Judge — February 12, 1898 — page 11: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

uage 109 A CHAPTER OF EPICUREAN PHILOSOPHY. THE AMERICAN CIGARETTE AS A SCIENTIFIC PRODUCT AND AN EVERY-DAY LUXURY OF CIVILIZATION. ] f 1San axiom of modern philosophy that, as education greatly increases the individual's capacity for enjoyment, so the advance of civilization and science adds continuously to the sum of the world’s comfort, and to our daily menu of pleasure. Do we have more fun than our grandfathers did? Perhaps not, in a sense. That is to say, their cup may have been as full as ours is; only, our cup is a larger one, and it is filled with a choicer wine. We live, we progress, Naturally, the best is none too good for us, “the heirs of all The ages, in the foremost files of time.” Being of a materialistic turn of mind, we do not hesitate to make science the handmaid to our luxurious tastes. Take the matter of tobacco-smoking, The cigar came first, in this country and the present century, and then the sweet and dainty cigarette was evolved from it—like woman from the rib of man. Of course, a good cigar is a good thing: it is a creature comfort for men and heroes. But all cigars are not good—in fact, like men, a large proportion of them are more or less bad, or else their goodness is excessive, and they are too strong, to say nothing of their costliness. There has been from the first a demand, and it is constantly increasing, for a finer, more delicate smok- ing article, from which all the grosser elements of the cigar should be eliminated, while its soothing virtues were retained, and the delectable fragrance of the tobacco-leaf brought out in perfection. This demand, the cigarette supplied —how satisfactorily, the present annual consumption of over four billions in the United States alone eloquently answers. Of this immense annual output of American cigarettes, perhaps four- fifths are comprised in half-a-dozen standard brands. Why this concentration of favor upon a few of the great ones? Sim- ply because they, the enterprising cigarette-producers, have honestly won their position of pre-eminence, and are still fighting to hold it. ‘They fight fearlessly and fairly. They know that the public cannot be fooled—par- ticularly where its cherished pleasures are concerned. It is a public that reads the papers, keeps itself well informed in matters of hygicne and the philosophy of every-day life, and analyzes what it consumes. The Ameri- can cigarette-makers have met this discriminating public half-way with a product that is worthy of the favor of a connoisseur; and their “fight” is mainly against the Cheap Johns of the tobacco trade, who try to foist off, under various names and devices, the inferior stuff that tends to bring the standard article into undeserved disrepute. Did we not see. recently, a sensational newspaper article about a boy New Jersey, who, it was alleged, had become a celebrated hard case solely through smoking cigarettes? Such an interesting example, natu: rally, received thorough investigation ; and it was publicly proved, not only that “the boy lied,” but that he had been lied about. He was not“ crazed,” but bright and ingenious at story-telling, and had no experience as a smoker beyond that of the average healthy lad of fifteen. ‘The affair would not have been worth noticing, only that ‘it was taken up as a weapon by the assailants of the cigarette, and proved a boomerang in their hands, Both in Boston and in Chicago there have recently been official anal- yses, by expert chemists under orders of the state and municipal health- boards, of all the brands of cigarettes sold in those cities; and these inves- tigations were originally prompted, in no friendly spirit, by the “‘antis,”” ostensibly for the good of the smoking public. It really turned out so; for, as is now well known, the published official reports of these analyses proved such a high certificate of the excellence and purity of the leading brands of cigarettes, both as to tobacco-filling and paper-film wrapper, that they constituted an invaluable advertisement for the manufacturers no less than a grateful reassurance to millions of smokers. Necessarily so! for the leaf required by and specially cultivated for the cigarette supply is the finest “Virginia bright " that the rich soil of the southern seaboard states can grow, under a sub-tropical sun. It is cured and laid away with as much daintiness as a lady's lingerie; kept patiently to mature, then blended and mixed with all the scientific care of the choice vintages of France; and finally wrapped in a snowy paper film almost as ethereal as the pale blue cloud in which it goes up, when consumed, from the caressing lips of the smoker. If cigarettes of this quality were imported from Turkey, or Egypt, or Syria, in limited quantities and at Klondike prices, they would bring un- told gold, and be considered worth it—as in fact they are. It is only mod- ern science, and the unparalleled natural resources of this great country of ours, that bring the exquisite luxury of this kind of smoke within reach alike of the millionaire’s son and the poor student, the tired clerk and the president «f the bank, the czar of Russia on his throne and the street- sweeper of greater New York. The Paris universal exposition of 1900 will show to the old world, amongst other eye-openers, two typical American exhibits—one, a gold- mine, with all the processes of extracting and refining the precious yellow metal; the other, the marvelous machinery developed in the last decade for cigarette-making on a multiplied scale, and the elaborate scientific manipulation of the precious yellow tobacco that is transmuted into that recompense of modern civilization, the perfect cigarette. 3 | ook j ‘THE Wasuincton Monvz Malt is sprouted bar- ENT isthe tall- ley; by sprouting, the 0000000000000 00000099 00000000: aro the best suspenders for Careful dressers A Perfect Combination of Comfort and Style. Bex Furnishers keep them. Sample Pair, mailed postpaid, so cents. CHESTER SUSPENDER COMPANY, No. 3, DECATUR AVE. ROXBURY, 0909000000: Vabsiey—* Think you will get a chainless wheel? | Afudge—"" If I do it willbe at the cost of wearing a watchless chain."—/ndianap- tis Journal. THE CELEBRATED SOHMER Heads the List ofthe Highest-Grade Pianos. CAUTION. eThe buying public will please not confound the genuine SOHMER Pine ‘with one of a similar sounding name of a cheap grade. ‘Our name spells— S—O—H—M—E-R New York Warerooms, 149-155 East 14th St. Will remove tonéw SOMMER BUILDING 170 Fifth Ave., cor, 224 Street, about February. 090 00000000000000000000000006 00: i est shaft of masonry in the world. It is 55 fect square at the base, and rises toa height of 557 feet. One year’s pro- duct of the Pabst Brew- ing Company in quarter barrels, would make a pyramid 55 feet square at the base and one mile higher than this monu- ment. Can you imag- ine the quantity of hoop iron and staves in such a pyramid, to say nothing of the rail- road facilities neces- sary to move a year’s product of this great brewery? constituents of the grain are changed into easily digestible matter. Hops added to this food give the properties of sleep and nerve tonic. The superiority of Pabst Malt Extract, The Best” Tonic over all other malt extracts is in its care- ful and scientific pre- paration and the un- surpassed facilities possessed by its manu- facturers. This pre- paration contains every element of life, nutri- tion, and health, with- out an imperfection. “PABST PERFECTED BREWING IN “AMERICA comicbooks.com