Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 March 1894 — The First Meerschaum Pipe. [ARTICLE]

The First Meerschaum Pipe.

A shoemaket, Kavol Kbwates, who, in 1823, lived at Pesth, the capital of Hungary, smoked the first meerschaum pipe. Besides being a shoemaker, however, he was one of nature s handicraftsmen, being gifted with an intuitive genius for carving in wood and other material. This brought him in contact with Count Andrassy, with whom he became a great favorite. The Qount on his return from a mission to Turkey brought with him a piece of whitish clay, which had been presented to him as a curiosity on account of its extraordinarily light specific gravity. It struck the shoemaker that, being porous, it must ba well adapted for pipes, as it would aborb the nicotine. The experiment was tried, and Kavol cut a pipe for the Count and one for himself. The first meerschaum pipe made and smoked by Kavol Kowates has boen preserved in the museum at Pesth.