Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1886-09-15
HOW THEY USE TOBACCO.
Peculiarities of the Tobacco Trade
Tricks and Oddities of Smokers.

"How do men smoke?n repeated the
man OF knowledge, as he tilted back in
MS chair and lit cigar. ~ should
answer that by asking another question
that Is, why do men smoker You
tell me why man uses the 'noxlous
weed, and 1 will tell you how he does
IL. There are an infinite number of
reasons why men smoke. Some men
smoke because they are nervous, some
men smoke because they are phlegmatic
many merely from habit, a very large
number do 1t because others do so, and
small minority smoke because they
really enjoy it.
IA nervous man will smoke because
he thinks that it will soothe his too ac-
tive organization. Such man will take
short quick puffs, one after another in
constant succession. A nervous smoker
can spot every time.
Then there are the phlegmatic
smokers. They are followers Of Sir
Walter Raleigh, because they want
stimulant and they think, or pretend to
think, that tobacco will stir up their
sluggish temperaments. Such men
take tobacco as a man would take
whisky cocktail. A great many men,
IN TACT might say almost all men who
have smoked for any great length OF
time, smoke more from habit. To see
these men fumigatlng always disgusts
me. They don't seem to think of what
they are doing. No thought of the
pleasant sensations which they are or
might be experiencing seems to enter
their minds. They puff away and emit
the blue volumes of choice Havana In
combustion as if they were SO many
Chinese. They smoke as they would
sleep or dress for dinner. Their one
idea seems to be to get through and
light another. You will see man pull
Ing away on a stump OF cigar, every
little while looking at 1t impatIently
and wondering if he will ever get
through so as to start the next one.
Now, why should they do this? They
are not enjoying themselves. They
simply seem TO consider it duty to get
away with SO many cents or dollars
worth Of cigars in day. And they
perform the task.
Now, smoking is one of the most
delightful experiences in the world of
sense, TO those who can appreciate It.
Some men are, however, so coarsely
made as not to have any knowledge of
the fine pleasures of life. You set be-
fore such a man dainty dish, a pate
de fol gras, a few exquIsitely Drowned
frogs legs, or any other of the triumphs
OF French chefs art, and what will
be do? He will swallow them down like
so much corned beef and cabbage or
pork and greens. He is so crudely
constituted that his palate cannot ap-
preciate the nicetieS of the culinary art.
In the same way. if you set before him
a dainty glass of rare old sherry or
Madeira, he will gulp it down with no
more knowledge of its virtues than If it
were 10-celt glass of Jersey lightning.
so it IS with some smokers. Que of
your cross-grained men will pull away
on choice culling from the sunny
fields of the West Irdies with no more
satisfa :tlon than if it were an old clay
pipe full of navy plug. Probably he
won't enjoy it as much. With man
of finer grain, however, it is different.
81 enjoy, above all things, the sight
OF connoisSeur of the weed at work
on fragrant Havana. He takes a
dainty puff. Then be draws the cher
lshed % or 50-center from his lips and
gazes at it lovingly, meanwhile emit
ting from his lips slender thread of
blue smoke. Then he will pause and
the fragrant, soothing narcotic will
seem to penetrate through every nerve
in his body. That's the way a man
ought to smoke. i've no patience with
those fellows who hurry through their
smoking just as they hurry through
their dinners, never stopping to enjoy
it. Such men rush through life in the
same blind fashion. They don't know
what real nj5yment Is. Smokers have
all sorts Of peculiar tricks and oddities.
One man once knew had a trick of |
constantly knocking off the ashes with
his little finger. He would keep that !
little finger wagging continually, and |
when there was no ashes he would burn |
his finger But it was a habit which !
he seemed wholly unable to overcome. |
Some men whom l have known would |
always swallow the smoke. The nlco-
tine laden vapOrs which they would |
take into their stomachs must have |
kept those organs in constant state of |
distensioD.
"Others seem 20 find an inexplicable |
delight in making chimneys of their |
noses and sending the smoke in volumes
through these orfices. L once knew a
man who had a peculiar trick of shut |
ting one eye to look along his cigar |
with the other as he put it into his |
mouth. He was bashful man and !
never thought of flirting with the girls |
on the street, but that habit used to
get him into no end of scrapes. How? |
Why the girls all thought he was wink
ing at them.
The peculiar habits of smokers will |
sometimes run through a whole family |
| remember funny instance of that. |
A man came to me in my office one day |
and represented himself as brother of |
an old friend of mine. He was shah.
by, forlorn-looking specimen and L was |
not inclined to believe his story, espec-
tally as there was no personal resem-
blance to his brother. But 1 sat and
talked with him awhile. He told a
plausible story, but still ] was not in
clined to believe him, and finally told |
him to clear out, that L couldn't be
bothered with him. Then my better |
feelings came to the front and l gave |
him a cigar. He took it with sad,
forgiYing smile and lit 1t.
s'He hadn't taken bat one puff be-
fore 1 was on my feet begging his par
don. After taking that puff he had
taken out his cigar with peculiar jerk
and had blown the smoke out OF the |
corner of his mouth in manner which |
had noticed and laughed over a hun |
dred times when with his brother l saw
him do it. l knew then that was not |
being imposed upon.
''But talking about smoking makes
me think what wretched habit 1t is,
after all. 1t is expensive, dirty, re-
pulsige. VIII 1 have cigar? Well, yes;
thank you. Have you got matchr"
A Great General.