New-York tribune., 1901-07-14
CHARACTER IN SHOhING.
FANCIFUL THEORIES ABOUT HABITS OF
TOBACCO USERS.
From The RoyaI Magazine.

From The Royal Magazine.
\ man may possess a mos; secretive nature.
he may have face as destitute Of meaning as
a stone wall and a manner OF speech abso-
luteIy non-committal: but watch him over ms
cigarette. note his manner Of holding il between
his lIs or his fingers; see how n pufls the
smoke out of his mouth. what h. does with the
ash, if he consumes the cigarette 10 a mere
stump or throws ii away half finished, and.
sure fate. you will read his character like a
book. Cigarette. l said, for cigarette, and q
cigar in a lesser degree. are much better tLarac-
Ter feNeal+TS IMAM Il pil', \ ma" S'''NH q l'l,
into the side of his mouth and puts away ana
there's an end OF it. You discover next 10 moth
ing unless, indeed, he happens 10 puff very
= iolently, which is a certain indication OF a
nervous. irritable temper From the filling OF II
pipe. to be sure, many luminous little hints may
be gathered. You see a man stun his bowl
quickly ana laVishly. letting loose threads of
tobacco dansie the brm while he applies
the match; if he be not good natured generous
TO a fault. careless, indolent, quick 10 make
friends, quick to forget them, shaIi he uuch
astonishcd. one notices men very often taking
into which they have been stuilcd 100 poor I"
buy themselves a cigar case! rot a blt OF H.
but too untidy to keep one or too lazy 10 ar
range their cigars into one. Ana the same men
almost invariably bite the tips OFF their cigars.
instead of using a penknife or cigar clipper
a shocking habit that not merely fills the mouth
with tobacco grit but disarranges the outer
leaf. often spelling otherwise excellent smoke
The cigar once happily prepared for smoking.
observe how your man holds II between ms
teeth. But stay. The operation OF lighting mas
Blso its interest. the tobacco cpicure grips his
Ahe match, but with the finger and thumb OF
his left hand also, and between every third pun
draws the weed from his mouth and examines
the glowing end, in order TO make sure that IL
has been ignited equally all round.
The majority of hold their cigars with
the front teeth and puff the smoke out on
either side of it. A large minority hold them in
the corner of the mouth. so that if you happen
to be walking behind them on a dark night you
catch sight of the glowing end protTudng Just
below the ear. Others, again-and these. as a
rule are persons of Vivacious temperament
seldom keep their cigars for two consecutive
moments between their lips. They take few
puns. and then the cigar is given rest be
tween finger and thumb.
a man of determined character energetic.
pugna cious. impatient, often betrays himself
by giving his cigar an upward tilt while con
suming it-a favorte method with the Yankee,
to whom the above epithcts are distinctly ap-
plcable. The contemplative dreamy individual
viii let it droop toward his chin; while level
headed persons-and fortunately they form the
vast majorty-hold theirs horizontally. Natu-
rally nSolent people frequently omit to remove
the cigar from their mouths when speaking TO
YOU. while others Of a suen. breeding DISPOSE
ton chew the end into horrible pulp. And Is
there anything more eloquent Of stinginess than
the habit largely INDUCED in by Germans, OF
sticking the stump of cigar on the small blade
Of penknife and consuming II until the glow
almost touches the lips?