Municipal Court's Elden Also A Judge Of Pipes

A Smoke In Chambers

Municipal Court Judge S. J. Elden prepares to light charcoal in a holder atop a Syrian water pipe, one of a number of such pipes he has in a large collection. The pipe in the right background on the bookcase is also a water pipe, as is the one (foreground) on the desk. On the wall behind Elden are some of his prize models. 

Municipal Court's Elden Also A Judge of Pipes

By William B. Treml

(News Police Reporter)

Pipes and the bench.

That isn't the title of a new legal documentary.

It just means that Municipal Judge S. J. Elden likes pipes - the ones you smoke. 

And he likes lots of them

In his sixth floor office at City Hall, the judge has a large board on the north wall of the room with 37 pipes from a dozen countries on display.

It all began more than 20 years ago for Elden when he was stationed with the U.S. Air Force in England. A few days before he was to return to the United States he spotted A Dunhill pipe in a shop and bought it.

That did it. From then on, he was a confirmed pipe smoker constantly on the lookout for new and interesting pipes to buy.

Through the years, he has acquired at least one of virtually every type of pipe known including a number of "water pipes" in which the smoke is passed through water and a dead air space for purification.

"The water pipes are probably the safest in the world as far as giving the smoker protection against harmful ingredients in smoke," Elden observes. "Of course some are rather complicated to get going and you have to acquire a taste for them."

While attending law school at Wayne State University in Detroit after Work War II, Elden dickered for several years with a shop owner for an old Turkish water pipe. The business man did not want to sell the pipe but eventually decided it should go to the avid pipe-collecting law student. That particular pipe is smoked with a supply of charcoal in a container on top and draws the tobacco smoke through a dead air space and water before it reaches the smoker. 

One of Elden's most valued pipes is an authentic American Indian peace pipe made for him by an aged Indian craftsman in Wisconsin.

He had sought for years to obtain such a pipe and finally through the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs arranged to have the pipe constructed by "Running Elk." That Indian had made peace pipes for more than 50 years for his tribe and was considered one of the last experts in the craft in the midwest.

The judge's collection also includes a stick-like affair from Peru with a hand-carved wooden tobacco container. He also has a brass pipe from China, a ceremonial pipe from Korea and a number of deep-bowled, ivory-rimmed pipes form Germany and Holland.

While most of the pipes in the judge's collection are used infrequently, he has a "regular" array of pipes for daily use. These include the rack of ten American-made pipes on his office desk and a dozen others kept at home. 

But Elden's "hobby" is sometimes costly.

"I can't buy any suits made of synthetic material," he notes "If I'm wearing anything like that and drop some ashes from a pipe on it, the material will melt. The wool suits at least can be reweaved. Iv'e had a lot of them reweaved."

He says his most amusing experience with the pipes came with one of the Indian water pipes shortly after he acquired it. He had it in his former law offices on S. Main and had spent some time attempting to light it.

"I was becoming exhausted trying to get the thing to draw property and most of the attorneys on that floor had come in to see if I'd make it," Elden recalls. "After almost keeling over from the effort I discovered the thing had two plugs in a section attached to the cord which had to be removed before you used the pipe."

The judge says he adds to his collection whenever possibly and enjoys discussing pipes and their origin with other pipe buffs.