The Indian pipes were principally of clay and 
this material was used in England for the first 
pipes made there and continued in sole use for 
about 250 years. From England it came to 
New England, with the first colonists. The 
Spaniards of South America did not generally 
use pipes. Meerschaum as a pipe making ma- 
terial was not known in Europe till 1728. It 
came about in this way: ‘There was then in 
Pesth (Austria-Hungary) an honest old shoe- 
maker, Karl Kowates, who, when he was not 
making or mending shoes, made pipes. Count 
Andrassy, was one of his pipe patrons. The 
Count while on a mission to Turkey in 1723 
was presented with a lump of meerschaum. 
The lightness and porosity of the material sug- 
gested to him that it would be a very suitable 
substance for a pipe bowl and on his return to 
Pesth he handed the lump to Karl to make a 
pipe of it. It seems Karl made two, one for the 
Count and one for himself. But Karl did more 
than that. The nature of his shoe work made 
his hands waxy and he noticed that wherever the 
pipe was waxed by his hands it turned into spots 
of clear brown color. He thus discovered the 
coloring qualities of meerschaum. Karl’s first 
pipe is still preserved (it is said) at Pesth. 
The new material became very popular and it 
spread from Austria all over pipe-smoking 
Europe. 152 
