The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-01-17
WHAT WE SMOKE AND CHEW.

Not Pure Tobacco, but Sweetsneti and Medi-
Gated Preparations.
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 injurious Qualities
however much the clergy may point out the pos
sibility of its leading to intemperance the fact
remains that large proportion of the would uses
tobacco IN some form or other. The Chinese,
according to their accustomed vanity pretend to
have been acquainted for many ages with to-
bacco. But we must remember that in the earl
lest written Oriental tales which have come down
to us-the Arabian Nights Entertainments
there is no allusicn to the custom of smoking,
and there is every reason to believe that all
Oriental smoking was imported from England,
and that Sir Walter Raleigh lit the first pipe
smoked out of America.
In spite of all that has been said against it by
fervid anti-tobacconists. pure tobacco is an ex-
cellent remedial agent; but it must be absolute
ly pure. No poisonous decoctions must eat into
it's substance or change its nature Used in a
proper way, to relieve neuralgia pains or applied
IN various affections, under the advice of q
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 it's
yellow hue, is undoubtedly the finest tobacco in
the market But SO many accidents conspire 30
render the finest leaves scarce that even the nat
ural leaf itself is initiated Coarse leaves are
bleached by the use of chlorine to the bright
yellow 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 quantity of leaf.
But the natural leaf" somehow, doesn't seem
to suit the taste of the average chewer of tobac-
co. He asks a certain degree of sweetness in his
plug To fill this bill and create special flavor
which shall give a kind of identity to particu-
lar brand and cause it to be eagerly sought for,
is the object of the manufactured
When the bundles of steamed leaves are fully
dried they 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 bone
when subjected to this icorce bath, for the least
dampness will render them white with mold in
few hours. This mold is removed lone of the
adulterations) oy dip into diluted muriatic
acid, and in too many cases forms
part of the solid cake Of better quality
The heat of the mixture causes the pores of
the leaf to expand, and the sweet syrup. pene-
trating every fibre, impregnates it thoroughly.
From the vat the dripping bundles are carried
out on the fat roof of the factory and exposed
to the sun. for one days sunshine is worth more
than can be told in the. manufacture. After
this the leaves are taken into drying room,
where the thermometer during the day is at 90o.
AT night the whole power of the furnace is
turned on. and the heat is so intense that in the
morning the room has to be cooled off before
the operators can enter it. When the 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 a third
mostens it with the rankest corn whiskey he can
find, aud 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 cutn
Astrineent barks. worm wood the refuse Of the
cnchona, 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 collector of North Caro-
lima, himself large tobacco manufacturer,
stating that tonqua bean and wintergreen were
also largely used in adulterating tobacco, both
OF which are deadly poisons and that he knew Of
negro who, having drank wine glassfuI of
the MIXTURE died in half an hour
Ii these things be true Of the ordinary chew
ing tobacco. what can we say of the smoking
article where sticks and stems and dirt, and all
uncleanness go to make up the cigar9 Where an
end ought to show the wrinkled edge of a pure
leaf, it shows front like that of a composite
bit Of marble.
A true tobacco cigar is fine in grain and free
from stems The wrapper is nothing in cigar;
the filing is every thing.
No leaf is worthless for the manufacture of
one or another of the innumerabie brands be-
tween the golden chat with which the million
ARE fills his meerschaum and the laborer his
cuddy. Almost the only chemically pure tobac-
CO Is that which the planter dries for himself,
spreads on the cotton sheet in the garrett and
sends little Tommy to bring him a bunch of
-crumbling it between his fingers to fill his pipe.
But this simplicity doesn't please. The public
would rather be poisoned.