The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-01-19
THEY TAKE SNUFF
Il ID Stiu INDUCED In BY q Gre at
Many Americans.
A New York 1osecooniss Gives Some In.
tercstiag Information About the
Proesction and Consumption
o. the Arttcla.

II the ghost OF man ofQueen Anne's
time could revisit rhis world in these
days Is is probable that he would not
be more surprised by his defendants
advance in material achievements than
grieved s. the general disa ppesrance of
the snuff box, that Indispensable ar
ticle IN the equipment of every gentle
nan OF high fashion on which the
beaux OF his age and OF that succeeding
iavished extravagant sums an in
I Quiry at any tobaccoCist's OF the Cd
style-and there are still few IL New
; York-wouid reveal the fact that the
community of the sneezs still exists
/ among not iuconsiderable number OF
the nnoderns- If he chose 20 dip int the
United States internal revenue stats
/ ties he would find that the yearly pro-
/ duction OF snuff in this country IS large
( enough to Insure TO each inhabitant q
/ supply Of at least two ounces, the total
/ output averaging eight million
/ pounds And of snuff boxes, though
those OF his day are now 20 be found
chiefly in collections ofan.iqusrians, he
might yet find good store in little
Sixth a-enue shop . writer for TIE New
/ York Tribune knows Of: not SO elabor-
ate as his own, but Offering him his
! choice of tortoise shell and pauier
u1ache, tastefugy inlaid with mother
of-pearl; OF horn trecalling Sandy's
null and Of beechwood, the latter
carved in quaint designs lie might
! even purchase the gold and silver re-
ceptaeles Il he found the right silver
7 smith, for come Of them are still made.
I've don't sell as many boxes as we
used to-" said the dealer, because the
/ snuff comes n s1ch convenient pack
/ ages, fact which would again shock
( our eighteenth century ghost and con-
/ vince him that he had indeed fallen
/ upon evil days AS matter of fact;
the principal CONSUMERS, in this city. at
/ least, are Foreigners, the Irish, Ger
mans, French and Italians perhaps con-
/ stituting the largest number. In the
/ days of the fashion there were as many
/ brands Of snuff as there are now Of
| tobacco, bat all that is changed now.
| The varieties most in demand are Mac
/ coboy, Lundyfoo6, French, Scotch and
Lotzbeck. They don't vary much in
| price, except that Lotzbeck, the only
, imported one, Is considerably higher
! priced. The Irish Seem to prefer Mae
/ cobov, perhaps from the idea that the
name has an Irish origin, but it hasn't,
( II is corrupted from West India word,
/ 'Macabao.' Another Of their favorites
/ is Lrndyfoot, known also as Irish High
/ toast and Irish Blackguerd. Lundy-
/ foot, according to the story, was II Dub
+ lin tobaccon:st. Some of his sEuf y nile
/ being dried IN the kiln was scorched,
! and he set a tub OF it outside his shop
/ FOR the poor TO dip up as they passed
! by. So many found the high davor
1 pleasant that the accidental high dry
/ ing made mis- name famous, for it was
| applied to the brand he afterward man
( ufactured bv that process. Curiously
enough, the Germans are fondest of
/ French snuff known as Gampetta.
, My hest customers are very reticent
about their snufi-taking. Many of
I them say they are buying IL for others,
and they make all sorts of ridiculous
excuses for buying. 1t seems to be d
habit people ere ashamed Of, and
I dare say some persons indulge it with
out the knowledge OF their families
/ have more women than men among my
I customers, and, yes, some of them dip
! men as well as women. Has snuff-tali-
ing any effect upon longevity? Well,
! don't know. l lost one customer by
death the other day, an old woman,
who bought snuff of me for ffty-two
wears I have four or five customers OF
thirty or thirty-fve years standing,
and at least twenty who have traded
! with me over twenty years"