New-York tribune., 1908-06-30
TARS "CHAW" NEW PLUG
4 BRAND FOR EACH DAY.
Smoking Squad of Serenity Sailors
Putting A7cdy.

over at the Brooklyn navy yard there are sew
enty blissful sailors, machnists and stokers lhey
care not for the that shne-in enameiied ti'i
on advertised brands OF chewing and smoking
tobacco In fact. their duty just at present Is u
act as committee of the whole United states
navy and decide which of thirty different BRANDS
is the ideal plug for the man behind the gun. 'he
monkey wrench and the shovel. 1t Is no hght-
task and grand jury was ever more SUI
emn and conscientious than these seventy grizzied
old men who .'chaw" and smoke with full knowl-
edge that the comfort of Uncle Sans sea fighters
hangs their wagging jaws and putting lips
On board the receiving ship Hancock a Tribune
reporter yesterday found Paddy Coyle and tom
Watson able of twenty-five years
standing sitting beside Jack Hughes, master at
arms lust abaft the starboard hatch some
where near there. Before them was one OF those
simple classic affairs of papier mache which the
navy provides in the interest of spot!ess decks
About them but a respectful distance. stood
group of Young chaps, rockies to speak who
have just entered the service and are being broken
to bit and halter on the Hancock The youths
looked as If cigarettes were more TO their liking
and evidently old Paddy Coyle had this IN niihd
when he finally let off exhaust he was IN the
smoking class and said: when we picks out the
right sort of terbaccer it'll make sailors or dead
men out of these kids. BY the time they eat a
half pound of the kind were going to take they
won't be able be seasick.
Yes" said Tom Watson. gnawing of 4-caiiore
slug from his SlaD, yes, tniS Is d IiiSitS SSii'"'
matter and 1t amt to be taken in frivolous an
iokin WAY WHY | remember back in 1895 some
of these medical sharps picked out what they said
d chemically pure terbaccer Maybe IT was
but it blamed full OF molasses that IL
tasted like candy and you couldn't light IL IN
pipe any than you could wet caDle on a
windy night l was out the China station and
sooner than use that terbaccer pie we used to
chaw an smoke the Chinese stuff till the ship
smelled like a laundry
There's nothin' like good piece of teroaecer,
observed Paddy at this stage of the game Il
was on the Petrol, the smallest ship in Admiral
Deweys fleet at Manila. an 1 remember how good
that chaw 1 had tasted. Course had TO swallow
the juice cause you amt allowed TO spit on the
deck in tine OF battle"
Old Tom Watson recolected about this time that
he was on the Raleigh in Manila Harbor. but he
growled slowly, because he said the tobacco he got
that day was salty. Jack Hughes, beftted d
master at arms, said nothing at all. for he was
chewing a Guid of Stock e. with the medtative
aspect of a shorthOrn steer.
In various hooks and corners of the big yard and
on board the dispatch boats and the submarines
Viper and Cuttle1sh there similar tests going
n. They will last for month probably, and those
connoisseurs who have been chosen are looked upon
the luckiest in the service To seasoned
tar the prospect of thirty days-each day meaning
another brand of black, stnging tobacco-is pretty
near like getting a wish from a fairy godnother.
Then there will be the happiness of filling out a
blank with a vote which of the lettered
brands is the best AMI why and wherefore
Pay Inspector Jewett, who is distributing the
samples said that each would file his vote
with his commanding officer Then the officers will
get together and compare notes. The three brands
most in favor will then be tested chemically, and
that one of the three which is pure Will be chosen
The contract to be awarded will call for one hun
dred thousand pounds which will be retailed to the
sailors of the navy all over the world at about
40 cents pound, and will be sufficient supply for
six months.