Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-07-13
BY PHILIP PLYLER.


~ NUFF-PNCHING, the consensus of
opinion to the contrary notwith-
standing, is gradually becoming more
popular in the United States. In
dubiable statistics, which positively
do not prevaricate, Mcently portray the cur
rent status quo of snuff consumption. These
indiSputable digitS proclaim to the world in
black and white that the annual production
of snuff in this country, vaulted from 1000, 600
pounds in 1880 to 100000 pounds In the
year of our Lord 1929.
1ncYedulous? MOI Facts and figures are
Self-evident.
Who uses 81 tons of snuff year? .
That is white horse of another color, for
the requisite statistics are not available But
accepting the ancient proverb Where there is
smoke there Is fire" literally, vast host OF
ardent devotees must be making the brown
dust fly. That snuff manufacturers not
in business for their health is an automatic
conclusion. Nor can the increased production
be identified with the export trade, for very
little of the product is being marketed outside
of own bailiwick.
OBVIOUSLY the increscent population has
tended to boost snuff consumption, but
the increment has not been proportionate to
the augmented production. 1t is conservatively
estimated that q habitual snuff -pincher an
nualy consumes four pounds of the pulverized
weed. Figured on this basis, some IL, 000, 600
souls, or approximately 10 per cent of the
citizenry, confirmed snuffers. Those who
do not deem the custom exactly effeir enter
tain the falacious notion that the hills people,
white laborers, the foreign element of the
population that immigrated from countries
where snuff-taking Is ubiquitous and colored
folks use this country's whole output. Perad-
venture they do appropriate the lions share OF
it, for those who work In factories and other
banned turn to the snu6 box for their daily
nicotine. But people from every walk IN life
mveterate addicts. Even the olefactory
nerves of our national lawmakers are soothed
by the subtle aroma of the pungent powder.
On either side Of the Senate Chamber In
Westinghouse for Republicans and the
other for Democrats-are two ancient hand
painted ebony snuff boxes which have been
constant fixtures ever since the Capitol was
first occupied. OF course it would be prepos-
ferrous to insinuate that q erudite Senator
would even tolerate snuH-pinching in his
presence, to say nothing about his own In
diligence. But the Official filler Of the Snu6
boxes sees to it that the Senate reeeptacles are
perpetua1ly Astounding IN the best snuff the
market affords. What becomes Of it is baf-
fling enigma requiring the ingenuity and crafti-
ness of Sherlock Holmes an S. s. Van
Dine to solve. I'm the course Of the arduous
legislative grind Senators accuse each other Of
almost every improperly imaginable, but not in
recent years has q member Of this august body
been charged with shifting snuff
But the amount Of snuff required to keep
the Senate snuff boxes filed is not overly i'm
portant in It's relation to the total annual con-
sumption. Presuming, solely for the purpose
of comparison, that each of the SO solons takes
his prorata share of the output, it would ag-
gregate only 384 pounds, hardly q drop In the
bucket compared TO 100000 pounds
Tobacco, the principal ingredient of SNUFF,
now figures prominently In the economic life
of the Nation, just as 1t did IN the early days
of the new Republic. The approximately
100000 acres of the weed cultivated last year
produced about q billion and half pounds
with an estimated value of sass, 600 600, and
Uncle Sam collected revenue aggregating $685.
900 ON the manufactured product.
Historians are generally agreed that tobacco,
which is cousin Of the potato, tomato, egg
plant and sweet petunia, Is indigenous to
America John Rolfe, the husband Of Poca-
hontas, was Virginias first white tobacco
planter The demand for the weed abroad be-
came SO insistent planters cultivated 1t TO the
exclusion of the requisite food crops and 70
stave off potential famine the Virginia As
sembly took steps to regulate tobacco culture,
whereby planters were allowed TO grow only
1000 plants of as leaves for each member OF
the family. Tobacco was then the accepted
coin of the realm, and the bachelor planters
exchanged from $50 to 800 pounds of the weed
for wives brought from England for them by
leaders of the colonization movement
A CCORDING to an Indian legend, tobacco
4 was gift from the Great Spirit. who
partook> of the soothing herb himself The
Indians also smoked the dried leaves OF the
plant in Y-shaped pipe, styled "toDago'" In