Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-07-13
THE CIGAR-sTORE INDIAN.

Even as civilization has crowded the
aborigines to the uttermost limits Of this
continent so also the ruthless hand Of
fashion is showing aside another noble
institution-the cigar~store Indian. Time
was when he ferociousy adorned the
threshold of every establishment where
tobacco was sold, and flashed his gaudy
colors and Haunting feathers In the face
Of passers-by. In those good old days
we knew and loved him and feared him
not Even the children, though ever tim
orsome about COLLINS and "big Injuns,"
loved the stern warrior. In rain and
shine, in hail and snow, this worthy red
skin was won't TO keep his never-ceasing
vigil, and surveyed the world before him.
Sometimes he appeared with uplifted arm
and tomahawk, but more frequently he
grasped a leaf OF tobacco in his hand or
invited attention TO Il bundle OF cigars
His face was grim and fierce, and no
paint was spared to add to his diabolical
air; but altogether he was a good and
faithful man. other citizens might vlo-
late the laws, excite sedition, or forsake
their posts, but never the cigar-store In
diam Fidelity was his watchword. He
was like the Roman centurion who suffer-
ed death but dying, did his duty.
And he IS going-yea he is being crowded
aside. The wooden Indian, more vul-
carly known as the 'pompey," will soon
be thing Of the unforgotten past. For
eign forces are working towards his de-
struction. The day may come when we
will know him no more. With him VIII
20 his feathers and his paint and his tom
ahawk and his tobacco and the tender
wishes Of thousands Of little children who
we're wont to smack his Jaws and take
| other liberties with him.
A Philadelphia contemporary has UNI
Gertaken to investigate this passing of
the "pompey," and gives an interview
I'm which his downfall is partly explained.
A cigar dealer is quoted. and he says:
"The Indian was more or less of fad,
and consequently he has suffered the
fate of all fads-that of becoming passe.
To be sure, there was some significance
attached 10 it, but every one is we'll ac-
quainted with the important role played
by the Indian In the early recognition OF
| tobacco. Then, too the cost of such an
Indian has made him unpopular
And the tobacco man goes on to explain
that conditions have changed that now
almost all merchants sell cigars or the
weed" and that if every dealer in such
goods had a 'pompey' at his threshold
the sidewalks would be full Of these
wooden Powhatans. A good. respectable
Indian, to be any ways attractive or hor-
rifying costs a hundred dollars or so,
and the new paint TO which he is bienni-
ally entitled runs the figures up SO or $40
more This alone bars him when brought
into competition with gided signs or the
cheaper tricks of modern advertisement.
In the quaker City, and even here in
Richmond, there a few wooden Indians
left, but they are superannuated and have
seen their best days. They belong TO a
shabby-genteel class that never loses It's
Responsibility, but is much the worse for
wear. There is grim pathOs about these
battered relics. for they are links that
connect us with the past, and, moreover,
their fate too strongly suggests the desti-
ny Of the stoical race they represent.