From: petsim <?????????????????????>
Subject: Pipe Stuff

Hi Steve:

     Again, thanks much for the web site and Digest.  I discovered you 
through a couple of web searches for pipe-related info that yielded 
issues of the Digest.  I was taken by the tone, sought you out, and I'm 
very happy that I did.

     Tried pipes about 40 years ago and loved them and the tobacco.  
Because I was then very much on the hop and pipes weren't a quick smoke, 
I went (back) to cigarettes.  Subsequently drove a cab in NYC and found 
that I couldn't tolerate the cigarette paper and additives in addition to 
the steady diet of exhaust fumes, so I went to cigars (Danneman cheroots 
from Brazil as an everyday and an occasional Royal Jamaica as a treat).  
After the cab, back to cigarettes.

     The pace is a bit slower now and I've re-discovered pipes.  Thus far 
I have a Savinelli, Wilke, Nielsen, two Petersons, a meerschaum-lined 
LaRocca, and two meerschaums.  Several points and questions have arisen 
that I thought to ask here.

     The Nielsen is an estate pipe and presents a couple of questions.  
It's a brandy shape and on top of its oval shank are the words "Neilsen" 
- "handmade" - "in Denmark", from top to bottom (w/ top and bottom lines 
forming an oval).  On the bottom of the shank is "MADE IN DENMARK" over 
"962".  Would anybody know anything about the manufacturer and age of 
this pipe?  The stem is a replacement so there is no stylized "bj" that 
would indicate a Bjarne (somewhere I saw the name Bjarne Nielsen).

     The pipe also has an unusual taste (certainly different from any 
other pipe that I've smoked).  The briar feels (somehow) harder and less 
porous than my other pipes.  The grain is busy and varies from vertical 
to cross to swirls, depending on which part of the pipe you're looking 
at.  It doesn't look or feel to be lacquered or anything else artificial, 
but it keeps a high lustre.  It adds its own dry, sharp (tart, but not 
sour) taste to whatever tobacco I smoke in it.  The taste is not 
unpleasant, but the tongue bite is!  It seems to be mellowing as it gets 
smoked, but I can't tell whether I'm riding a tiger that will be tamed 
into a good friend, or whether the pipe's a dud and that's why the first 
owner got rid it.  Has anybody had a similar experience?

     The Savinelli is identified on the box as a Virginia 606.  Is the 
number in any way a size designation?  I would call it a bent billiard.  
The pipe seems to have a juice-niche just below the draw hole.  The good 
news: it catches juices and leads to a dry, quiet smoke.  The bad news: 
only twice have I been able to run a pipe cleaner from bit to bowl.  The 
cleaner goes to the juice niche, leaving untouched a channel from the 
draw hole @1/8" into shank.  Does that 1/8" represent enough of a residue 
problem to take the pipe apart after every smoke (increasing the risk of 
a loose stem)?

     I mentioned that the LaRocca was meerschaum lined.  After purchasing 
it, I read somewhere that meerschaum linings are often not made from 
block but, instead, are compacted from meerschaum dust.  I tried a web 
search but found no specifics about LaRocca pipes.  The pipe smokes fine 
and my taste buds are certainly not up to sensing a distinction.  
However, as a fact collector (I'd rather have 'em and not need 'em ...), 
I'm curious.  Does anybody know anything about LaRocca pipes?

     I have been unable to find the Hacker and Ehwa books.  With your 
more-than-3000-strong readership, would it make any sense to approach the 
pertinent publishers?  They might find a run of a couple of thousand to 
be profitable and attractive.

     I skimmed quickly over much of the politically-oriented material in 
the earlier Digests as being past and, therefore, dead.  The basic 
issues, of course, are very much alive.  Whatever happened to "the Land 
of the Free"?  I stand ready to call, write, and vote, and I'm pleased to 
believe that I'm not alone in doing so.

Peter Sims
?????????????????????

[Even with 3669 members this issue, a reprint of the Ehwa book
probably wouldn't be worthwhile.  But I thought the Hacker book was
still in print!  A search on Amazon for "pipes" yields several
interesting results. -S. ]


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