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Western Star, Issue 810, 19 January 1884, Page 6 (Supplement)

Of all the actions of a man’s life, his married least concerns other people: yet, of all actions of his life, it is the most meddled with by pther people,

A HBPLECTIVE TOBACCONIST. “ A cert aw tobacconist of my acquaintance,” writes a correspondent of the Pall Mall Gazette, “ modest as is his occupation, has always seemed to ml one of the happiest of men. He is prosperous, he has a keen sense of humour, and every person who enters his shop contributes to his entertainment as well as to his coffers. His very manner is a sedative, as calming as the Latakia which he dispenses. For years his chief pleasure has been in the preparation of a philosophical treatise on character reading. Some experts profess to judge a man on the evidence of his handwriting. My tobacconist sells a cigar to a customer and sums up his character as the result of the sale. He has formulated his system, and meanwhile I betray no confidence in revealing what follows, more interjectioual than is good, perhaps, but the pearls dropped through periodic clouds of smoke : —‘ An eventempered, quiet man never goes to an extreme in choosing a tobacco ; a nervous man wants something strong and furious; a mild man something that smokes, and nothing more. There is a great deal in the way men handle their cigars. If a man smokes his cigar only enough to keep it lighted, and relishes taking it from between his lips to cast a curl of blue smoke into the air, set him down as easy-going. He has keen sensibilities. He will not create trouble, but is apt to see it out when it is once begun. Beware of the man who never releases the cigar from the grip of his teeth, and is indifferent whether it burns or dies. He is cool, calculating, and exacting. He is seldom energetic physically, but lives easily off’ those who perform the labour. A man who smokes a bit, rests a bit, and fumbles the cigar more or less, is apt to be easily affected by circumstances. If the cigar goes out frequently, the man has a whole-souled disposition, is a ijdevil-may-care sort of fellow, with a lively brain and a glib tongue, and generally a fine fund of anecdotes. To hold half of the cigar in the mouth and smoke indifferently is a lazy man’s habit. They are generally of little force, and their characters are not of the highest strata. A nervous man, or one under exciting influences, fumbles his cigar a great deal. He is a kind of popinjay among men. Holding the cigar constantly between the teeth,, chewing It occasionally, and mot caring whether or not it has been lighted at all, are characteristics Jof men with the tenacity of bulldogs. They never forget anything, and never release a hold. The fop stands his cigar on end, and an inexperienced smoker either points it straight ahead or almost at right angles with his coursa.’