Smoking once a health habit

Press, 26 January 1988, Page 14

Smoking once a health habit

One kind of smoking — a pastime now frowned upon by many — is thought to have started for health reasons.

It is believed that pipes were used in ancient times in Europe to smoke medicinal herbs — many years before smoking tobacco in a pipe became the habit of some.

“Pleasure smoking” of pipes began with the American Indians, who introduced pipes to white settlers. The Indians smoked a ceremonial pipe called a “Peace pipe” or “calumet,” which had a bowl fashioned from red

sandstone. Many pipes are made from the brier root which is strong and has an attractive grain. One popular in the United States had a bowl fashioned from a hollowed-out corncob.

The tobacco pipe was introduced into Europe in 1586 by Sir Ralph Lane, commander of a group of colonists in Virginia, He sent a pipe to Sir Walter Raleigh. It is said that Sir Walter Raleigh’s servant threw a bucket of water over his master when he first smoked .... thinking he was on fire.