HOUSEHOLD UTENSILS. 



303 



at the station it is not unusnal for several to contribute a number of 

 plugs of tobacco and a gallon of molasses. These are boiled together 

 and then water is added to the mixture. This villainous compound is 

 drunk until a state of stupefaction ensues. The mxiddled creature 

 under the influence of that liquor seems like an idiot. The effect is 

 terrible and does not wear away for several days. The pipes used for 

 smoking are made of stone obtained from river pebbles, usually a fine- 

 grained compact sandstone. The color of this stone varies from a dark 

 reddish brown nearly the color 

 of clotted blood to a lighter ' 

 shade of that color. The red 

 stones often have spots of every 

 size and shape of a yellowish 

 drab which form a strange con- 

 trast with the darker colors. 

 The darker the stone the less 

 spotting it will have. The best ^'"- i^i-W""""' ^p"™ - '-'"«'• n»^™*- 

 of all the pipes and those most valued are of greenish sandstone having 

 strata of darker colors which appear as beautiful graining when the 

 pipe is cut into form and polished. 



Other pipes are of hard slate and very dark without markings. All 

 the material is hard and the effect of the lire within renders them har- 

 der and liable to crack if used in very cold weather. These pipes vary 

 but little in shape (I have figured three — PI. xxxviii and Fig. 123 — to 

 show the pattern), but there is considerable difference in size. The 

 largest ones are made of tlie green stone, while the smaller ones are 

 made of other stones. The 

 stem is of spruce wood and is 

 lirepared by boring a small 

 hole through the stick length- 

 wise and whittling it down 

 to the requiied size. It is 

 from 4 to 8 inches long and is 

 often oriuimen ted with a band 

 of many colored beads. 



The rough stone for a pipe ^"'- '-2-^<'»''™ "f""" "■• i^""''. Nenenot. 



is selected and chipped into crude form. The successive operations of 

 wearing it down to the desired size are accomplished by means of a 

 coarse file or a harder stone. The amount of labor bestowed upon a 

 pipe consumes several days' time before the final polish is given. 



The value set upon these pipes is according to the color of the stone, 

 as much as the amount of labor expended in making them. They are 

 always filthy, partly on account of the bad quality of tobacco used. 

 The ashes and other accumulations within are removed by means of a 

 bodkin-shaped instrument of bone or horn. The back of a broken horn 

 comb is a favorite material for making a decorated pipe-cleaner (Fig. 



