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Show SMOKINQ CONTESTS. V llnn.lrnl Mront lra In Ttvrtr Hour.. Smoking Is the leiuperale as welt ns the contemplative man's recreating, and .rent smokers are loth to exhibit ihetr toliarco-coHsiimlnx abilities by engaging In smoking contests Still, however, there have been some curious tobacrn-bumtng races aaya lindon Tlt-ltlts In 131 there waa a great, smoking match al Oxford a scaffold being erected In front of an Inn for the accommodation of the competitors. The conditions were that any one man or woman who could smoke three ounces of tobacco first without drinking or leaving the at.igc should have a prise of 1 shillings Many tryed," a) a Ilearne, "and 'twaa thought that it Jturneyman taylntir of Bt Teler'a-ln-the-Kaai wonlil have been the victor, he tmoaklng fitter than and being many pipes before the rest, hut at last he was so tlrk that Iwaa thought he would hate dyed, and an old man that had been a builder and amosklng gent-I) gent-I) came oft the conqueror, amonklng life three ounce quite ont, ami he told nie tbat after It he stnoaked four or five pipes the tame evening " About fort) yrais ago a gentlemau agreed tu smoke n pound weight of strong foreign for-eign c liars In twelte hours. The hundred hun-dred rlgara making up tho pound were all In be smoked down to one-Inch butts The match waa decided on n Thamea steamer plying between l.on-don l.on-don nnd Chelsea and by Inking up his position well forward tho smoker had thi full benefit of the wind Tho contest began at 10 n in , and In the first hour the smoker consumed tlxtccn clears After nine hours' smnklng US had been disposed of. nnd with three houra to go and only fourtre'n cigars to smoke, the barker of tlmo gate In, The winner declared that he felt no discomfiture during the contest, nnd finished off the 100 cigars that cten-Ing cten-Ing More recently n solid silver cigar ci-gar case nnd "00 cigars were orfercd to tho smoker who consumed most cigars In two hour, rood, drink nnd medicine during the contest were forbidden. for-bidden. There were seventeen entries en-tries Afler the first hour ten competitors com-petitors retired The winner, who imoked without paute from ttart lo finish, reduced ten largo cigars to ashes In tho two hours, whllo the nearest competitor only finished seven. The people of Mile are Inveterate smokers, and to decide the championship champion-ship ot the town n smoking contest was held I.'nch competitor waa provided with a pipe, fifty grams (about an ounce and three-quarters) of tobacco and a pot of beer The one who smoked smok-ed the tobacco first was to bo the winner win-ner At the signal the air was fitted with cloud of arndkn. In thirteen 'mlnutca n worklngman tS.yearaof, ago bad reduced hit weod to nehet, whllo tot en minutes later tho second man had finished hla little smoke. After Aft-er such herculean smoking matches It It scarcely necessary to mention tho American contest, In which the winner win-ner smoked 100 cigarettes In six hours and thirty-nte minutes |