Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1873-01-16
Hints to Smokers.

Hints to Smokers.
There are thousands of men who
would be willing to abandon the use of
tobacco provided they could do so with
out inconvenience. Those who make
the attempt usually find that after day
or two of total abstinence they suffer
irritability of the nerves which seriously
interferes with their comfort. They
therefore return to their cigars with re-
newed zest, and postpone the period of
their emancipation from tobacco until
''next Christmas, or the ''beginning of
the new year.
There are of course philanthrOpic OPP
ponents of tobacco who proffer to the
smoker systems of their own invention,
by the adoption of which he can easily
abandon tobacco without the slightest
inconvenience. One system proposed
by popular writer, who is himself
reformed smoker, has the merit of
cheapness and simplicity. He assures
his clients that they will never feel the
want of the abandoned cigar, provided
that upon the first day of abstinence
they will take a glass of whisky when
ever the hour at which they have been
accustomed to smoke returns. On the
second and each succeeding day, they
should diminish their allowance by one
glass. In few days, remarks this ben
factor (?) of bis race, the habit and de-
sire of smoking will be entirely broken
up, and the supplementary whisky can
be discontinued.
Now this plan may work very we'll in
cases where the smoker has been in the
habit of consuming only one or two eli
gars per day. Suppose, however, that
he has been accustomed 70 smoke say
ten cigars daily. Upon abandoning this
habit he will proceed to drink ten glass
es of whisky during the first dav, nine
during the second. and so on. In 9th
er words, he will drink forty-nine glass
es, or about four quarts of whisky dur
ing the first week of his abandonment Of
tobacco Doubtless he will emancipate
himself from cigars, but he will have
made good progress in the gloomy and
uncomfortable direction of drunkard's
grave.
This view Of the matter is one which
undoubtedly presented itself to the
mind of a young man, who, until last
week, resided in Indianapolis. He
wished to abandon tobacco but he did
not desire to adopt whisky. He there
fore hit upon the happy eXpedient Of
substituting ice water for the latter bev-
erage. During the first day of his re
fOrmatOry process, he drank three gal
Ions of ice water, and still feeling a de-
sire for his favorite narcotic, he ate q
quantity of frozen meat and washed il
down with a moderate libation Of cold
buttermilk. He went to bed with the
cheerful belief that he had discovered
+ = L. II. E
tobacco, and doubtless expected that on
the following day to reduce his ration Of
ice water by at least pint. II is unfor-
tunate an experiment accidentally failed
On the following morning he did nor
feel very well. and in spite of the AID Of
two physicians h" rapidly grew worse
until he died
The moral of this anpcdotc seems To-
be that ice water. when drank .lv TIA"
gallon. may supcrscdt the craving fer
tobacco, but only at the cost of the
drinkers life Whether the ice water
remedy is preferable to the whiskytrcat-
mpnt may he left to The decision Of th"
anti-tobacconists. Those who do not
find that moderate Indulgence in smok-
ING is ruing their health. destroying their
moral perceptions. aud breaking up their
business, will probably regard both inn
mediate suicide by ice water and ulti-
mate death by alcohol, as undesirable
substitutes for the morning cigar and the
after dinner pipe-Nelc York Times.
A TERRIBLE VENGEANcE-How AN
ENGINEER SERVED \ TRAIN WRECKER.-
The indianapolis Sentinel tells fearful
story of the poetic justice awarded by
certain locomotive engineer upon one of
the tiends who make the ObStruCting
railroad tracks ana consequent demoli-
ton of the trains the business of their
! lives. This grim hero of the throttle
valve had his engine thrown from the
track many times at certain point. by
some persistent enemy of humanity, and
his ability was becoming seriously Quas-
toned. He determined to stop it. On
nearing the fatal spot one night he SAt
glum and silent at the throttle, and tell
ing the fireman to be sure and follow
/ him if the train jumped the track. he
awaited the result The train was bank
/ ed. as usual, and jumping into the dark
ness, the engineer and his lieutenant
captured the culprit in a neighboring
/ cornHeid The enraged passengers
wanted to lynch the villain on the spot,
/ but the engineer, q stern, determined
man. prevented 1T, rcmarklng that he
would take charge of him, and the fel-
low was placed on the engine, under
/ guard of the fireman. The train being
rightcd, was soon speeding on its way
rs though nothing had happened.
/ While bowling along smooth piece of
track the engineer beckOped the fireman
to stand one side He did 90, and the
engineer picking up round stick Of
wood, and struck the criminal q stun
ming blow on the head. He then caught
the quivering form of the poor wretch,
and, opening the furnace doors, threw
his body into the hot seething flame.
The doors were shut, the train ratified
along, and never, until the ENGINEER
confessed the act upon his death bed,
was it ascertained what had been the
fate of the tienG who had been in the
habit Of throwing the train off the
track.
A Curious Story OF THE LATE Con
FEDRACY- The LgRch52nY VjrgintaR
narrates an incident in the career of the
late Confederacy which goes to show
how greed may overcome patriotism.