The evening bulletin. [volume] (Maysville, Ky.) 1887-1905, 1896-10-03
THAT WICKED HABIT
A DRUMMER'S VIEWS OF SMOKING
AID ONE OF HIS STORIES.

Escaped Ruin Because of the Sociability
In the Smoking Habit.
"You can tell a good deal about a
man by the way he smokes a cigar"
said travelling man i'll philosophical
mood at one Of the hotels the other day.
'And it goes without saying that you
eau also tell something Of his disposition
by the brand he generally smokes. For
instance, you see him coming out from
the dining room after RECALLING the phys
ical man with the delicacies Of a first
class menu. He sits on the cool side Of
the building, draws long black cigar
from his pocket and bites about half an
inch off from one end, sets the other to
blazing and is soon putting great clouds
of smoke that ring and curl all around
him. If he pulls at it furiously, al
ways think he doesn't know how to en-
JOY a good cigar. He will probably
smoke two cigars while another man is
enjoying one. In that event, it is gener-
ally a mild weed that he prefers. At
any rate, it is all indication Of his nerv-
Gus temperament. Such man is never
happy unless he is in the midst of con.
slant change. He is impulsive and even
hot tempered. If you want to sell him
any goods, it should be policy on your
part not to cross him if you can avoid it.
Then there is the other fellow who
methodically takes his knife out Of his
pocket while he continues talking TO his
companion and slowly trims the end Of
his favorite brand, returns his knife to
his pocket and settles back in his chair
for u quiet smoke. Putting the cigar
into his mouth, he generally chews the
end of it for five minutes before the
lighting operation is performed And
when he puffs, you would hardly know
it. The delicate white ash hides the
fire, and the thin line Of smoke is hard
ly visible as it curls lazily upward. Yet
he never has to relight his cigar. Such
man is interpretive, cool i'll an emer-
gency, logical III his thinking and just
the opposite III temper to the one pre-
viously described. If any thing star
Ting should turn up, he would never APP
pear surprised. If he gets beat in a
game Of high five, he never shows his
chagrin. And venture TO say that if
his life purpose were thwarted-and he
has one-very few people would ever
know it. He would suffer like the Spar
tan boy with the fox concealed under
his coat and gnawing out his vitals.
Some would say this is all bOsh, but |
fancy there is something in it," And
the man relapsed into silence again for
moment while he watched the blue
rings waited away by the cool breeze
that is so graceful On hot August day.
Speaking of the wicked habit Of
smoking" he continued after minute,
II know a man who conscientiously de-
clares that it is not so. He says that if
he didn't know how to enjoy good
cigar he would have been poor man
today. That sounds little strange,
doesn't it? Well, this is how it hap
pened, as the story teller says He was
seated in front Of the Southern hotel,
st. Louis, one day. He was a travelling
man and had lit his after dinner cigar.
A gruff looking gentleman was seated
next to him. He was smoking too. They
sat there in silence for several minutes,
perhaps half hour. Finally the drum
mer was aroused from his reflections by
hearing an expression from his neigh
boris lips which Noah Webster never
invented. He was going through his
pockets for match. The drummer POI
htely rendered him one from his neat
little matchbox and handed him a
cigar, too, adding that he had better
take fresh one. From that they fell
to talking, first about cigars. The gruff
gent warmed up at once and wanted to
know where the drummer got such
choice cigar. 1t happened TO be first
class brand which the latter had picked
up in the south. From that TIE two fell
into quite pleasant conversation. The
drummer left town that evening. But
they met by chance several times after
that, and gradually warm friendship
sprang up between them.
Years afterward the travelling man
was engaged in the banking business.
Of course the only way drummer ever
becomes banker is by the timely death
of a rich relative Well, he still retained
the friendship of his St. Louis acquaint-
ance ana often heard from him by let
ter The drummer was prosperous until
his bank, like many others in 1898, was
drained with terrific run. 1t seemed
as though he must fail unless he had a
few thousand dollars to tide over the
next day. AS he sat thinking the matter
over in the cool air of his front yard
man came strolling through the front
gate. 1t was his friend. OF course he
asked the banker what made him look
so pale, and the story came out little by
little. The next day the bank had I'M
limited capital to back it and was soon
on a solid footing 1t was all through
that cigar smoked several years before,