The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1901-01-12
SMOKES OF THE FAMOUS.

| perience in Washington
| Congressman, governors, great gener-
ais, heads of departments, distinguished
judges, men famous in all walks of life,
know "Chandlee'' as they call him. He
| is w. E. Chandlee (enot w. e. Chan
dler, mind that" he will tell YOU'D, and
for thirty-six years he has presided over
the destinies of the little cigar store in
the F street front of the Ebbitt house.
For eight years before that time he was
in charge Of the cigar stand in the old
Willard hotel.
He could write an interesting book on
Famous Men and the Cigars They
Smoked" Indeed, he has contemplated
such a work, but has never felt that he
could spare the time or undertake the
labor such an enterprise would involve,
He takes pleasure in recounting to
friends and visitors incidents in his ca
reer behind the cigar case, and has
great fund of "reminiscences of the men
prominent in the nation who have dealt
with him.
president Mckinley" he said, while
! he was member of congress was one
of my best customers. He always
bought one brand of cigars, and bought
them in boxes of fifty. They had Ha-
vana filler and a Sumatra wrapper, and
cost him 81 a hundred. He never took
the box out of the store. 1t was always
| kept on a shelf back of the counter,
with his name on the box. Whenever
he wanted any he would come in here
and get a handful. 1t was generally
just before leaving the hotel. l don't
think he ever smoked in his room, out
of Difference to his wife's objection to
the smoke. He spent fourteen years in
this hotel and l figure that he smoked
at least fifty a week And he smoked
| the same cigar when at Canton. | used
| to ship them to him there in 500 lots.
At the rate of fifty a week for fourteen
| years you can see it would amount to
| 36, 400 at a cost of 81, 54S After his cleo
ton to the presidency in 1896 sent him
a present of 500 Of his favorltes, and re-
ceived a very graceful lett of thanks
He has not bought any of me since he
was first elected president. don't sup
pose he has to buy cigars | know that
all the manufacturers of cigars send
him fine samples of their goods, and he
gets more in that way than even ten
such smokers as he is could consume.
II probably sold cigars to more ia
nous men during the eight years | was
at old Wizards hotel than during the
thirty-six years l have been here. Those
were war times, and in those days Will
lard's was the headquarters for all the
army and navy men and the statesmen
and politicians of the day. ] sold many
a cigar to Grant, who always picked out
a big black one without asking the price
and stuffed handful into his pocket
without counting them. Generals Hal
eck and Hooker were also heavy smok-
ers.
Senator Matt Carpenter of Michigan,
was one of my best customers. His
bill was always 50 or SO a day. His ia
vorite was a big two-for- quarter ci
gar. He would frequently come in and
say: We'll, Chandlee, give me dollars
worth more to quit on He always talk
ed about stopping; said that smoking
injured him, but he never did stop.
His monthly bill often amounted to one
hundred dollars.
General Robert Williams was anoth-
err good customer. He favored a cigar
that cost % cents straight. He would
come by here on his way to the de-
partment and get a dollars worth
Along in the afternoon would come his
orderly for couple of dollars worth
more. His bill was always $50 or $40
month.
"Dr. Bliss, Garf1eld's physician was
such another smoker as Carpenter, only
me always wanted a twenty five-eent CT
gar. Like Carpenter, he complained of
the effect of smoking and often threat
ened to stop, but never did. He got |
about $3.50 worth day. He said to me
once: 'Chandlee, I know this smoking |
is hurting my heart. Sometimes at |
night as lie in bed I can hear my heart |
grooming like the rusty hinges on barn |
door,
Judge Curtis J. Hillyer has smoked |
one brand for twenty-three years. / |
think that is the record for the smoking |
of one brand
"Bishop Satterlee is a regular custom
err He likes a Key West. He is not |
what you would call hard smoker"
Mr.. Chandlee has noticed many
changes in his business during the for |
ty-four years that he has been engaged |
in It.
Tobacco chewing has been decreas- |
ing steadily for years" he said, and ,
the use of fine-cut tobacco for chewing |
has almost entirely ceased. Few deal
ers keep it. Twenty-Five or thirty years |
ago it was one of the biggest features |
of my trade. Cigarettes, when l was at |
Wizards S, were not known. Now they |,
take UP almost a third of my space. |
Few five-cent cigars were sold The
cheap brands in those old DAYS were
cheaply made of cheap material and
were hardly worth half their cheap
price / sold more twenty five-cent CT
CARS in a month thirty years ago than I |
sell in a whole year now. Now the five
cent cigar constitutes the bulk of the
trade. Washington Post.