Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-12-10

twelve years. After dinner the boy took a
Russian leather case from his pocket, handed
his father a cigarette and lit one himself in the
most matter-of-course way. Chewing tobacco
| is not common; snuff is said to be coming into
fashion. but one sees very little OF it, like many
fashions supposed to originate in Paris.
CIGARETTE SMOKING.
One OF the most startling sights to the good
American abroad is the universally of the vice
Of cigarette smoking. The French are given
over to it. At home it is the custom to cry
against the cigaretts-'the meanest and most
despicsble Of stirnulants' to q late
American publication. l was instructing a
young Partisan from its pages that ''the effect
OF cigar Is lasting enough to be comparable 10
that Of food. But there is no food effect about
| a cigarette" He remarked that reasoning OF
this character must account for the prevalence
| Of alcoholic drunkenness in the United States.
People attempt TO transform stimulant into q
food by taking it in larger doses. In America
the individual cigarette smoker is or used to be
dude. But in Paris the good American can
olly swell with Amusement he sits in the
Cafe de Ia Paix amid its cigarette smoke. An
other evidence of the despicable sensuality OF
an effete civilization. They drink absinthe
too. And IL you don't see them drunk it's be-
cause they are too stingy. Look at their men.
None Of them are as big as Sullivan or Corbett
Therefore, the cigarette is deadly, q. 9. d.
IN THE ARMY.
So far as the cigarette is concerned it is only
necessary to mention two facts. The French
army regulations are excessively severe and the
greatest care is taken of the men. Recently
when foot racing for long distances became the
rage 1t was u favorite psstime of the soldiers
But an order came prohibiting these foot races
1t was thought to be injurious il carried to ex-
cess. No such order has ever come with re-
gard to cigarette smoking. Scarcely q COM
Ia vrit
the army is very jealous o. its consumption, for
all youths under a certain physical standa I'd
have to be rejected. Yet the s.ate for many
years has freely sold cigarettes to boys. and
the French army continues to boast the best
marching endurance in. Europe. The French
have no fear Of the cigarette, nor the English
the Spanish, the Italians, the Austrians, the
Russians, the Germans, the Belgians, the
Dutch, nor even the Scandinavians.
But over here America is regarded as the
country Of reforms. Each new movement
from the suppression Of the corset to the sup
the Paris journals.
BUT LITTLE PIPE SMOKING.
There is very little pipe smoking in Paris.
Your Frenchman will accumulate magnificent
collection Of the pipes Of all nations, but he will
not smoke them overmuch. Nevertheless the
pipe shops of the Boulevard contain wonderful
treasures of meerschaum. brier, violet wood,
amber and onyx. Several Of the largest Of
them exhibit in special glass cases show pipes
OF meerschaum deliberately carved and valued
as high AZ 5000 francs apiece. They are toe
large for use. Twenty-Five dollars is no IN
common price for plain long stick Of amber
for cigarettes, and carved French briers, for
everyday use, run up to $50 each. Strangers
should be warned, however, against the fraudu-
lent practices in some Of the best of these Boule.
yard shops. where one is charged whatever the
dealers think he will pay. For meerschaumi
the tourist can always do better in Vienna.
ONE EFFECT OF THE FRANco-RUssIAN ALLIANCE.
Some of the latest and prettiest things for
smokers use have come to Paris in the wake OF
the Franco Russian alliance. Several shops
have been opened by Moscow houses. where
enameled jewelry, cigarette cases, cigar and
cigarette holders match boxes, well as lac
quered ware and malachite work, are displayed.
Cigarette and cigar cases and tubes lend them
selves particularly we'll to the brilliant Russian
enameling which keeps closely TO good Byzan-
tine patterns. Even in workmanship they seem
superior to similar decorations as commonly
found. These manufacturers have their own
secrets of chemicals and their own traditions OF
color and contrast. 1t may be taken, there.
fore, that these products of the alliance have
come to stay-none the less because their prices
are outrageoUsly high.
THERE ARE TWO OTHER SPECIES OF DEALERS
in smokers materials in Paris-the Turkieh
Persian and other oriental bazaara Of the Rue de
Rivoii and the regular antiquity shops Of the
Rue Lafayette and tho Rue Lafitte and all Paris
in general. The oriental dealers will bear a
great deal Of watching as among their really
remarkable wares they mingle a great deal Of
factory-made clap-trap which Is dear at any
price. Some Of the daintiest semi-oriental
smokers conceits are to be seen, rather curl
ousiy, at the exposition Of women's arts at the
Palais dIndustrie. They are exhibits of the
government schools Of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Remarkable cigar and cigarette holders and
casey are shown in plum, pear, ebony and
violet wood incrusted with silver in oriental
and Byzantine designs. The Austrian govern
ment is endeavoring to revive these old handi-
craft arts Of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and they
will be seen in variety at the Chicago expo
sition.
OLD SNUFF BOXES.
The antiquity dealers Of Paris run rather to
snuff boxes than to pipes. These shops arc full
of snuff boxes in silver, gold. ebony, ivory an
onyx, with miniatures on their lids which give
them their chief value. On the Rue Laffitte
you can pick up by the half dozen boxes with
miniatures attributed to Boucher and other joy-
Gus painters OF the dissolute Louis Quinze Pc
fiod. The balance of their stock in trade in
teresting to smokers. consists in German pipes,
Dresden and Nuremberg work of two centuries
ago, and French pipes, frequently metal, of the
Napoleonic era.
TOBACCO IN PUBLIC.
With regard TO etiquette in the use Of tobacco
in public places there is not much to say
smoke Is as free as air. This is in accordance
with tho universal European custom. Men
smoke in restaurants, cafes and at most of the
hotel tables. Women do not smoke publicly.
Whether or not they smoke in private is a
matter for each mans experience. have
never seen a French lady smoke. Once. in
Dresden, saw a married lady puff cigarette
after dinner in a fashionable restaurant; and
once saw two English girls, seemingly Of the
upper middle class, smoking cigarettes in a
railroad carriage, where they were alone. Here
my knowledge ends. Tie demoiselles of the
Moulin Rouge and the Casino are not permitted
to smoke in those temples Of light amusement
and the girls Of the Boulevard do not smoke In
the cafes. At the Cafe Anglais, which is still
nearly as chic as ever. smoking is not permitted
until after p. m. But rules like these are
resented and scarcely ever enforced.
STERLING HELLO.
Gold in the Wichita Mountains.
The gold excitement in the Wichita mount
aims is increasing. The only obstacle met