The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-12-17
INDIANS STILL THERE.
Guard the Entrance TO Many n To-
bncco store.
From the Kansas city star.


From the Kansas City Star.
II can remember when every tobac-
co store had wooden Indian in 'front.'"
said the retrospective man. You'd no
more expect to find a tobacco store in
those days without looking for the
Indian first than you'd expect to find
barber shop without a striped sign.
And now they're all gone-disappeared
just as the buffalo has disappeared or
as the real Ind"
''Oh, you're all right about the WHIP
ing out of the wooden Indian" said
the fresh guy, but 1 wouldn't go cry
ing about 1t. They didn't do so
much good when you come to think of
It, One little want adj to-day will sell
more cigars than wooden Indian six
feet high. Times have changed, and
you don't seem to realize 1t. 1t wasn't
so long ago that a tobacconist would
put few pipes, some empty cigar
boxes, and a half dozen packages of
smokin' In the window. They would
stay there for six months or two years
until you couldn't see through the
windows-then, II the cigar man was
feeling good there'd be a change In the
display. Nowadays they have a chain
Of stores, and instead OF showing dusty
cigar boxes, they make display OF
fresh, clean cigars-no dummy boxes
go. Ribbons and fancy paper decorate
the windows and once week the deco
rator for the owner makes the rounds
and puts in new cigars. new pipes,
fresh, bright paper, and pictures thatIl
drag man across the street. Why,
the old-timer-"
What / was talkin' about was wood
en- Indians, not window dressing"
broke in the retrospective person. Il
am somewhat observing--I keep my
eyes open as / go through life-and l
have observed that there isn't wood
en- Indian i'm Kansas City where there
were once hundreds of 'em. What's
become of the cigar store, Indian, and
why? That's what / am trying 70
find out In all Kansas City there isn't
a real old-time Indian In front Of
cigar store. Illuminated signs and
overgrown lanterns have taken their
place-pushed the fine old figure OF
the noble red man with bow and ar
row and hand shielding the eyes"
II see you insist on weeping about
the cigar sign, and that when It's al
together unnecessary" said the fresh
guy This town is full Of Indians"
II mean wooden ones"
Yes, wooden ones, too. It's full of
'em. I've heard that song about the
disappearance OF the cigar store sign
until it tired me. All the Indians gone
to the country? No. I'd like 10 have
a dollar for every Indian. wooden,
can show you In half an hour"
And he was right One of the popu-
lar fallacies of the day is that the
wooden Indian has disappeared from
the cities. It's true there are not so
many as In the years gone by, but there
are still enough TO stock a small reser-
walton. In walk on Main street from
Eighth to Missouri avenue, across to
Walnut and back 10 Eighth, six cigar
Indians are passed. And there are
plenty OF them In other parts Of town.
wholesale t0bacconlst on Main
street says an Indian OF any standing
at all used to cost from S75 TO 1925
new. I'VE used to keep 'em In stock"
he said, but now the only one we own
Is that little fellow in front. We've
had him since the business was
founded. thirty years ago. He's a good
Indian yet. A coat Of paint now and
then rs all he asks. Some time ago
we had "a call for one from n town
IN Kansaa--Sedan. think II was-and
We had 10 20 20 an auction house for
him"
A. an auction house on Walnut
street there was n young Indian lady.
a ofah0ntnf, standing in front She
had only one arm. the other, with n
hand holding n bundle Of cigars. lay
AZ hcr feet. Indians Never with
out 'em." said the manager. Sell you
tifaf one for fb the paints worth more
than that We've had three or four
"a a time IN here. You see that one