The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-05-16
SMOKERS AND SMOKING.
Tobacco Shop Observations-Ch Christian
 Science and Cigars.

1 foNOhEttS AND SMOhlNG.
 Tobacco Shop Observations-Ch
 Science and Cigars.
 Not heavy business tonight" sait
 the customer, stepping out of the cold
 wind into big retail tobacco shop the
 other evening, and finding himself the
 only purchaser in the place.
 "No," said the head clerk, who is also
 one of the best buyers and tobacco
 judges employed by the firm. DO you
 know why?'
 Give it up; there are plenty of peo-
 pie in the street" | "Yes, there are But the wind is
 blowing and it's cold. In such weather
 you'd be surprised to know how much our sales of cigars, and even of pipe
 tobacco, fall off. Men don't like to
 smoke in the wind and cold they lose
 too much of the enjoyment of their smoking. When the spring opens our
 sales will jump up, and by May they will be at high water mark. They will
 be much bigger all summer than they
 are at this season, but May seems to be the ideal smoking month. Your true smoker likes an Havana aroma with his
 mayfiowers. All the outdoor season our Saturday noon sales are tremendous l The golfer, the bicycle rider and the
 auto crank stock up for the afternoon
 and Sunday"
 But how about the box trader" the customer asked, Don't men smoke | inI ;v,t ba iy,t tar To hol ] the outdoor smoking of summer?"
 q don't think so Just before Christi mas, of course, we did a big box trade some eight hundred dollars a day. | But for the remainder of the year our box sales run pretty even. should say people smoke more when they can be comfortable out of doors than when they are shut up inside"
 Gimme a good ten cent straight" said a newcomer.
 Clear Havana or domestic?' the clerk asked.
 ooh, Havana, of course" said the newcomer, who was short, fat and wheezy. When he had gone out. leav- ing trail of smoke behind like q blunt nosed tugboat, the clerk remarked:
 "It's a funny thing that so many smokers cannot tell the difference be- tween a clear Havana, a seed Havana or a domestic make believe. That man couldn't, for instance; you can tell by the way he puffed at his weed, not stop ping to taste it at all. I must admit that Boston smokers are better judges of good tobacco, as a rule, than New Yorkers.''
 "They have more time" said the cus- toner.
 They're more finicky, at any rate, There's a certain amount of Christian Science about smoking with lots of peo- ple.'
 You mean, of course, in Boston?"
 "No, I mean everywhere. For n- stance, customer of mine literary man. who is queer chap who wants to smoke good cigars for five cents, brought me in some cigars the other day and asked me to tell him what sort of tobacco they were made of. He said he had got them cheap from Cuban, who told him they were clear Havanas, | in. I didn't like to tell him what they were, not because I was | afraid of being wrong, but because it's | bad policy to tell 8 customer he's been | stuck. He doesn't think so much of you | But this man urged me, so | I split the cigars and found as I ex- 1 pected, that the filler was a potpourri | of domestic odds and ends. l put the | wrappers to the water test and they were not Havana which is much more nearly waterproof, so to speak, than other leaves. I told him what I found and he said, I don't like those cigars overmuch anyway, but they did very well so long as I thought they were good ones Now I know what they are k [ shall not snake any more of them.' That's what I mean by Christian Sci ance in smoking"
 Yes" said the customer, I've mo- Liced that cigar which tastes bully af- ter a good dinner doesn't go so well in the morning, but that .is due more to than Christian Science
 Its not an easy thing even for q buyer to pick out the best in lot of ci- sars," the clerk continued. "I remem- per once in Havana getting samples rom three firms of the same priced ci- gar. All had the delicate finished leaf eXlufe or the genuine 1ldNand, the pro- ,er 'nutty' taste and aroma. To decide, l
 turned out the lights, mixed up the hree brands blindly, and smoked one liter another in the dark. Those | fixed I stuck d toothpick into, and in hose liked best I broke the toothpicks l 'ff When I turned the lights up the , broken toothpicks were all in one brand. I bought that brand' \ They say people think best and lis- I en to music most appreclatvely in the ark" remarked the customer. l Tell me why Manila and Porto Ri- { an tobacco isn't so good as Havana" , e continued, " "The soil, Isuppose. Tobacco eats up he nourishment fast. and needs very ich soil that recuperates easily. Ma fla tobacco, next to Havana, is about " he best-if you get good Manila; but ( one of them have the finish aS the :,