The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1891-02-13

tt is a curious fact that the use OF
narcotics should prevail all over the
world Amongst those largely used.
tobacco is 4 primo favoritc. and is
mostly indulged in through the medium
OF smoking. Since the days of Raleigh h
pipe Manufacturers have greatly i'm
proved on the curious smoking appa-
ratus still preserved as relic OF Sir
Walter. Tho discovery of some small
pipes in the mortar OF one of our an
cieut abbeys seems TO indicate that the
practice of smoking some native herb
was customary prior to the introduction
OF tobacco from America
Some of the FIRST pipes used in Eliza
beth's time consisted OF walnut shells
furnished with stoms of strong straw.
Pipes OF iron. silver. clay and wood sue
Ceeded tin We come to the meer-
Schaum. Tho white eartben porous
pipe ranks first. as the best absorber OF
nicotine. just As the metallic pipe comes
last for opposite reasons The meer-
srhaum immediately follows the clay
pipo. hut when fully seasoned, il is no
bcttor than u wooden pipe.
a shoomakor in hungary. who was
ingonious in carving. has the honor OF
having carved the first. pipe from a
piece OF mearschaum which had been
proSantcd to him aS 4 curiosity. Its
porous nature struck tho shoemaker as
hCing wcll adapted for absorbing nico-
tinc. That nrSt mecrschaum has been
preserved in tho rnEscum of rcsth. Tho
InCcuinIts carver found that tho shoe
makers wax. which in tho course of his
iradc accidentally adhored to the bowl,
on hcinr rnl,bcd OF Drought out = clear
,,oiiSh. lie thcrofore waxod tho
.osurrac". polished the pi pc. smoke cd
ID. aud admired tho colorcd result.
.PireS 81 this absorption were at frs.
con finod TO tho richest European noble
nrcn until isaO. when they came moro
generally into use
1. Rnhla. a mountain village in Thur
ingia. is the center of tho pipe manu-
facture of Germany, where they turn
out over half a million real meerschaums
yearly. besides thousands OF other
pipes OF infinite variety, made OF wood,
lava. clay. porcelain and vast numbers
of imitation meerSchaumS The dis
covery OF the art OF making false meer-
sch aums from the dust left after cary
ing and boring the real article was a
secret for some time. But pipes of this
description do not color so well. for the
porous character CT the native meer-
schnum Is partly lost in the process.
There are five qualities Of meerschaum
used in making pipes Tho best is
known by its facial absorption Of the
nicotine, which gradually develops into
a rich brown blush upon the surface.
The absorption OF the essential oils OF
tobacco purifics the smoke. and the
harmful qualities of tobacco decrease
as it's flavor improves
To touch on the subject OF pipe-color-
ing, smokers may be reminded that as SO
many meerschaums are not genuine,
they may often offcr up their incense
to the goddess Nicotina in vain. AS
rule, . new bowl should not be smoked
TO tho bottom, nor. when il is warm,
touched by the hand. nor yet the color
ing produced too rapidly. IT is said
two clever French chemists have in
vented royal road to the coloring of n
meerschaum- BY the application OF
ether and alcohol. combined with an
essence, such as that OF rose. in which
ten per cent. of camphor and the same
proportion Of borate OF soda are dis
solved, they have succeeded in endow-
ing cigar-holders and pipebowIs with
tho properly of rapidly assuming that
yellOwish- brown tint OF maturity so
dear to the lovers Of the weed.
For mouthpieces the Turks were the
first % adopt amber. AS all pipe-fan-
eIers know, the clear amber is the
least valuable and the clOuded the
greatest favorite, the best OF all being
that Of the Opaque yellow color. This
material WAS used by the Turks for
mOuthpieces IN the belief that IL would
convey no infectious disease. This be-
lief could hardly have been shared by
the American humorist when he dis
covered the taste OF generations on
the mOuthpiece Of the Eastern pipe.
which Is one of the attendant luxuries
Of the hot bath
The pipes OF a Turkish dignitary are
magnificent according TO the rank OF
bis visftors- pasha possessed a col
lection OF pipes said TO be worth thirty
thousand pounds sterling, many of them
oelng ornamented with diamonds. Some
Eastern pipes have tassels of diamonds
depending from them, besides rings OF
the same precious stones round the am
per mouth PIECES The pipe which the
Shah on f,Persiasmokes in public is in
crustea WITH diamonds. rubics, pearls
and emeralds of great value.
Lord Byron in his Eastern travels be-
- 4 a great pipe-fancier, and Disraeli
Cairo proved himself an accom-
pnsneu smoker. He possessed great
variety of pipes, from. bookabs 80
dhudeens- He christened somo of b;s
pipes In magniloquent fashion. Ono
pc eaiIed Bosporous and another SnI-
tan. The stems of some of tbem wer,
many feet long. made OF wood covered
WIN nuted silk. 1t is considered the
cnerry tree and jasmine make the best
pipe stems; the longer and straipbter
the stem the greater is tho value, Tho