The Saint Paul globe., 1900-04-22
N0eegsebaogn1 Pfpeg,>..
How They Are Made and How Best They Can
Be Colored by the Smoker.

stand what the Skin of pipe Is. IN
stead OF a porous-loolSing piece of chalk
you see a pipe with a surface that wo&d
shame the finest bit of ivory for gloss.
and smoothness, and 1t is superior in
beauty to ivory In that, like a fair won-
ans skin, even in its virginia. whiteness.
1t has a promise of warmth and life.
The pipe having been waxed is ready
for It's stem. AS soon as that is fitted ON
1t is ready to be smoked
III 1t comes to you as a gift or by pur-
chase You will get lot Of gratuitous ad-
vice about its treatment, most of which Is
not only valueless, but foolish
One man will tell you to have 1t COW
cred with KID Another will warn YOU
against letting it get too hot Another
VIII advise the immediate necessity of
coloring bowl. Others will sing the praises
OF perique as a coloring agent, while
others will inveigh against all tobaccos,
but some brand Of navy that smells like
a lanyard on fire.
II you are wise you will pay no heed to
any Of this advice-although a colorfng.
bowl isn't a bad thing If you want to
get rapid results and you use it intelli-
gently. Simply proceed to smoke your pipe
as often as is convenient and be very
careful in cleaning it that you do not
break the skin" inside. If you do
cracked bowl will be the result AS the
the clay takes it UP and brings it to the
surface. Where the wax is most plenti-
full there the color is deepest That is
why pipes always color first in the stem.
The heat melts the wax. and it naturally
sinks. If one were to always hold pipe
upside down while smoking 1t the rim of
the bowl would color first.
After you have smoked your new pipe
a few months you will probably find that
the upper part Of the bowl is dirty and
clayey-looking and there are scratches
on 1t. This is a critical period in a pipes
career. If you don't know why and how
pipes color you will probably think you
have a bad piece of meerschaum, or you
will believe you have ruined It by burning
it. AS a matter of fact, there is no cause
for alarm. All the pipe needs Is wax. Rub
hot beeswax on 1t twoor three times
and the gloss on will be restored, the
scratches disappear and the coloring will
come out on the bowl as well as the stem.
Some expert pipemen use linseed oil as
well as beeswax. They claim that 1t gives
cherry tint to the pipe that wax does
not. One veteran smoker, who has a col
lection of pipes colored by himself, claims
that the handsomest specimen he has,
from the color standpoint, is the result Of
an experiment that few persons would
like to try. The pipe, a plain, straight
Stemmer affair, that is now a symphony
in black, brown and red, had been smoked
about two years and looked like a piece
Of dirty chalk.
The owner removed the mouthpiece and
coated the pipe a sixteenth Of an inch
with beeswax Then he wrapped it in
paper and set fire to the paper The wax
melted, Of course, and the pipe sucked
up a large portion of It, When the ex-
perimenter wiped the pipe off his heart
was made heavy by what he saw. The
bowl was a notified yellowish brown and
gray, so ugly it was nasty to look at
The owner plucked up heart and smoked
the pipe. The gray tint disappeared, but
the yellow was as ugly as ever. The pipe
man then tried linseed oil. He applied 1t
to the pipe hot several times a day, and
in week had brought out the coloring
that is now so much admired
''It was a. success, but I don't want to
try 1t again." said he. ''It is better to
heat the wax and pour it on with
spoon then rub 1t off with a soft cloth"
If you wish to use coloring bowl get
one that does not sink too deeply into the
bowl of your pipe. Then fill the vacant
space in the pipe bowl with cotton or
some other absorbent that will hold the
smoke and let it graually percolate
through the wax ''skin.''
Probably you do not know that French
briar is not product of France
1t Is found in Italy and in the Islands
Of the Mediterranean sea, and came to
be known as French briar because the
French first used it for pipes
Apple also makes a pretty pipe, but no
experienced smoker will buy more than
one pipe made Of 1t.