Omaha daily bee., 1909-10-24
CORN cOBs TURN MO COIN
Material for the Real Am@rIcun
Pipe Pipes WeaIfh for
Fnrmera-

Probably not one smoker IN a hundred
who likes the real American ppe--he
oorneob-is aware q the fact that whole
acres In Ohio and Illinois. Missouri ana
Nebraska are devoted to raising corn for
the especial , OF p~roduelnE oobs
suitable for fashioning into pip bowls.
The grain itself is marketed. Of course
but the cob IN whieh Il grows Is the real
harvest and IL cut carefully into proper
lengths EmOOthed and polished. the soft
inner pulp being Eonged out By specially
constructed machinery.
II Is possible to buy a set Of corneob
pipes IN a nest o. six. with an amber
mouthpieoe. mounted in silver. that VIII
cost as much as $50. The growing Of corn
for cobpipe purposes and the manufacture
Of the pipe by machinery are the oonosp-
ton Of one Of the tobacco trusts experts
The oorncob pipe now goes to every
country In the weird where men smoke
and Is especially IN favor in Australia and
New Zealand, where II Is regarded as
charactsristicaIly American. because II
suggests the idea Of Yankee ingenuity. The
cob itself is turned out tn such enormous
quantities that it is now expensive like the
pipe fashioned from the hrisr root most
Of which comes from St Cloud in France
and from csrtzin regions Of southern Italy.
The bI1er is the fEvorife with EnEIishmen.
who are probably the greatest pip smokers
In the world. Taken all in al. II is the
best all around pipe IN use, and has as
wide a variation in price as the mesrs-
chaum- whose costlinesss BY the way, may
be Increased by the carving Of the bowl
The principal item Of expense in the brier
Is not In the pattern Of the bowl. but in
the stem, which. II made Of rock amber,
brings the figure I'D TO $50 or nBa
Here are two bowls OF virgin hrisr and q
rock amber mouthpieoe eight inches long
worth s25a Bners are carved with tbs
same artistic skin as the meerschaum. but
the greatest demand Is for the plain bowl
with either the straight or curved mouth
piece Of amber or vulcanite- There are a
hundred varieties Of shapes, ana the
majority Of them are the result Of Eug-
gestions Of cuEtomers-a large majority Of
whom are college men. wishing a particular
form for q class Pipe which the manu-
f~acturer turns cut 10 order. As more than
one Pipe has 10 be manufactured. the shape
or peculiarly attracts attention. and a
demand is created.
MeerschAumE still hold favor with Ger
man smokers. and with Austrians~ Vienna
is the home Of The neersehaum. which is
4 peculiar porous clay. found only In small
pockets. It was discovered by q noble
man. who found q Small, irregular block Of
what loORsd like marble. but II was 80 light
in weight that he mArTsled. He showed
his find 70 a peasant who said the sub
stance wAs extremely rare and was sup
posed to be an ocean prodnct--Ihs foam
Of the sea" The nobleman took the ir-
regular lump 70 the cobbler Of the town,
who also was a magiEtrAte. and quite Q
sklful carver in wood II occurred TO this
wise person that the mserschRum" would
yield readily TO the knife and he proposed
fashioning out a pipe The block was cui
! into two parrs-one for his patron and the
other for himsalL.
When his lays work was done the COB
bier washed his hands with great care.
While using the carving tools, 90 az not C
sol the dead white surface Of the clay
When he carved his own pipe be did not
take the trouble 20 cleanse his hands Of
the wax he used in his trade As a con-
sequence hts pipe Was wAxy and oily OF
the surface. and after he had smoked Z
few weeks the bowl took On 4 defeats
orange uIIL. whi1h gradually deepened 10 4
dark Chestnut The noblemEn's pipe re
NAMED white. Sc there was q COMPARING
Of notes, and that was the origin Of treating
the surface Of the meerschaum with wax
without Whioh il VIII not cOlor-ChicGgC
Intsr-OcsRn-