The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-03-12
HOW THE LAZY SULTAN SMOKES
Probably the Best Living Judge OF
Good Tobacco
From the Nemphis Avalanche.

I
Turkey smokes, women as well as men, and
the first lesson a boy receives in tine delicious
vice comes very likely from the mother, not
the father. The country produces what Is
held by most experts to be the best
tobacco in the world, of fine,
aromatic favor, of bright
golden hue, and of a texture more
delicate than that of high-priced Havana
leaf. What wonder that the PadiShah in
IN Stamboul, the commander of the faithful,
TO whom is brought the very acme OF every
thing his wide domains b ing forth, should
become nicely balanced critic on the To-
bacco question at an early age, since lie
probably inhaled his fist Whit of the
solaclng narcotic when still an inmate of
his mothers harem. The Sultan deems
only tle choicest quality OF Rum Ii Turkey
tobacco fit for his ten bouk, and the prime
crop Of Shlraz PERSIA tobacco worthy to
I'LL his narglleh.
For the turk makes a clear distinction in
tobacco. That which is smoked in the water
pipe be calls tumbeki, and what he uses in
ms tchloouk is named tutun. Nearly all the
tobacco consumed in the water pipe called
1argileh in Turkey, kaliaun in Persia, and
/ hookah i'll lndia) com S from Persia, and
when You enter a Turkish coffee house in
Constantinople or Smyrna and cal lor
pipe they will bring you one whose capa-
clous silver bowl is filed with fragrant
Shirazee, not with Turkish tobacco In
the small inland towns of Asatlc Turkey
you may tind a native tuinbeki now and
then, but even there it is rare, for the soil
is somehow not adapted for the raising of
such tobacco as has all the
qualities required Of tumbeki by Orientals
viz: strength, fragrance and pungency
alike. In Persia are produced three grades
II tobacco, the cheapest and poorest com
| ing from Mazanderan in the north, the
medium sort from lrak, and the choicest
from Ears, especially the environs of Shi-
raz, whence it derives its name of Shirazee
OF the last named brand the pound costs
about 20c. on the spot, but when it arrives
in ConstantinOple, after weary travelling on
the back OF CamelS and in the hold of YES
| sells, it cannot be had for less than eight
| Turkish francs, equivalent to 81 ST. This
includes, OF c urse, the duty and the mid
| dlemeA's profits.
! To prepare this tobacco for the nargileh
is quite task, and hence the custom in Tur-
key of having one servant in the house at
tend to nothing but he pipes. He keeps
| them clean and sweet and thoroughly rinses
! them after each smoke. This pipe bearer
| has indeed no sinecura in the household, for
with all the men and women smoking almost
ceaseleSsly his work keeps him busy from
| dawn till night:
natural leaf, without any favOring sub
stance added, cut in strips about the re of
a silver half dollar. OF this the days sup
| ply for the family or the coffeehouse is al
| ways moisteHed the evening before. When
! it begins to swell and sweat it is put away
| in little bags for next days use. As soon as
| the mast-r or guest arrives for a nargllel
| tn servant selects one of his stock of pipes,
picking out more or less orname ted one,
| IN 81 Of -oyl-
and then fishes out a handful of his
wet tumbeki from his bag. This he claps
into the pipe bowl. pressing it firmly down,
| so that any suparfJuS drops of water re-
naming in it will run of. Lastly, he de-
posits few pieces of glowing charcoal on
top of the moist tumbeki, and then he
hastily takes a score of puffs, enough to
thoroughly ignite the tobacco. Then only
he brings it to the person for whom it IS
| intended Not one man in twenty, even
| in Turkey, understands how to prepare
nargiieh and the tumbeki for it.
! Whether it is your house, or guest at
a public resort, or in somebody elses
house, you are always sure TO have the LONG
flexible tube of the pipe put into your
mouth Immediately after a servant has
been applying his lips to it. This, you may
say, IS not very app-tlSng. True but it's
the uniform custom, and neither Europeans
who have been residing for some time in
the East, nor the natives themselves, ever
complain of it. or seem to be tue worse for
it. Besides, a pipe-bearer must be healthy
| and clearly man, or he could not hold his
place for any length of time.
To properly smoke thu ia gieh is anoth-
er thing which has to be learned. Tie
smoke is drawn down the throat and into
the lungs wit hslow, long iLhalations, and
then 1t is allowed to as slowly escape
through nose, ears and mouth. A regular
nargileh smoker looks, there fore, much like
a furnace sending forth clouds of smoke at
regular, stated intervals. Only thus, the
Turks maintain, do you get the full benefit
of your delicious tobacco, and experience
| shows them to be ri hit. Wien drawing in
aud expelling the smoke in quick, successive
| puffs, such a. done with an ordinary pipe
one very soon tires. the lungs and mouth, is
apt to draw up the water from the bubbling
! vase below the tobacco bowl. and in
| any case does not obtain much smoke at any
time Manipulated IN the Oriental fashion,
however, the nargileh, filled W th fragrant
| Shirazee, furnishes a most delightful smoke
| such a one as a como. sseur would enjoy
/ of all things. And u see a Turk or any
! other kind of iental smoking the water
pipe is a treat. Behold that old beturbaned
! fellow, for instance, in the coffee-hOuse by
| the Trebizoude harbor. Sitting cross legged
/ on a rug the placid ueatitude Of his rugged
face shows that he is in a state of H4ieff--
unspeala bliss And it is all due t. the
nargileh from which he just now belches
forth a whole volcano Of pungent fumes.
Owing to the relatively high price of
| tumbekl. however, the common people in
| Turkey use tn water pipe but sraringly:
/ the bulk Of them not at all. in fact But
they make up for the apparent hardship By
| incs8ntly smoking the tchibouk. \ thick
! stem, of a length varying from 5 inc es TO
/ as MANY feet is set in a bowl of finely
! grained red clay. That's the tchibolk
! The weather. a Turk the more his tchi ouds
will show IT. Many OF the latter have bowls
| thickly inclus ed with jewels and heavily
| gilded. I've seen one tchlbCuk in the house of
| a wealthy tobacco merchant ia Slusoun
which was worth a smart fortune. The bowl
| bore, enCircllng 1t, a series Of pretty medal
! lions-painted in the best Persian style on
porcelain. and Of excel e II workm nsnip.
These medaihons one could not be dupli-
Gated for lie 5 tnan $50. But they were set
in rubies. turquoiSes, and emeralds of great
value. The stem was about six feet long
three inches thick, and Of fragrant wild
cherry. The broad mOuthpiece was of the
finest amber, fastened to the stem by broad
band of gold a Turkish Pasha will often
keep a score Of such pipes for himself and
his guests in his house; and it is no wonder,
therefore. that the pipe-bearer is such an
important and influential servant in a
Turkish household, being often tie custo-
dian of such priceless treasures.
The tobacco smoked in the tchibouk,