Milford chronicle., 1895-01-25
sNnrE TAXING m NEW YORK.
Fhe Custom BY No Means Extinct, bu
Mostly Confined to Foreigners.

The Custom by No Means Extinct, pui
Mostly Confined TO Foreigners.
A little old man entered a Broadway
cable cor, picked bis way gingerly up the
aisle and settled himself IL a scat His
fare paid from one pocket be diYed into
the depths Of another and brought out a
small brown horn box, into which he in
serted tbs thumb and forefnger Of MS
right hand and extracted few grains Of
dark powder With a somewhat furtive
motion be raised his hand to his nose and
applied the powder deftly to either nostril
10 turn, replaced the box and continued
his ride with satisfaction unmistakahly
written upon his rugged oountenance-
The passengers watched the little panto
mime with interest, for it is not often now
adays thar one sees the process Of snud
taking
II tho ghost Of a man Of Queen Anne's
time could revisit this world IN these days
Il is probable that he would be not more
surprised by his descendants advance in
material achievements than grieved at the
general disappearance Of the snu1box. that
Indispensable article 10 the equipment Of
every gentleman OF high fashion on which
the be8ux Of his age and Of that succeed
ing lavished extravagant sums An IN
duiry at the tobacconist's Of the old style
and there are still a fow IN New York
would reveal the fact that the community
Of the sneeze still exists among a not in
considerable number Of the moderns If be
chose to dip into the United States inter
nal revenue statistics, be would find that
the yearly production Of snuff In this
country is large enough TO insure 70 each
inhabitant supply of at least two ounces,
the total output averaging about 8, 600 900
pounds And Of snuffboxea. though those
Of bis day are now TO be found chiefly In
Of antiquarians he might yet
find good store in a little Sixth avenue
shop the writer knows of, not so elaborate
as his own, but Offering him his choice Of
tortoise she'll and papier mache tastefuIly
inlaid with mother Of pearl Of horn (re.
calling Sandy's "muli') and of beech.
wood, the latter carved ia quaint designs
he might even purchase the gold and sil
yer receptacles If be found the right silver |
sIpith, for some Of them are still made
I'VE don't sell as many boxes as we used [
10, said the dealer because the snuff I
zones in such convenient packages, . a fact I
Fhch would again shock our eighteenth /
century ghost and convince him that he /
lad indeed fallen upon evil days AS
natter of fact the principal consumers,
n this city at least, are foreigners, the
rish Germans, French and Italians per
laps constituting the largest number
In the days Of the fashion there were as
many brands Of snuff as there are now Of
obacco, but all that is changed now The
'arieties most in demand are Maocoboy,
4undyfoot French, Scotch and Lotzbeck
They don't vary much in price except
hat Lotzheck. the only imported one, is
higher priced The Irish seem
o prefer Maecoboy, perhaps from an idea
hat the name has an Irish origin but it
asn't It's corrupted from a West In
ian word Maoahao Another of their
lvorites is Lundyfoot, known also as Irish
Iigh-toast and Irish BlaCkguard Lundy
Dot, according to the story, was a Dublin
1bacconist Some Of his snuff while being
ried in the kiln was scorched, and he set
tub of it outside his shop for the poor to
ip up as theY passed by So many found q
le high flavor pleasant that the accidental c
Ugh drying made his name famous, for it
as applied to the brand be afterward
by that process Curiously
Tough, the Germans are fondest of a
rench snuff known as Gambetta My
lst customers are very reticent about their /;
luff taking Many of them say they are
lying it for Others. an they make al
rts Of ridiculous excuses for buying 1t
ems to be a habit people are ashamed of,
I'd / dare say some persons indulge it
ithout the knowledge Of their families.
u have more women than men among
y customers, and-yes, some Of them
ip'-men as well as women Has snuff
king any effect upon longevity Well
Ion't know / lost one customer by death
e other day, an old woman who had
ught snuff Of me for 52 years have
lr or five customers Of so to 80 years
lnding, and at least 20 who have traded
tn me over 30 years. New York Trib
@.