Evening star., 1901-11-23
THE sNUFFING HABIT.
Many Women Addicted to the Use O
Powdered Tobacco.

Many Women Addicted to the Use of
Powdered Tobacco.
From the Brooklyn Eagle
For the fiscal year ending July 1. 1901.
revenue tax was paid on snuff consumed in
the United States to the extent of 16 691 600
pounds. For the fiscal year of 1900 con-
sumption was 14,917,0O This shows an in
crease in production Of 17740O pounds
Some idea Of what this means may be
gained when it is learned that snuff comes
generally IN one-ounce Packages. An ounce
Is sufficient, used in the ordinary way to
last snuff taker a week. In the course of
year. therefore, he will use only little
over three pounds SO that the consumption
OF LOCO pounds annually means that
there are 5,500,G 600 people in the United
states who use tobacco in this form.
Fully 10 per cent Of all the snuff used in
the United States Is sold south of Mason
and Dixon's line. fact which means to the
initiated that 1t Is used not as the average
person would imagine, as a snuff for the
nostrils, but in snuff dipping and chewing
The other % per cent of the sale Is scat
tered all over the country, though large
proportion of 1t is confined to the manu-
featuring districts of New England and
around the great chain of lakes.
A feature of the snuff traffic that has late
~ caused considerable comment is its use
by mill operatives in the eastern cities and
towns. In Fall River, Providence, Holyoke
and other points where the majority of the
employees are women there has been quite
an outcry against the habit of snuff chew
ing, which is denominated as both disgust
ing and harmful. Most people If their at
tentlon is ever called to the use of snuff at
all, recall the dainty fop of past centuries
with his befrilled sleeves and his extrava-
CANT yet graceful gestures, so charmngIy
brought back to life for our delectation by
Richard Mansfield in Beau Brummel''
But modern snuff taking as exempiifed in
the south and among the workers in the
cotton mills is an entirely different matter.
The ordinary man or woman of ceanly
HABITS cannot regard any feature of it but
with feelings of repugnance.
Ihere are four methods of using snuff
adopted by the working women and girls of
this country. They are dipping rubbing
chewing and securing. Dipping is practced
mostly in the south, while New England
and the middle states claim the greatest
number of Votaries of the rubbing habit.
CheWing is custom that only the unso-
phisticated and the amateur indulge fn
while securing is also in great vogue in the
eastern states The dipping process is very
simple. BY means of a piece of card or
paper a pinch of snuff is taken from the
can or package and dipped into the mouth,
to find lodging place between the lower
up ana the gums Here 1t is manipulated
into ball and allowed to rest in its place
until its strength has been entirely extract
| ed when it Is elected.
Rubbing consists of the dipping with the
auultloii ny tlie IndnlpulatOr or a chewing
process, which helps to extract the strength
and flavor from the ball sooner than the
dipping alone. Securing is the method most
IN use in these mills, where cotton waste is
easily obtainable. The mill girl or woman
takes small quantity of the material moist
ems 1t slightly with oil of wintergreen, pep
permint or other favored essence purcha sed
at drug store. The damp waste is then
dipped into the snuff and the mess rubbed
along the lower teeth and gums before it
is rolled into a ball and allowed to rest
in the usual sheltered nook between the lips
and gums.
In different sections of New England the
cholce or havors varies. Sometimes the man.
u1acturers use strong fiavoring, and then
the habitual users of that particular kind
are satisfied to dispense with their own es-
sences. Spirits of camphor, oil of winter
green and oil of peppermint are all popular
and then the f1avoring is Incorporated into
the mass and sold at the same price as its
consumption increases.
The use Of the favored snuff is said to he
confined largely to women, as men addicted
to the habit-and they are few-prefer the
stronger varieties. Those who are fighting
the practice in New England are strong in
their condemnation of the effects of the
snuff used in this way on the health of the
female operatives. They say that it's use
dulls the senses of the victim almost as
completely as would opium or other mar
cotic. If this be true 1t is a cheap form of
dissipation, for cents worth of snuff is
generally enough to last for several days