The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-04-14
STUDYING HUMAN NATURE.
An indianapolis Cigar Dealer Cos
sips About His Customers.
From the indianapolis News.

From the Indianapolis News.
"a cigar store is a good place to study
human nature" said the proprietor of a
well known cigar store. Here is, perhaps,
as good place as any one can find to .
study men. Among my customers are
people of all classes. and here are shown
many inside traits of character which
would not crop out in another way per-
haps in a years acquaintance with an in
dividual
THAT old fellow you see getting out of
the carriage across the street will be in
to see me before he drives back to his
home. He is a retired South Meridian
street merchant and has money to throw
at the birds. but he doesn't throw any OF
IL, for cigars, either, though he smokes as
many, perhaps, as any other man in the
city. j lose money on him right along,
and would refuse to deal with him at ali
If II We're not for fear of losing the really
good trade Of his two sons / more than
even up off them what l lose on his trade.
He buys only one grade of 6-cent goods
He buys them by the hundred, and | gener-
ally see his face about twice a week. and
he generally brings back about half the
cigars he buys and gets credit on a new
purchase. If a cigar does not burn to suit
him he lights another and carefully places
the discarded one in box to be returned
to me. The brand he smokes are unfia-
vored, but he often detects suspicion of
flavor and whenever this happens the
particular weed IS consigned TO the return
box and Is ultimately EXCHANGED for a
new cigar a my expense / suppose / am
70 blame for getting myself into the posi-
ton. IL came about in this way: He
complained one day of the last box of
cigars that he bought, saying they were
badly rolled, and did not smoke we'll He
said he had thrown half of them away.
Well, l just gave him a nice box and told
him that any time any cigars he bought
We're not satisfactory to let me know and
l would make IL right The next time he
came a half a half dozen had been had
and | made an allowance on his purchase
After that he adopted the plan Of return
ing the bad ones and has Done it now
"A cigar dealer has to be very cautious
ana diplomatic with some people or he will
either let them smoke up all his profits or
will drive away trade, which If properlv
handled, is really worth having There
are some people who seem TO believe that
their cigar man is under lasting obligations
| to them for smoking his goods. They ex-
pect to be rewarded with a box OF Ha-
vanas every third day for buying, perhaps,
a box In month. Why, l introduced this
cigar to the boys at the club" said one
Of them to me when he thought | was
close for not making him a present of
box of them. He may have done So but
the truth is that l don't sell enough of
/ those cigars in a year 10 afford to give
away single box
Then there is the fellow who is a
regular customer-buys a cigar every
| morning. perhaps. He comes in then in
1 the evening and tries TO buy a So pine for
! the bargain He is not bit slow about
/ asking for the cigar. either.
| Il have many ladies among my custom
/ ers. There are more ladies in Indianapolis
/ who, smoke cigarettes than one would sup
| pose. Cigarette smoking is not confined
/ as you may suppose to the women of the
| demi-monde class. ! sell lots of them to
! ladies of good families. oh, no. Thew
4 don't come after them themselves, but /
/ often know who the messenger boy is
! buying for Most frequently they send a
+ servant after them, and il is not hard in
/ this way to identify the smoker Then
/ have another way by which | can verify
! my statement that ladies are becoming adj
! dicted to the cigarette habit. l can go to
! social gathering and pick out from
i among fifty ladies all who smoke l can
/ tell by their eyes. ] may miss II sometimes
/ by accusing an innocent one but will never
/ fail TO strike the smoker # she has been
/ smoking for as long as six months to any
1 great excess. The habit gives the eyes a
/ peculiar dun, glossy appearance not pro-
duced by anything else that is at all gen
/ eral."