Evening star., 1897-05-29
SNUFF BOX IN HAND
Some Young Men Of Fashion Now
Take Pinch.
said 10 Be QUITE THE FAD
Steadily the Insidious Habit is
Spreading Around Town.
SOCIETY WOMEN WHO SMOKE

SOClETY WOMEN WHO SMOKE
A young man, with a Van Dyke beard
and carefully cultivated bored look held
the curious attention of the ground floor
portion of a theater audience between each
of the acts the other evening. He sat
alone, apparently in the last throes of
ennui. In a lower box He did not leave
his seat once during the entire perform
ance. When the curtain descended on the
first act he slowly arose to his feet and
reached back with his right hand for the
left coat-tail pocket of his evening coat
From this pocket he produced a large
sgt are, oxidized silver snuff box, artist
ically chesed and beautifully wrought. His
actions were calmly deliberate. With lis
left thumb he touched a small mother-of-
pearl spring button on the side of the
box and the lid few open. Then, with
the practiced manner of Henry Esmond.
he slowly dipped the forefinger and thumb
of his right hand into the box and carried
the pinch to his right nostril the joy pro-
duced by the deep nasal inhalation that
followed was pictured on his countenance.
Dipping again with the same diSits of the
same hand he pleasured his left nostril in
the same fashion, his face assuming the
same expression of critical enjoyment. He
| snapped the lid of the box shut with
| fo urish like that of a pianist striking a
resounding chord and replaced it in his
left coat-tail pocket; Still standing he
| right coat-tail pocket and produced there
| from large purple silk handkerchief. He
| raised the handkerchief to his ia with
| wave of the arm like the sweep Of an or
| chestra conductors baton signaling ''atten-
| tionr' Then, gazing about him with an
| air of wearied triumph, like Roman en-
peror satiated with the populaces acclaim.
ha rar,1a oe.d he han iaf nd SIrn na1
| his seat 1t was all over. The several
| hundred persons in the pit who watched
| the operation were on pins and needles for
snecze or sneezes which they confidently
| expected would follow; they wanted him
| 10 sneeZe; they were unable to remove
| their eyes from him they were 50 anxious
to see him sneeze. But he did not sneeze:
he did not give the slightest indication that
| he felt the remotest desire to sneeZe. Nor
did his eyes even become watery. Plainly
| he was a finished snuff-taker.
Revfving an Old Fad.
The Star man who saw this had noticed
during the past few months that great
number of the members Of Washington's
jeunesse doree had harked back to one
| Of the milder vices of their ancestors, and
took snuff with the ecat and the manifest
relish of Thurman. But he was not pre-
| pared for the revelation that was unfolded
| by an street tobacconist whom he ap-
preached on the subject.
| Snuff -taking?" said he. with a surprised
| infexion why, though everybody knew
that the taking of SNUFF is becoming the
greatest fad of the ho1r among the large
class Of young men who have time to de-
| vote themselves to the cultivation OF man
| ner. That's what 1T amounts to originally
| an opportunity for the display of manner;
| for a graceful chap who is inclined to be
an attitudinizer can work in as much stage
| business in the handling of snuff box
| can a coquettish woman with her ian. But
4 p,t6 &c oil met NO q G N a c
| cigarettes, when the habit Of taking 1t is
| once formed, nor does 1t take very long to
form it; SO that about nine-tenths Gf the
| men who, In pursuance of the fad, started
| into the snuff-taking business for the op-
portunities 1t gave them Of assuming the
| manner of their ancestors-those that have
| them-have become SO confirmed in the
| habit that they would find it a grievous
| hardship to knock it off. A snuff-taker of
| a few months continuance in :he habit be-
! comes SO thoroughly nicotine-inoculated
that his system just fairly wells for the
| powder at short and frequent intervals.
| Any man who has ever used the things
knows what a hard job 1T IS to stop smok-
ing cigarettes. Well. I've been told by
| several of the Snuff-takers who have got
/ ten we'll into the habit, and who before
| getting into 1t had accomplished the task
| of abandoning cigarettes, that they would
i find it a whole lot harder to give up the
inhalation OF tobacco powder through their
| nostrils than they had found the breaking
| of of the habit of inhaling cigarette smoke
through their lungs.
| The Habit Here.
'I first noticed the beginning of this snuff-
| taking fad here in Washington about
| year ago. had heard several months pre-
| viously that the thing had broken out in
! London, and then in New York, but did
not take much stock In the reports. But
when q procession of young fellows with
| nothing to do but to keep from thinking
| began to stroll in here and ask for all sorts
r 4 t,ao - q
1 set me 10 thinking. 1 was unable to I'LL
their orders, for l Only had in stock a
small quantity of the ordinary Scotch
SNUFF that is once IN ina. while called nc Tor a., Sy
ferent kinds OF snuffs continued unabated
| for some time before 1 finally sent for some
snuff catalogues. / was astonished to find
| that nearly two hundred different varieties
| are manufactured, ranging In price from
T! 80 cents a pound to so a pound. When
began to fill my snun customers orders
most as big business In snuff and snun
| boxes as / do In cigars. All of my SNUFF
| customers, except the old men and women
| who have had the habit of taking snun all
their lives. are young men who go a good
deal into society, and. as always seems to
| be the case when people OF the modern
world adopt an old habit. many of them
carry the snuft-taking practice to ex-
tTemes, and use such great quantities Of it
| as to injure their health. although these
tell me that they feel themselves poweriess
| to throttle the habit they entered into so
i lightly. Used with moderate degree OF
discretion, snun does not hurt a man. but
| when It is used to excess 1t throws the VIC
tim into a sort Of lassitude that makes him
| always look tired Of life.
l Following the Style.
'T have asked q lot Of these young fel-
lows what first induced them to begin the
taking Of snuff. and as rule they replied.
because the other fellows were doing it,