Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1890-11-13
SMOKING IN AUSTRIA.
Growth of the Cigarette Habit-Plpes and
Snuff TIA King.


According to statistics Just issued
saws Vienna correspondent OF the
London Teiegrdph the number OF
cigars smoked in Austria during the
last wear was /, 0S5. COO, 600, showing .
reduction of y, 600, 900 on the previous
wears returns. On the other hand,
the Reggie sold 800, 900, 600 Of cigarettes,
which is ia. 600, 900 more than during
the year before. The quantity OF to-
bacco sold by the government has
neither increased nor diminished
though the consumption Of snuff IS
steadily declining. Cigarette smokers
in Austria prefer the ready-made article
whereas in France and Spain smokers
make their own cigarettes. The
Austrian Reggie cigarette is scarcely Of
a quality to satisfy the average foreign
palate. The tobacco may be sound
and the paper free from injurious in
gradients. but the whole lacks fra
GRANGE and flavor. At a time when J
was a smoker myself | could never get
through a Regie cigarette.
1t is surprising how the habit Of this
kind of smoking has spread in this
country, where but fifteen or twenty
years ago the pipe and cigar were in.
dulged in almost exclusively. An in.
crease of "a per cent in the Reggie
sales tells its own tale You now see
boys of 10 and IL at every street corner
whiting their paper cigar unrebuked,
taking it as matter Of course that
their pocket money should be spent in
tobacco. In former years it was not
usual for ladies to smoke in restaurants
and places of public resort. The
grandes danes of.society are not all
smokers, but many of those who are
think nothing of lighting a cigarette
after dinner at any Of the fashionable
eating-houses, Some of them smoke
cigars, though they seldom venture tc
do 50 in public
Most young men have abandoned
cigars altogether and keep up cigar
cite smoking from early morning till
bedtime. 1t would be idle TO deny
that the abuse OF cigarettes is working
havoc among the Austrian youth.
Here, as elsewhere, it has disastrous
effect ON the eyes, throat and stomach.
Dust is one of the great drawbacks OF
the Vienna atmosphere. aud when that
is coupled with the smoke of indiller-
ent tobacco and paper, the elect upon
the respiratory organs is necessarily
most injurious. Then in Austria smok.
ing is allowed everywhere, excepting
mt church and the theaters. There are
railway carriages labeled for non.
smokers. but on recent Journey | got
into one of these and was not little
dismayed to find each side of tho com
partment provided with an ash-tray.
The Vienna cafes are renowned for the
delicious caie-au-lait they give at early
breakfast, but 20 at whatever hour YOU
will from in the morning aud YOU will
find the air poisoned with foul cigarette
smoke while the bread aud the milk
coffee itself are slightly impregnated
with the flavor of tobacco.
The old-ia,nioued Nieuuese, who can
no Longer enjoy his pipe outside his
own house mas taken to the "Nir-
giuia, or rnt-taied cigar. with the
straw mouthpiece, a single one of
which is sufficient to till the Albert hall
with vague odor of burned seaweed.
This atroci0uS cheroot is mere
apology for smoking. Not one in a
thousand tastes of tobacco, yet the
Virginia seems to have the fatal
fascination of the cigarette 1t is
making the same ravages among the
lower classes as is the cigarette among
their betters. Almost every working
man carries four or five "Nirginias' in
his breast pocket when he g.tS to his
work in the morning, aud in many
cases they do not last him the day
through. HIS clothes are saturated
with the abominable smell of 'Nir-
giuia' smoke. II makes him offensive
even at a distance, and renders the
closed premises which he frequents
simply intolerable. Virginia" smok.
ing is decidedly greater nuisance
than snuil-taking,
1t is only in the Tyrol and Galicia
that the habit of taking snuff still
exists, though the quality of the
Austrian Regie snuff is excellent, 1t is
exported far and wide. and is high in
favor with amateurs of all nations. II
has been predicted on good authority
that the difficulty of obtaining good
tobacco to smoke will revive the Gus
tom of taking snuff, In Austria, how
ever, it is not the case. Even among
the clergy it is not as prevalent as IL
other Catholic countries; here the
priests smoke, In place where il
may he SAID that everybody putls the
Indian weed it is sometimes draw
back to be non-smoker, When you
pay "A call on business or otherwise
YOU are at once Offered cigarette
which, even if you only take II coupl,
of whitls, you are expected to light
If you do not do SO in many eases il
throws chill on the conversation tC
come.
In the east it is considered hardly
good manners to refuse a cigarette
just as in America it is unfriendly tC
decline "a drink