The Biggest Smoke on Record.

Otago Witness, Issue 2288, 6 January 1898, Page 54

The Biggest Smoke on Record.

A gentleman well known in turf cire'es made a curious w*ger in the year 1860, in which he backed himself to smoke one pound weight of strong foreign regalias within 12 hours. The conditions were that the cigars should be smoked one at a time to within an inch of the end, tbe backer of time, as in the case of some pigeon matches, Sliding the weeds.

The match was decided on a Thames steamer pljiiig between London aud Chelsea, the smoker taking up a position well forward in the bow?, vehf re he caught the force of all the breeze that WsiS blowii g; the cigars ran 100 to the pound, so flint about eight an hour had to b9 consumed to wiu the wf.ger. A start wns made at 10 o'clock in the morning, and the affair was finished shortly after 7 in the evening. In the course of 9 hours and 20 minutes 86 cigars were fairly pinoked, tbe greatest number cot>sumed being in the ttcmid bour, when the *mok- v dispust-d of no fe-*?er than 16 At the eightj -sixth cigar, when 14- only lvmdned to bs smoked, the backer of time gave in, fi tding thafc the smoker was certain to win, and the litter puffed the remainder a i *ay at his leisure in the course of the same evening. The winner subsc qutntly declared that he had not experienced the slightest difficulty or unpleas.uitnens during the whole time he was blowing off the weeds. The only refreshment t«ken during the progress of tbe match vras a eh p at 2 o'clock, the eating of which occupied 20 minutes, and a gill and a-half of brandy in cold water at intervals throughout the day.