Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1896-12-19
THAT WICKED HABIT
A DHUMMER'S VIEWS OF SMOKING
AND ONE OF HIS STORIES.

He Con Tell All About n Man From the
Way He Smokes a Cigar-A Banker Who
Escaped Ruin Because of the Sociability
In the Smoking Habit.
''You can tell good deal about
man by the way he smokes cigar"
said IA travelling man in philosophical
mood at one of the hotels the other day.
'And it goes without saying that you
can also tell something of his disposition
by the brand he generally smokes. For
instance, you see him coming out from
the dining room after regaling 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 good cigar. He will probably
smoke two cigars while another man is
enjoying one. In that event, it is gener-
ally mild weed that he prefers. At
any rate, it is an indication of his nerv-
Gus temperament. Such man is never
happy unless he is in the midst of con-
stant change. He is impulsive and even
hot tempered. If you want to sell him
any goods, it should be policy OH your
part not to cross him if you can avoid it.
"Then there is the other fellow who
mcthodically 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 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 putfs, you would hardly know
it. The delicate white ash hides the
fire, and the thin line of smoke is hard
Invisible as it curls lazily upward. Yet
he never has to relight his cigar. Such
IL man is interpretive, cool in an emer-
goncy, logical i'll his thinking and just
the opposite i'll temper to the one pre-
vously described. If any thing star
Ting should turn up, he would never ap-
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 l
fancy there is something in it," And
the man relapsed into silence again for
Il moment while he watched the blue
rings waited away by the cool breeze
that is so graceful cn IL hot August day.
"Spcalsing of the wicked habit Of
smokirg,' he continued after a minute,
81 know a man who conscientiously de-
clarcs that it is not SO. He says that if
he didn't know how to enjoy a 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 ana had lit his after dinner cigar
A gruff looking gentleman was seated
lSAl W liitH. LIZ w do SuOhluR tOO. Lily
sat there i'll silence for several minutes,
perhaps il half hour. Finally the drum
mer was aroused from his reflections by
hearing au expression from his neigh
boris lips which Noah Webster never
invented. He was going through his
packets for il match. The drummer po-
itcly rendered him one from his neat
little matchbox and handed him q
cigar, too, adding that he had better
take fresh ono. 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 a
choice cigar. 1t happened to be first
class brand which the latter had picked
up in the south. From that the two fell
into quite pleasant conversation. The
drummer left town that evening. But
they met by chance several times after
that. and gradually a warm friendship
sprang up between them.
'Years afterward the travelling man
was engaged i'll the banking business.
Of course the only way a drummer ever
becomes a banker is by the timely death
of "a rich relative. Well, he still retained
the friendship of his st. Louis acquaint-
ance and often heard from him by let
ter. The drummer was prosperous until
his bank, like many others i'll 1898, was
drained with Il terrific run. 1t seemed
as though he must fail unless he had q
few thousand dollars to tide over the
next day. AS he sat thinking the matter
over in the cool air of his front yard q
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 un-
limited capital to back it and was soon
on Il solid footing. 1t was all through
that cigar smoked several years before,
so the ex-drummer said. Now, my wife
would say that was no argument for
such Il filthy habit, and that her husband
had never had any such fabulous expert
enCe. That's the way with people who
won't reason about these things, isn't
it?" And the travelling man pulled out
two fresh cigars from his pocket and
left one behind as he went hurriedly to
settle up his bill i'll time to catch n
train. Omaha World Herald.