The circ.u.mstances under which meerschaum came to be used for smoking pipes have already been detailed. Meerschaum occurs as a mineral more or less scattered all over the world, but the largest quant.i.ties and probably the best qualities occur in Asia Minor. In the United States, the mineral is found in South Carolina. Other mines occur in Spain, Greece and Morocco.
The princ.i.p.al mines in Asia Minor are situated about 250 miles southwest of Constantinople, on the plains of Eskishahr. Meerschaum has been in use for sundry purposes in the Orient for many centuries and the mines of Asia Minor have been worked for at least 1,000 years. The result is that they are now approaching exhaustion. The area in which the mineral occurs princ.i.p.ally is small, about six square miles, and in this area many thousands of pits are worked. The soil is alluvial and in these deposits the meerschaum is found in soft lumps and nodules having no definite or regular shape. It also occurs in veins among the Serpentine rocks and marls. Although it is soft when taken out of the ground it rapidly hardens when exposed to the air. It is roughly shaped and cleaned at the mines and from thence sent to the dealers who further prepare it by waxing and polishing and put it on the market in the conditions in which it reaches the pipe makers. The princ.i.p.al European depots for meerschaum are Constantinople and Vienna. It is usually packed in boxes containing about 50 lbs. each and sells for from 50c to $4.00 per lb.
The lumps on reaching the manufacturers are first cut with a band saw into suitable sized blocks according to the size and shape of the pipes desired. These blocks are then thoroughly soaked in water until they are thoroughly saturated. The soaking renders the material soft and soapy and gives it the consistency of cheese, so that it is then easily shaped into the desired form which the pipe is to take. It is then dried and hardened again and on completion the bowl is hollowed out and the stem drilled. If the pipe is a plain one without carving it is finished on a lathe and filed ready for polishing. It is also threaded for the mouthpiece. The pipe is then sent to the drying room for such time as is necessary to expel all moisture. The final treatment for the smoothing of the surface is done by fine sandpaper and other special substances, then immersing in melted white beeswax for three to five minutes and finally the giving of a high polish with precipitated chalk, cotton and flannel being the usual rubbing materials used.
Meerschaum by its nature is particularly adapted for carving. The hand carving of such pipes requires artistic and dexterous craftsmen, who are experts in this particular cla.s.s of work.
There are various imitations of meerschaum. One is made from burnt gypsum soaked with lime in a solution of gum arabic. This forms a hard, creamy plaster and is capable of receiving a highly smooth and polished marble-like surface.
Another form of imitation is made of a hardened plaster of Paris highly polished and tinted in a solution of gamboge and dragon"s blood, being afterwards treated with paraffin or stearic acid. All cheaper grades of meerschaum pipes, holders, etc., are made of this or similar compounds and it is very hard for the average smoker to distinguish them as the ordinary tests will not suffice. The absorption and coloring qualities are about the same. Such imitations cost about half as much as the genuine article or even sometimes less.
It should be added that the chips and dust resulting from the working of the genuine meerschaum are bonded together with a solution and moulded and this is also sold as meerschaum.
The number of genuine meerschaum pipes annually manufactured is probably much less than one-half a million, while there are probably three or four times as many imitations.
BRIAR ROOT
As we have seen briar root is found to be the most suitable wood for pipe smoking. The word briar is not named from wild briar. The word is a corruption of the French name La Bruyere, meaning the heather shrub of that name which grows along the Mediterranean coast of France, Spain and neighboring countries. It is the root of this shrub which is the substance used. The shrub is especially cultured for the purpose of pipe making; but the area in which the best briar root grows is very limited. It takes considerable time and the result is that the supply of the most suitable wood is far below the demand. The cultivation of the briar root is a simple matter. It consists merely in pruning the growth as much as possible so as to encourage and strengthen the roots.
The very best qualities of briar root come from Corsica and the neighborhood of Leghorn. It is very finely grained, hard and tough, does not char and heats slowly.
When full grown and ready for the market the wood is rough sawn into blocks, varying in size from 3 inches square up, according to the market sizes required, and allowed to season. When fully seasoned the blocks are packed in boxes each containing from 200 to 300 of these blocks. They are then sent to the dealers or direct to the pipe factories as the case may be.
In the factory the blocks are sorted and then undergo a sweating process in steam vats for ten to twelve hours. This steaming gives the wood the familiar brown-yellow tint of the natural briar root uncolored. After sweating the blocks are sent to the drying room as all traces of moisture must be removed. This usually takes several months. For pipe making the workman selects his block and roughly trims it to size. It is then placed in the frazing machine. This usually has three cutters revolving at very high speed, making several thousand revolutions per minute. The center cutter shapes out the block and the outer knives cut away the wood on the outside so as to form the block roughly into the shape of a pipe bowl and stem. This is then placed in a special lathe for cutting irregular forms.
It is usual to fit in it a metal pattern of the particular shape chosen for the pipe. A circular cutting tool is set in motion and the briar block, which turns with the metal pattern, is mechanically cut to the exact shape of the pattern. After cutting, the pipe pa.s.ses to the sandpapering machines where both inside and outside are thoroughly treated, and it gets a first polishing or smoothing on a pumice stone wheel. The next process is the boring of the stem which is done in a drilling machine by a steel wire having a cutting top rapidly turned by a lathe. The thread on the end of the stem for the mouthpiece is formed by a special machine. The pipe is then ready for polishers and finishers. It is first sandpapered four times, twice with rough and twice with fine on revolving wheels. Unless the wood is to be left its natural color, it is dropped into a vat of stain until it acquires the color desired. After drying it is ready for "buffing." A "buff" is a wheel made of many layers of cloth, leather, etc., which revolves very rapidly. For pipe buffing these buffs are usually Tripoli buff, sheepskin buff, muslin and cotton flannel buff. The Tripoli takes off any sediment held by the edges of the grain. The sheepskin buff burns the color fast into the wood. The muslin and cotton bring out the grain and gives the wood its final delicate l.u.s.tre and finish, which are done when the stem and mountings have been put on. The pipes are then ready for final stamping with name and packing.
The process is much the same with all other hard woods. Pipe factories are found in most countries. French briar pipes are justly celebrated, but the American pipes are better made.
Within recent years calabash has come into vogue to a large extent as a pipe making material. The calabash is a South African squash and has a special softness of flavor. The curved stem end of the calabash is used, being lined with plaster of Paris, and quite a large trade has sprung up in South Africa in growing calabash for the pipe trade, the princ.i.p.al point being Cape Town.
THE PIPE STEM
It is very important that suitable material be selected for the mouthpiece of the pipe. In fact from many points of view the mouthpiece is the most important part of the pipe for the smoker, because damage to the lips must be particularly avoided, and a defective, rough, or badly made mouthpiece is apt to cause damage. There are three very important qualities which the material must have: (1) It must be hard enough to resist indentation from the teeth and yet not feel gritty. (2) It must be capable of receiving a perfectly smooth surface and of retaining it under the action of saliva.
(3) It must not be a rapid heater so that it will not burn the lips, or crack or splinter under action of heat. Other very desirable qualities are toughness, beauty of appearance and freedom from taste or odor under all circ.u.mstances of use.
Amber has a unique place in fulfilling these conditions. Amber is a fossil gum or resin, the juice of pine trees, which in course of time has become petrified like coal.
Amber is found is various parts of the world, but is more plentifully found along the sandy sh.o.r.es of East Prussia bordering on the Baltic Sea.
This area was in time long past the site of pine forests. The amber is found very often to occur with lignite or brown coal. It is dug out of the cliffs or mined like coal out of the ground. Sometimes it is washed in from the sea. In size it varies from the size of a pea to lumps as large as an orange. When first dug up it is usually of a pale yellow color, but this becomes darker on exposure. The manufacture of commercial amber is a government monopoly in Prussia. The pieces are all melted down at a temperature of about 550 F., and then after purification it is cast into slabs about 7/8 inch to 1-5/8 inches thick and four inches to eight inches long, in which form it is sold to dealers. There are two qualities, opaque and transparent, the opaque being the tougher. The cost varies considerably, the inferior kinds being sold for $2.00 per pound, and the finest specimens cost up to $60.00 per pound.
By far the largest quant.i.ty of amber used for ordinary pipes is imitation amber. The manufacture of this is a trade secret. It is so good and fulfills its purpose so well that only experts can distinguish it from genuine amber. There are many subst.i.tutes for amber.
Good vulcanite, except for the matter of appearance is little inferior to amber as mouthpiece material. Cut vulcanite is cool and smooth, but moulded vulcanite is liable to be rough to the lips and should be avoided.
Vulcanite mouthpieces are usually sold already finished direct to the pipe makers.
Except for the matter of brittleness unglazed clay is a most excellent pipe stem. Clay is usually cool and very absorbent of the acrid oils occurring in the distillation of tobacco. When the end of a clay stem is protected by a rubber band, it forms a very good mouthpiece. Bone and other materials are also used as mouthpieces. Ebonite is used, but is objectionable because it spoils the flavor of the tobacco. Celluloid is a dangerous substance and should not be used as a pipe stem.
The smoker should avoid biting the mouthpiece as it roughens it. It is far better to discard a mouthpiece when it becomes indented, rough or worn in any way. A damaged mouthpiece should on no account be used when the lips are chapped or lacerated because the irritation may, if continued, lead to ulceration and tobacco juice is not beneficial to skin lesions.
SPECIAL PIPES
German pipes are, as might be expected, the most correct in scientific principle. The pipe has two bowls the upper of which is for the tobacco.
This fits into a socket which allows the oils and aqueous solutions due to the distillation to pa.s.s into the lower bowl, very little getting into the stem. The bowls are usually of porcelain and the long curved stem is of wood mostly cherry.
The Dutch pipe is similar to the German except that the stem is long and straight which allows the bowl to rest on the ground. The German pipe is usually held in the hand by the lower bowl. In Turkey and Oriental countries the water pipe is used. This form of pipe originated in Persia.
The pipe consists of a receptacle for the tobacco, which has a perforated bottom. This holder fits into a cup from which a hollow tube leads into a jar containing water. The tube pa.s.ses through the stopper of the jar and descends almost to the bottom of the water. Another tube, the inhaling tube, also pa.s.ses through the stopper of the jar, but does not reach to the surface of the water. On drawing through the inhaler a vacuum is created in the air s.p.a.ce above the surface of the water in the jar which induces suction through the other tube below the water level. The smoke therefore bubbles through the water and is cooled before it reaches the mouth of the smoker. It, however, requires a considerable amount of effort to draw the smoke through.
Water pipes are used extensively among the better cla.s.ses of the East.
Some of them are very gorgeous affairs, the bowls being of the richest crystal and the fittings gold or silver set with gems. Sometimes they have several smoking tubes so as to accommodate more than one smoker. The water pipe used by the Shah of Persia is said to be worth $400,000.00.
In Turkey the water pipe is known by the name of Hookak. In Egypt it is called Nargeeleh (or Narghile) because the water vessel is usually a cocoa nut for which the Arabic name is Na"rghee"leh. The Hookak usually stands on the floor and is ponderous, with many smoking tubes. The Nargeeleh is a hand pipe.
In Eastern countries, however, besides the water pipe the ordinary clay bowl pipe is used to a very large extent, being fitted with a wooden stem from 3 to 5 feet in length. All these pipes are essentially home pipes, as it is not habitual with the Eastern people to smoke except when seated.
In China both s.e.xes commonly smoke pipes--a water pipe made of bra.s.s is usually smoked by the richer cla.s.ses. The poorer cla.s.ses use a clay pipe with a bamboo stem.
The princ.i.p.al importation into the United States of foreign made pipes and smokers" articles is from Austria, England and Germany. The latest government statistics show that from England $278,000, from Austria about $280,000, and from Germany about $139,000 worth of such goods are annually imported. These are princ.i.p.ally pipes. Cigarette paper, briar root, etc., are not included in these figures. The total importation value in 1912 (exclusive of duty) from Europe was $1,478,000.
THE CARE OF PIPES
An experienced smoker lays down the following rules for the care of pipes.
The rules apply whether a man uses one or half a dozen pipes:
(1) When a pipe is used for the first time wipe out the bowl with a cloth.
Then thoroughly wet or dampen it. Before the moisture evaporates fill the pipe. Light evenly and be careful not to burn the rim with the lighted match. The tobacco being damp next the wood will not redden there, hence the wood will not char but a sooty film will form.
(2) Ashes should be allowed to remain in the pipe till thoroughly cooled.
Then emptied. The object of this is to allow the liquid residue to soak into the pores of the new wood.
(3) Do not sc.r.a.pe the inner surface of the bowl. The thin coating of carbon (the "cake") which is formed on it is a nonconductor of heat and prevents the wood from overheating or cracking. It keeps the pipe cool and is a good absorber.
(4) After half a dozen smokes the rule of removing the ashes should be reversed. They should be removed promptly after smoking. Blow through the mouthpiece after smoking. By this time the inner surface of bowl is sufficiently soaked and coated and continuation makes it acrid and sodden.
(5) Always allow your pipe to cool and dry before resmoking. Use pipe cleaners and pipe spoon for cleaning. When the "cake" becomes too thick part of it may be removed but always leave a layer next the wood. Be careful not to sc.r.a.pe the surface of the bowl.
(6) A pipe should not be used continuously for more than a few weeks or a month. It should then be cleaned and allowed rest unused for a while. It is well to allow it to hang where the sunlight can play on it. Acrid matters will dry out and the pipe will be sweet when smoked again. It is a good plan to pack the bottom of the bowl with powdered chalk when it is resting.
When a pipe tastes acrid it requires more than ordinary cleaning. If one has the opportunity a most excellent way is to blow steam through it, first removing the mouthpiece. Another way recommended by a smoker who says it is most efficacious is to fit a cork into the bowl of the pipe.
Make a hole in the cork, into which the nozzle of a soda siphon will fit snugly. Direct the mouthpiece into some emptying vessel and force about a wine gla.s.s of the soda water from the siphon through the pipe. It will clean it out effectively.
If you are smoking a meerschaum and desire it to color well and evenly it is a good plan to use a false upper bowl to fit inside the bowl of your pipe. The rim of fire where the tobacco is burning makes the pipe bowl too hot and does not allow that part to color. The false bowl will prevent this. Some smokers think that covering a meerschaum bowl with chamois will cause it to color well. The chamois will not aid the coloring but it will protect the bowl from being touched by the hand during the process and thus avoiding a spotty effect, particularly if the hand should be moist or greasy. During the progress of the coloring the pipe should never be allowed to get too hot. The time required to color a pipe depends on the tobacco used. If it is a rich oily tobacco, the time necessary is shorter than with a dry tobacco.
Imitation meerschaum of the cheaper kind are sometimes artificially colored by the makers. This is done by boiling the pipe in an oily solution of nicotine, the formula for which as given in the _American Druggist_, V. 58, is:
Crude nicotine (oil of tobacco)==[ounce] i.
Olive oil==[ounce] ii.
Yellow wax==[ounce] viii.