doing. There
Is no doubt that smoker gets more
satisfaction out of pipe than from a
cigar. Of course, in every article OF
which there is so large consumption
as tobacco. there will be more or less
adulteration. but there is not likely to
be as much in plain tobacco as in
manufactured article like cigar or
cigarette.
What kind Of a pipe do you recon-
mendp"
THAT is a very difficult question to
answer. There are so many different
kinds, and every smoker has his fancy.
To my mind. nothing is so sweet, moth
ing brings out the flavor of the tobac-
co so thoroughly as a clay pipe, with
mouth-piece of amber"
"Why the amber mouthpiece?h
"Only because it is pleasant TO hold
in the mouth; for no other reason.
You see. there is no flavor of any kind
in either clay or amber pure and
simple, but the clay, if good and soft,
will absorb all the nicotine of the to-
bacco. and, rs an old smoker once said
TO me, After you've seasoned your
pipe well you may smoke hay or tea in
it and never know you're not smoking
tobacco Then there is that delight
of all smokers, the meerschaum. But
to give complete satisfaction, that has
to be seasoned well, for, when new,
meerschaum has q peculiar flavor of its
own. owing, fancy, to tho wax which
is used to polish it. p"
care there not different varieties of
| meerschaumP"
.'Yes. The best, however, comes in
manufactured form from Vienna
Many people are even now under the
| impression that meerschaum is, as its
name expresses, the foam of the sea in
compressed form. II received its
| name because twas first found near the
seashore and in its natural state looks
something like Jumps of hardened soap
| uds. IL is really kind of clay, found
IN various parts of the world, especially
| in Russia and in South America, in regu-
lar quarries. The reason of its being
so useful for pipes, cigars-holders. etc,
is because it Is soft, easily carved, and
! ibsorbs the oil of the tobacco well, at
] he same time. when polished. taking
q very beautiful brown color. This col
or il is the pride and ambition of pipe
smoker TO produce"
Il have heard that that is a somewhat
difficult operation. Is IL So"
| ut only requires care. The wax.
with which the polish is produced. very
readily burns, or more properly is made
to Toll, when it gathers in white spots
ali over the pipe. This spot3ing or
burning is very difficult to get rid of.
and is very unsightly. 1t is caused by
smoking too rapidly, smoking in cold
wind. or refilling and smoking before
the pipe has grown cold and the wax
resumed its firmness. A meerschaum
pipe ought always to be smoked with
plug in it of the height required TO be
colored. There are many plugs used.
such rs q common bone button, meer-
schaum button; but best of all, in my
opinion, is a plug OF some strong to-
bacco which can be changed when 1t
grows foul, and the pipe requires clean
ing. Then a meerschaum should al
ways be allowed to cool before it is
smoked second time. and should not
be smoked in a wind"
There are good wooden pipes, are
there not?"
Certainly. Briar-root pipes make
an exceedingly pleasant smoke. They
are apt to be rather hot and burn the
tongue when new, but they soon get
seasoned and the tobacco has very
fair show"
What are the best briar pipes?"
"The best are made OF the roots of
the briar shrub, which grows in abund-
ance wild on the hills around Leghorn.
in Italy. Some very fine briars also
come from France. But France is
mostly famous for its cherry-wood
pipes and stems, The very best and
straightest twigs and branches only
are used. and they undoubtedly make
very good pipes. But talking of cherry
brings me to the porcelain bowls Of the
Germans and the terra Gotta bowls of
the Turks. These are both fixed to
long cherry stems. The Turks es-
pecially are particular in the choice of
a stem for their chibouks. The stems
are sometimes yard and half long
and require q boy TO light the pipe"
II thought the Turks used an elastic
tube to their pipesp"
THAT Is to their narghiles or hub
bly-bubulies. The tobacco Is placed
in bowl and the smoke is inhaled into
the lungs through rose-water in bot
tie. A very mild kind of tobacco is
used with these pipes and they very
often have as many as five or six tubes
attached for as many smokers"
'Is the narghile pleasant to smoker"
| II cannot say. / never tried. But
the chibouk is very pleasant way Of
taking your weed. Only the very
finest and best tobacco Is smoked in q
chibouk. and it should always be ac-
companied by cup of very strong
black coffee and 9 plate of bonbons."
"Are they any mprovemcntP"
''Most decidedly. Do you know that
n big smoker with whom l am ac-
quainted always carries box of choc-
olate or Spanish licorice lozenges with
him. have not yet told you of the
corn-cob pipe, the French clay. the in
Vulnerable variety of wooden pipes,
nor the chamois-horn pipe of the Swiss.
Nor have l mentioned the thousand
and one materials used for making
stems and cigar tubes, the many in
ventions for mouthpieces or fancy
bowls about which alone book might
be written. But guess you've got
enough for your purpose. would
only like to soy that in every country
the greatest smokers. those who enjoy
their tobacco most, and who are most
fastidious about getting the best, are
those who use the much-abused though
decidedly most healthy and clearly
i LII