The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-01-14
THE DEAD PIPE.
tLondon Leader.)


sob over dead canary, a woman may
weep for her dear departed pug; why,
then, may not d man feel little lump
in the throat as he lays aside an old
pipe that he will never be able to
smoke again?
1t was d brave old pipe. 1t had
never boasted an imposing appearance,
and will confess that the hall-maTked
silver mount was not thing l should
have cared to take oath upon II
remember rightly l bought the pipe for
ninepence, and we took to each other
from the start. We have enjoyed d
close companionship for something like
two years, and l am a smoker that puts
the forbearance of a pipe to a tolerably
severe test For the last six months
or so It has been the kind of pipe that
could not be smoked anywhere except
in solitude for both its appearance and
its aromatic qualities were dead agaIns,
/ it. But as the companion of my soil
tude it became dearer to me than evl-
and now that IL is gone the sense of my
utter loneliness is heavy upon me. For
today the hall-marked silver band has
come off. revealing a crack in the pipe
running it's entire length, The poor
thing came to pieces in my hand, and l
! felt quite a tug at my heart as tho
| sudden realization of my loss came
upon me.
On my way home from town | took
/ the pipe to repairer and asked II
/ there were any means known to the
| pipemaker's art of mending a pipe so
! far gone as mine. I felt as if ! were
| consulting a specialist about the health
of a dear friend VINO was in a bad way.
! The repairer looked at ii with an air
of mingled curiosity and astonishment
/ Apparently he could never have be-
! lieved that a pipe could be worn down
so far and still live a useful life, for
with constant tapping and pruning
down the bowl had been reduced to
about half it's original size. He shook
! his head and returned the pipe to me
without a word. He was, no doubt, Il
! good smoker himself. and he knew
/ something of the sorrow with which
/ one parts from a pipe that one has
/ loved To his lasting honor be II said
/ that he did not ask me to replace my
old pipe with a new one there and then.
He doubtless recognized that such a
suggestion would have been little short
of indecent in that solemn moment
and ] did violence to my feelings ny
smoking mere cigarettes on the way
/ home.
/ What should men do with their old
pipes that have an honorable record
1 and have become past work in their
/ broken old age2 We keep our faithful
| terriers long after they have ceased 10
| be companicnable: we turn our age
| stricken horses into the meadows ans
let them browse themselves peacefull~
| into Nirvana Shall / be expected to
cast aside as mere rubbish a friend
that has laughed with me and sigh6l
/ with me for two long years? I think 1
| will carry it out into the garden anG
inter it with due solemnity. It will at
least be a relief to my family TO know
! that smy old pipe is undergoing some
kind of sanitary dissolution
The times we have had together, that
old pipe and 1. AS it lies before me,
/ broken and disconsolste, I wonder if it
remembers the day on which landed
that 10-pOund pike (fisherman's weighs
from the mill stream. How my old pips
purred with me in my joy as l realized
that something was running away with
nv line. ] could almost hear it Whis
| periDg in my ear. Steady. boy. steady;
let him have his run. He'll be tlred
/ first And I remember that. in my
excitement at getting the fish into the
landing net my pine dropped from any
! mouth. Did ] loosen the hold of my
teeth upon il. or did my pipe. sharing
my excitement, leap for Joy Of its ow-s
accordg A pipe is. as we know. only
an inanimate. soulless thing. and yet Il
has been near to our own souls so much
and so often that it may have aimOT
imbibed some of the rare quality THAI
is said to make humans immortal.
Then there was that fine Sunday on
the river when the ladies gave us the
word. Gentlemen, you may smoke.
I took my old pipe from its wash Heather
overcoat and the ladies said 1t must
90 back again. 1t was not in its firss
youth even then. but that was the ear
iiest intimation I had that it was ~
longer resnectablc. One Of the ladie,
said il was a horrid thing. Horrid And
vet. together. that pipe and / had tasted
something very like the bliss of heaven.
own that for the moment }
felt ashamed of my poor old friend,
though / blush now 10 think / could
have been so weak. An instant
4 later however. I recovered myself.
sturdilv refused the offer OF a cigar
with a band of gold paper round y
saving that I did not feel like smoking :,
lust then. l sacrificed myself to spare
my pipes feelings
i I waste no regrets over the fact Ny
nine has paid me for it, again and
again. I have known the time when '
have been stranded far from the mar7s
of men. with nothing but a little TO-
bacco dust in my pouch. But my piF-'
mas DTuNtif boEtit WIN NV o ~
the few grains of dust, though II must
have known that in a moment or so :
should be drawing the cOnsoling smoks
from the charred wood Of its Own VI
tails Il has sacrificed its very self
for me with never a sign of plant o.
protest.
And now it lies before me. broken
and dead. a hopeless derelict upon { j.
shores of time 1t ALMOST seems. as
take its poor remains in my fingers. q
. be giving me the farewell hand-gr',-
. of an old friend anticipating me by 4
I little while in putting out to sea. As
I look at it, fOndly reminiscent. l ash
. myself if ] have ever given so much
7 happiness TO others as that pipe has
/ given to me In days Of shine ano
shade its friendship and constancy have