The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1864-11-30

THE D
sdored "macbincs" behind them, and seemed
! hugely TO enjoy their novel situation.
we dare not say that the youths had that
! fresh. wholesome, healthy appearance which
the unadulterated aqueous fluid is reported to
induce. Their checks did not glow with the
bloom Of a sound physical state, nor were they
living and moving realzations Of the pictures
to be met with in stor y-bOOlSs for little boys
and girls, which represent plump lads In clean
clothes, with red spot on each check pro
cecding in a lively manner 20 hydrants or
pumps, bearing mugs or Jugs in their hands.
70 tell the truth, we were impressed with the
sallowness, sunkcnuess, and strange, sharp age
Of the faces a. they met our gaze.
The little fellows looked anything unlor the
sun but unsophlstcated. We think we are
safe In saying that one in every ten Of the
adolcscent paraders was chewing tobacco.
Certainly our attention was riyeted by little
bits Of fellows, who, as they 5trutted proudly
by, expectorated right and left most furiousy
and without intermission pausing after each
discharge of saliva with a look Of intnlbe
satisfaction.
And contemplating this spectacle, we were
led to reflect how speedily the Ssc Of tue most
winning Of weeds-tobaccu-an becoming
national characteristic. NS4 foreigners
affirm of us-that we surround our chairs with
miniature lakes, and by constant practice
grow exceedingly expert in lodging each
others dirty ammunition that the streets Of
our towns are hazy, and ever redolent Of the
fumes Of cigars; aud that IL Is spit spit, spit,
alike in the parlOr the bar-rOOm the chamber,
the railroad car, and the place of public enter
taiument-is not altogether splenetic exaggera-
ton and misrepresentation on their part
Why, how many mere children do you
meet, when you take your daily walks
abroad, with unnaturally full cheeks,
or cigars in various stages Of eXhaus-
ton protruding from their mouths? The
young gentleman, nowadays, initates himself
into the grand order Of smokers simulta-
neous'y with the acquisition of a pair of boots
and the abuegation Of round-abouts, With
wise mstrust OF his own powers, he first
engages in experimental practice on porous
pieces Of timber (rattan is considered quite
the thing) aad in retired spots perlects him
self in the accomplishment of pufing. But
his ambition will not suffer him to stick to
sticks, and he meekly purchases his first cigar.
Oh! the glory and the fear of the initial weed!
How the novice, with the fear of indignant pa
rents before his eyes and the distressing appre-
henson Of meeting somebody he knows, takes
TO the back and unhequented streets; how
brayely he bears himself, emitting long, thin
whifis OF smoke from the extreme corners Of
his mouth, or dense volumes from an oval
aperture, and trying such dexterties as fore
ing the vapOr through his nose or driving
| 1t skyward in unbroken rings; keeping the
ashes from falling off until the last moment
and then knocking them neatly away with the
| little finger of the right hand; how he hides
| his Havana in his coat-seeve, when he crosses
principal thOroughfire; how he begins, as
he approaches the end of the aforesaid luxury,
| to see things generally in a confused, dis
| torted, and multiplied condition, to teel
startling sensations in divers divisions of his
frame, and to guess he has smoked
that cigar long enough; how he consumes
peppermint candy, a few cloves, and a large
amount of lemon peel; how he breaks for his
domicile sinuously and shuts himself up in bis
own apartment, where he agonizes for several
hours; how he comes down stairs with a pal
lid, melancholy face, and INDUCES very mode
rately in conversation; how the lad does al
this, it would take duodecimo fully and justly
to set forth. But each succeeding effort il
more and more successful, until at last "Young
America can perpetrate his half dozen smoke
per diem and not feel any the worse for IL
and when a cigar is an impossibility, his dul
moments are employed in exercising his jaw
p on cavendish, fine-cut, or the fancy brand
, with the beautiful and appropriate names an
, the captivating viguettes.