New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-12-03
JOKING HABITS OF PoTENTATES. ~

| time for those second thoughts which, in diplo-
! macy and statecraft at any rate, are always
| tie best. People are often disposed to make fun
of the so-called pipe of peace and to regard
! it az mere form of speech originating with the
red Indians But tobacco, whether in the form
of a cigarette or of snuff. of q pipe or Of a
cigar, has ever proved a powerful and effective
aid to the maintenance of peace, and as such
| its use deserves to be fostered and propagated
by all patriotic and lawabiding citizens in lieu
| of being condemned as noxtous.
AS a general rule the cigarette may. be said
to have suppIanted the pinch of snuff in dplo-
macy. and the man who could formerly conceal
his embarrassment and collect his thoughts for
an appropriate answer during the slow and
stately process of taking a prise" is now en-
abled to do so while breathing out nicely distant
rings of fragrant Turkish tobacco. Indeed. a
cigarette proves perhaps a more effectual ally
in moment of difficulty than the pinch of snuff
For whereas you cannot indefinitely prolong the
process of inhaling the latter. it is always pos
sible to gain time with a cigarette by letting
it go out, and then having to relight it. To-day
there is scarcely any foreign minister or diplo-
mai who is not provided with his cigarette box
which he regards not in the light Of an object
of personal luxury, but as part and parcel Of
the most Indispensable paraphernalia of his pros
fession, and it is worthy of note that the Rus
slams, who devote more attention and import
ance TO the study of diplomacy than any other
European nation. are always provided with finer
cigarettes than any of their foreign colleagues
Even In bygone days the qualities of tobacco
as preventive Of violence and as a safeguard
of peace were generally recognized. for, accord
ing TO the German historian Jacoby. Whenever
a member of our circle betrays signs of bad
temper, one of his friends holds forth his snuff
box and we all have too much self-control. even
under the most trying circumstances, ever TO re-
sst its power" Even those ladies' who did not
take snuff kept boxes of il for the purpose of
avoiding quarrels among their admirers and it
was universally regarded as one Of the most
efflcacious aids to the maintenance Of friendly
and agreeable intercourse.
one word in conclusion. The Sultan OF Turkey
is so frequently portrayed in the comic papers
of this country in the act OF smoking
hookah or a chibouk that many of my readers
will have difficulty in believing that he never
touches tobacco This abstinence on his part
is not due to any distaste for the weed, but to
his affiliaton with the all-powerful and mys-
terious Order of the Senoussi. which. SURPRISING
in numbers range of power and wealth the So
ciety of Jesus. even in the pamest days of that
fraternity, embraces about thirty million Ma
hometans that is to say. third of the
total number Of the Faithful. The order was
founded about seventy years ago by Algerian
OF the tribe of Medtaher. named Mahommed Ben
Ali ell Senoussi and its doctrines. which are OF
the most fanatical order. strictly prohibit the
use of tobacco. The grand master of the order,
who, like Moses of old when he came down from
the Mount, never shows himself to his followers
with his face yelled. makes his headquar-
ters at Jerboub. on the Tripoli- Egyptian border,
and has his representatives at every Moslem
court and in every tribe protesting Islam. from
the Atlantic shores of Morocco TO the Pacific
Abdul Hamed. the present Sultan of Turkey
has long been connected with the order and
those Moslem rulers who do not belong
thereto nevertheless sufficiently in dread
OF its DEGREES TO sacrifice their personal tastes
to It's behests EX-ATTACHE