The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-06-08
TIE SNUFF HABIT,
how a Baltimoreau Interviewed a
Georgian on the Subject.
Eroy, fbs PoTf,,-o,. u,..1J

From the Baltimore Herald.
"Do the women in the part OF Georgia
where you came from dip snuffr ' inquired
the Baltimore man, who was picking his
teeth comfortably in the Carrollton hotel
rotunda.
I'm my part Of Georgia." said the south
erner, whose acquaintance he had made on
the train. "the adies-h'm-speaking of
Georgia, do you know there are some of the
loveliest lakes in the world ia the southern
part or that state l have one in mind
now. 1t is a beautiful sheet of water, as
clear as crystal, half mile wide and about
| twice as long, twenty-four feet deep In the
| middle and with smooth, sandy bottom and
pebbly beach. 1t is right on the outskirts
| OF the town where / live and not 100 yards
from my door,"
1T must be beautiful place. With re-
gard to the ladies of Georgia, though, l
| have often wondered IL it can be true that
any considerable number of them are ad-
| dicted to the habit"
ION bright moonlight night interposed
the Georgian, lighting a cigar. when not q
breath OF wind stirs the tree tops and the
lake is ae smooth as glass, 1t is delightful TO
sit on the beach and see the reflections OF
the silvery moon Ia the depths and the
grand old moss~draped oaks that line its
| bsnks.n
II have always supposed, Of course, that
the tales Of snuff-dipping told on the fair
young Georgia damsels-"
And in the morning at sunrise, when
| the cloud effects are mirrored in the water
1T is a glorious thing to spring into our little
| boat and row around the lake. At this
season Of the year our towns looks like a
| flower garden, with white and red blossoms
everywhere. And in the reedy sedges that
fringe the banks on the other side there are
hundreds of game birds that tempt your
murderous northerner with his 5000 breech-
| loader"
Eyes, it must be glorious place. But
speaking about the ladies of Georgia"
What about the ladies of Georgia, sir 2"
Il beg your pardon" said the Baltimore
man, IF l seem little inquisitive about
| them. 1 mean no disrespect ! have reIa-
tives in Southern Georgia, fairly well-to-do
| people, and about the average, presume,
| in family pride and responsibility. / have
not seen them since was little boy. If
the habit of dipping snuff is a common
one in Georgia, they are as likely to indulge
| In 1t as anybody else. So 1t is all in the
| family
| "Well," said the Georgian, reaectiveIy,
since you put it on that ground l don't
mind admitting that we have some snuff
| 'dippers in our part Of the country. / don't
defend the habit, mind you, but when a
woman is chewing the stick industriously
she isn't tattling about her neighbors."
1.-THE habit is not INDUCED in by men~
| mot at ALL The only snuff che wing man
/ ever ssw was right here In Baltimore.
| saw him ON a suburban train when / was
here last year. l recognized the signs at
| the corners of his mouth, and watched him
When he thought nobody was looking at
him he opened a little snuff-boK, took out q
| large pinch, put it hastily into his mouth
| and rubbed IL around his gums. He didn't
have Stick probably, and 30 used his
finger"
20. yes! Baltimore is cosmopolitan city.
But 60 ahead"
81 am we'll acquainted with a grocer In
our little town." resumed the Georgian,
who told me had kept store for thirteen
years and had sold immense quantities Of
| snuff. He says 1t is as staple as sugar or
| coffee. In every general store, not only in
our section, but over In the Florida towns,
the bladders full of It, the familiar little Tin
boxes and the jars labeled 'Maccaboy' are
| so commonly seen on the shelves that they
excite no remark"
us the habit on the increaser'
mo. It is slightly falling off, especially
among the whites. 1t is practised more ON
| the sly and not 80 openly as 1t used to be.
The favorite sticks used in dipping are Of
| althea and black gum. These, suppose
brush. Then they are dipped into the
snuff and the mouth is swabbed with the
| sempting morsel."
do they chew the snuff"
They chew the stick. 1t may not be-
much worse than my chewing. the end of
| this cigar, continued the Georgian, looking
| at the mangled remains Of the Havana he
| was smoking and throwing the stump
away, but 1t looks worse. Indulgtng In
the habit TO excess makes peculiar wrinkles
| about the mouth. and 10 the case Of an I'M
| tidy woman the dried chunks Of the deli
caoy fill these wrinkles-and you can i'm
agine."
"Yes. would prefer to imagine It,"
"A friend Of mine who moved into o
house where society young lady had for
| merly resided said he found dozen or more
empty tin boxes that had boon full OF snuff
when bought III one of the closets In the
room she had occupied and two or three
| dozen more out in the back yard. He
| oarted them all to the alley. l am ac-
| quainted with lady who keeps a boarding
house in Florida town. She once had a
married couple among her boarders.
| The husband was neat and tidy. The
| wife was 80 fond of her snuff stick
| that she couldn't wait till she was
| dressed in the morning to indulge her appe-
| tite. Among the native cracker families
| throughout North Florida and South Geor-
gia there are many women who chew snuff.
Among the colored women Of those regions
1t is no uncommon sight to see one on the
street with her stick projecting from her
mouth
"How about the operatives at the facto-
RESP
"In knitting mill have sometimes WIS.,
tied there were many girls that chewed
snuff openly. The manager objected to
this, and they would do it on the sly, retir-
ing to some corner or to a vacant outbuild-
ing for the purpose"
''Is it often spoken Of down thereY'
"The subject seldom comes up. When
10 does we denounce the habit. When a
prying outsider quizzes us about 1t he some
times gets-never mind what he gets. On
the whole, am quite certain the custom is
on the wane. 1t is not a pleasant thing to
talk about anyhow. Have a cigars MOI
l don't think want one myself Let US go
and take a walk"
aave No Equal.
ALLCoCK's Porous PLAsTERs have at