The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1886-05-13

Not Pure Tobacco, but swcctencd spd
Medicatcd Preparations.
fEro,,, uaaIfh and IIotaa


From Health and Home.
1t is rather late in the day to enter
protest against the use OF tobacco.
Whatever the faculty may say on the
point of its in ,urious qualities, however
mu IN the clergy may point out the pos
sfbility of its leading to intemperance,
the fact remains tina, large proper
ton OF the world uses tobac co in some
form or other. The Chisese, accord
ing to their accustomed vanity, pretend
to have been acquainted for many ages
with tobacco. But we must remember
that in the earliest written Oriental
tales which have como down to us-the
Arabian Nights Enter ainments-there
is no allusion to the c,Astom OF smoking,
and there is every reason TO believe that
all Oriental smoking yas imported from
England. and that SIR Walter Raleigh
lit the first pipe smo Ied ont of Amer
lea.
In spite of all that has been said
against it by fervid ant -tobacconists,
pure tobacco is an excellent remedial
agent; but it must be absolutely pure.
No poisonous decoctions must eat into
the substance or change its nature.
Used in proper way, to relieve
neuralgia pains, or applied in various
affections, under the advice of "a skilled
physician, it is a valuable medicine.
The adulteration of tobacco. very
common both in this country and
abroad, arises from two considerations.
The pure, natural leaf, in its yellow
hue, is undoubtedly the finest tobacco
in the market. But so many accidents
conspire TO render the finest leaves
scarce that even the natural leaf itself
is initiated Coarse leaves are bleached
by the use of chlorine to the bright vel
low color of the natural leaf and
suphuric acid. properly diluted, is used
to make the little "freckles," which are
supposed by connoisseurs to indicate a
superior quality OF leaf.
But the natural leaf" somehow,
doesn't seem to suit the taste of the
average chewer OF tobacco. He asks n
certain degree of sweetness in his plug
To fill this bill and create special
flavor which shall give kind of iden-
tity to particular brand, and cause it
to be eagerly sought for, is the object
of the manufacturer.
When the bundles of steamed leaves
are fully dried they are ready for the
application of the mixture of syrup and
licorice which imparts to the chewing
tobacco Of commerce its sweetness and
flavor. The leaves must be as dry as a
bone when subjected to this licorice
bath, for the least dampness will render
them white with mold in few hours.
This mold is removed (one of the
adulterations) by dip into diluted
muriatic acid, and in too many cases
forms part of the solid cake of the bet
ter quality. The heat of the mixture
causes the pores of the leaf to expand,
and the sweet syrup, penetrating every
fiber, impregnates 1t thoroughly. From
the vat, the dripping bundles are car
ried out on the flat roof of the factory
and exposed to the sun, for one day
sunshine is worth more than can be told
in the manufacture. After this the
leaves are taken into a drying room,
where the thermometer during the day
is at 80 degrees. At night the who g
power of the furnace is turned on, and
the heat is so intense that in the morn
ing the room has to be cooled off before
w
tobacco has. under this powerful heat,
become perfectly dry, the adulterator
gets in his work
One factory sprinkles it with New
England rum, another uses the Jamaica
rum, third moistens it with the rank
est corn whisky he can find, and each
brand has its own peculiar essential oil.
Some use fennel, others use ginseng,
while the acrid sumach Astounding in
tannin, cheap and plenty, gives that
peculiar burning of the tongue which
characterizes much "fine cut. Astrin-
gent barks, NORWOOD, the refuse OF
the cinchona, and others, give the bitter
taste which some consumers like, and
the twist, or negro head" which is
largely exported to tropical climates,
gets special absorption.
We have heretofore published the
statement of Mr.. Cooper, Revenue Col.
lector of North Carolina, himself a
large tobacco manufacturer, stating
that tonqua bean and wintergreen were
also largely used in adulterating to.
bacco, both of which are deadly poisons,
and that he knew of a negro who hav-
ing drank wine glassful of the mix
ture, died in half an hour.
Ii these things be true of the ordi-
nary chewing tobacco, what can we say
of the smoking article where sticks,
and stems, and dirt, and all unclean-
ness go to make up the cigar? Where
an end ought to show the wrinkled
edge of a pure leaf, it shows front
like that of composite bit of marble.
A true tobacco cigar is fine in grain
and free from stems. The wrapper is
nothing in a cigar, the filling is every
thing.
No leaf is worthless for the manu-
facture of one or another of the innu-
merable brands between the golden
chaff with which the millionaire fills
his meerschaum and the laborer his
cuddy Almost the only chemically
pure tobacco is that which the planter
dries for himself, spreads on the cot
ton sheet in the garrett, and sends little
Tommy to bring him q bunch Of
crumbling it between his fingers to fill
his pipe. But this simplicity doesn't
please The public would rather be
poisoned.
NUurrc IN raoant ~