Rensselaer Republican, Volume 17, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 April 1885 — The History of Chewing and Smoking. [ARTICLE]

The History of Chewing and Smoking.

Cigars were not known until about 1815. Previous to that time pipes were used exclusively. Chewing had been in vogue to a limited extent for sometime, while snuffing dates back almost as far as smoking. The first package sent to Cathrine de Medici was in fine powder. She found that smelling it in the box affected her similarly to smoking, which led her to fill one of her smelling-bottles with the dust. Her courtiers adopted the tyabit of snuffing small portions of it up the nostrils, and as the precious stuff became more plentiful the snuffing habit became more general, until at last a man or a woman was not considered as in proper form unless they snuffed. The custom became so common in England that a snuff-box was no longer a sign of rank. Then it was the law prohibiting the culture of the plant, except for medicine, was passed, About the same time a heavy tariff was placed on the imported article, thereby practically placing it beyond the reach of the common herd and giving royalty a complete monopoly. Since it first began to be used as a luxury there have been conflicting opinions in regard to its effects., The Romish church once forbade its use, and the church of England declaimed against it The Wesleys opposed it hotly, and at one time it was considered; so unclean as to unfit men foY membership in the Methodist church. Baptist and Presbyterian ministers preached against it, and societies were organized to oppose the spread of the habit, but all to no purpose. Parents disowned and disinherited their children because they used it, and husbands divorced their wives on account of their having contracted the habit of smoking. It is singular that when women get into the habit of smoking a pipe they prefer a strong one. There are few men who have nerve enough to smoke a pipe such as a woman likes when she has become a confirmed smoker. When they first begin puffing cigars they prefer them very mild, but it is not long until they want them black and strong and lots of them. — Pittsburgh. Dispatch. The ladies of Marie Antoinette’s time made the sacrifice to their beauty of sleeping in a sitting posture, with their back propped up with pillows. The dresses of Marie Antoinette were often freshened up and turned, her ribbons dyed and her kerchief and gloves cleaned. A woman who wants a charitable heart wants a pure mind.— Haleburton.