Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-04-10
pipe OF peace Of tina. description must
naya hem very symbolic indeed!

nina NJ peace Of thai DESCRIPTION must
have been very symbolic indeed!
Every Indian town had It's pipe OF
rcace. and. az all tho world knows. new
| come,a oors mot by chief. who. with
ono hand extended a lighted pipe. and In
| tho other n bundle Of bow and arrows.
Tho visitor who took the pipe and gave
&, a Whit or too before handing II back
WAS considered 10 have declared his
| peaceful purposes. What Yves done WITH
ia. man who reached out after the bow
o,d arrows we do not know; but the In
dams never spent much timo in parleying.
The diplomatic notes" that they ex-
changed were very BRIEF.
The Indian believed that tobacco had
certain pronounced medical virtues. and
FOR that reason. and because II satisfied
craving. no liked 81 so well that when
IA died lie wished his pipe TO be buried
with him. 1t was part of that equip
ment which he wished certainly to have
with him IN the happy hunting
grounds" where he expected his future
life 10 DO spent. In scores of Indian
graves in this section OF Virginia fine
specimens of pipes have been found, little
injured by age or interment
After the fashion of the Indian pipe the
Colonists produced a clay pipe. that was
more shapely than the original, ana
which afterwards came to DO known as
1.-The Powhatan pipe" There IS in the Vi
cInitv OF Richmond much OF the clay
81 nj
Povhatan pipes were once made and
marketed. But similar pipes were made
also in many other parts Of the State--in
towns and upon plantations. Who FIRST
began TO manufacture them upon large
scale we do not know but our impress
sion is that the industry, which is now
so fourishing in AppomattoX. first at
tanned n considerable footing near Rich-
mond or Petersburg.
The old-time Virginian cannot be made
to believe that any other pipe equals the
Powhatan. And il WAS this pipe that
Tennyson smoked. a good supply Of
these pipes and of Virginia or North
Carolina tobacco were necessary to him,
when his mental machinery was TO be
ceared I'D for its finest work. But for this
inspiring equipment. we might never have
had from him those delicate webs of fan
cv that we see in MOrte d'Arthur, Locks
lev Hall. The Princess, In Memoriam &c.
Having a fine clay pipe-one strong
enough TO hold the stem rigidly and close
". yet soft enough to absorb some of the
nicotine--it is desirable to have a good,
clear. sweet stem. Nowadays the branch
of the fg-tree is much liked; but that is
not a native tree, and the Indian must
have used the reed, or the root of the
reed. or the shoots or branches or half
a dozen other of the indigenous Virginia
woods. the pith OF which he could remove
with such simple instruments as he had.
And so the clay pipe came into exist
ence. and has held its own against the
meerschaum and the brier-root. but the
latter are oftener seen in public-the for
mer being more of a home comfort Keep
ing its place in the chamber with dress
ing gown and slippers. Long may 1t con-
tinue in favor. If tobacco Is TO be
smoked, in no more wholesome way can
IL be done. And then this pipe is link
binding US to our earliest days In Ameri-
ca. 1t is associated with tho name Of
Virginias great Indian King, and Is
part of memory's familiar picture Of
camp and hearth-stOne, and especially
of the great open fire-places of our country
homes, beside which the grandsire dozed
away the evening Of his life. and through
H. f,O
pipe saw with the eye Of faith an inii-
nitely sweeter home than tho happy
hunting-grounds Of the Indians fancy.