Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1895-01-21
SNUFF TAXING m NEW Yosk.
Tho Custom by No Means Extinct, BIT
Mostly Connnsd to Foreirner..

$3.50 te@f',Ns W W hicAhA EItinCt. but
Mostly CONFINED to Foreigners.
A little cid man entered broadway
cable car, picked his way gingcrly up the
aisle and settled himself In n scat. His
fare paid from one pocket, he dived into
the depths Of another and brought out q
small brown horn box, into which he in
serted the thumb and foreflnger of his
right hand and extracted few grains of
q dark powder. With somewhat furtive
motion he raised his hand to his nose and
applied tho powder deftly to either nostril
In turn, replaced the box and continued
his ride with satisfaction Enthusiastically
written upon his rugged countenanoo
The passengers watched tho little panto-
mime with interest, for 1t is not often now
adnys that one soes the process of snuff
taking.
If the ghost OF man of Queen Anne's
time could revisit this world in these days,
1t is probable that he would be not more
surprised by his descendants advance In
material achievements than grieved at the
general disappearance of the snufTbox, that
indispensable article in the equipment of
every gentleman of high fashion on which
the beaux OF his ego and of that succeed
ing lavishsd extrayagant sums, An in
quiry at tho tobacconist's of the old style
and there are still few in New York
would reveal the fact that tho community
of tho snoezo still exists among not in
considerable number of the moderns II he
chose to dip into tho United STATES inter
nal revenue statistics he would find that
the yearly production Of snuff In this
country is large enough to insure to each
inhabitant a supply of at least two ounces,
the total output Averaging about 8, 900, 600
pounds. And of snuifboxes, though those
of his day arc now to be found chiefly In
collections of antiquarians, he might yet
find good store in little Sixth avenue
shop tho writer knows Of, not 80 elaborate
as his own, but offering him his choice Of
tortoise shell and pnpier mache tastefully
inlaid with mother OF pearl, OF horn ire
calling Sandy's "mull'') and OF beech
wood tho latter carved in quaint designs,
He might even purchase the gold and sill
yer roooptacles II Lie found the right silver
smith, for some Of them are still made.
"Wc don't sell as many boxes as we used
to-" said the dealer because tho snuff
comes In such convenient packages, n fact
which would again shock our eighteenth
century ghost and convince him that he
had indeed fallen upon evil days. AS
In this city ct least, nro foreigners, the
Irish, Germans, French and Italians per
haps constituting the largest number.
In the days of tho fashion there were as
many brands of snuff as there are now Of
tobacco, but all that is changed now. Tho
varieties most In demand arc MaCcoboy,
Lundyfoot, French Scotch and LotRbeck
"They don't vary much in price, except
that Lotzbeok, the only imported one, Is
considerably higher priced. The Irish seem
to prefer Maocoboy, perhaps from an Idea
that the name has an Irish origin, but 1t
hasn't. It's corrupted from West In
dian word, 'Macabao.' Another of their
fayorites is Lundyfoot, known also as Irish
High-toast and Irish Blackgunrd. Lundy-
foot, according to the story, was Dublin
tobncconist Some of his snuff while being
dried in the kiln was scorchod, and he set
a tub Of 1t outside his shop for the poor to
dip up as they passed by, So many found
tho high flavor pleasant that the accidental
high drying made his name famous, for 1t
was applied to the brand he afterward
manufactured by that process. Curlously
enough, the Germans arc fondest of
French snuff known as Gamhetta My
best customers are very reticont about their
snuff taking. Many of them say they arc
buying it for others, and they make all
sorts of ridiculous excuses for buying Ii
seems to be habit people are ashamed of,
and / dare say some persons indulge 1t
without the knowledge of their families.
~ have more women than mon among
my customers, and-yes, some of them
| 'dip'-men as we'll MS women. Has snuff
taking any effect upon longevity Well,
| Idon't know. lost one customer by death
the other day, an old woman who had
| bought snuff of me for 90 years. have
four or five customers of so to 30 years
standing, and at least 90 who have traded
with me over 20 years. New York Trib'
NM.