Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1886-02-19
BUY FEW.
A Good Thing to Treat Friends With.
Neu Tribune

LOADED" cigars, as instruments of
mlrthprovoking torture, are liable to
come INTO more general, use among
practical Jokers Cd account of q new
method OF manufacture which lessons
the danger of the explosion. A small
Cartridge OF powder inserted in the
middle OF cigar was liable to furnish
a Large amount of hilarity, but it was
liable to damage the eyesight of the
unsuspectlng smoker who had been
selected as victim by the jokers.
Serious accidents, followed by suits
for damages, made the old style load
ed cigar unpopular. When a man
WHO had been known to indulge in
fun at the expense of his friends of
fered cigar of the finest brand to an
acquaintance, he was obliged to an
swer such questions as Twill 1t GO
otts' or Which way shall point it?"
A man with reputation as a ,ker
could keep a box open In his office
with safety. His friends would be
sure to think that articles left exposed
IN such tempting way were danger
Gus to fool with.
Recently some manufacturer has
adopted a method of loading" CT
gars OF q certain brand with chem
zeal cartridge which takes fire soon
after the weed is lighted. There is
no sudden explosion which skaters
the wrappers and sends fragments of
burning tobacco in all directions, but
from the end of the cigar stream of
ire shoots out to a distance of about
three feet in direct Line. 1t makes a
man look for few seconds as if he
was gas tank and held piece of
broken gas-pipe In his mouth. The
man Is in no danger so long as he
keeps still and lets the cigar sputter
away. To hold the weed firmly in
the teeth at such moment is better
test of a mans nerve than to hold On
to the end of a burning Roman
candle. The chief danger IS that
some man may drop cigar and start
a. confiagration if he attempts to
smoke indoors.
In one department of the city gov
eminent the clerks have found much
amusement lately in dealing out
cigars of the new brand and waiting
for the displays of pyrote Clinics. They
suddenly abandoned that form of di-
version few days ago on account of
an unexpected accident. One of the
clerks had presented cigar to an Of
fetal, but it had been consigned to the
officials pocket until a more conven-
lent time for smoking That time
came when the official got on the
front platform of street-car and Dor
rowed a light" from a stout Ger
man.
Two heads were close together, and
the official was sucking the fire from
the end of the Germans half burned
weed, when there was an explosion
like that which attends the flight of a
sky-rocket, A stream of fine played
directly into the Germans face,
scolching his cheek and obliterating
one large, red side-whisker in an in
slant. The German jumped eff the
car with howl of anguish. He
was followed by the astonished off
cial, who began to make polite apol-
"You make one pig joke" scream
ed the German. "but 1 hat you ar
rested"
The official was obliged to show
his shield and give the name of the
clerk who had furnished the obnox-
ious cigar before the German would
believe his explanation. A day or
two later the clerk received a letter
from the Germans lawyer stating
that suit for damages had been au-
thorized. Fearing that his position
in the department would be forfeited
if the facts came to the notice OF a
commissioner. the clerk made haste
to settle. The Germans outraged
feelings made big hole in the clerks
monthly pay. Warned by his exper-
fence, the other clerks have since
been experimenting with cigars 'loa j.
ed" only with teeth extracted from
rubber Combs. The fumes of burning
rubber mixed with tobacco smoke
have turned the stomachs of several
case hardened smokers.