THE FIRST MEERCHAUM PIPE.

Manawatu Times, Volume II, Issue 22, 3 January 1877, Page 3

THE FIRST MEERCHAUM PIPE.

In 1723 there lived m Pesth, the capital of Hungary, Karol Kowates, - a shoemaker, whose ingenuity m cutting and carving on wood, &c, brought him m contact with Count Andrassy, ancestor of the present Prime Minister of Austria, with whom he became a favourite. The Count on his return from a mission to Turkey, brought with him a large piece of whitish clay, which had been presented to him as a curiosity, on account of its extraordinary light specific gravity. It struck the shoemaker that being porous, it must naturally be well adapted for pipes, as it would absorb the nicotine. The experiment was tried, and Karol cut a pipe for the Count and one for himself. But m the pursuit of his trade he could, not keep his hands clean, and many a piece of shoemaker's wax became attached to the pipe, the clay, however, instead of assuming a dirty appearance, as was naturally to be expected, when Karol wiped it off, received, wherever the wax had touched it, a clear brown polish, instead of the dull white it previously had. Attributing this change" m the tint to the proper source, he waxed the whole of the - surface, and polishing the pipe again, smoked ifc, and noticed how admirably and beautifully it coloured ; also how much more sweetly the pipe smoked after being waxed. Karol had struck the smoking philosopher's stone; and other noblemen, hearing of the wonderful properties of this singular species of clay, imported it m considerable quantities for the manafaeture of pipes. The natural scarcity of this much esteemed article, and the great cost of imporation, m those days of limited facilities for transporation, rendered its use exclusively confined to the richest European noblemen, until 1830, when it became a more general article of trade. The first meerchauin pipe made by Karol Kowates has been preserved m the museum of Pesth. — " Family Herald."