Juniata sentinel. [volume] (Mifflintown, Pa.) 1846-1873, 1873-04-23
by LANES COULTER LAyARD, 81. ".
CONTINUED. |
THE EXPENS SE.

THE EXPENSE.
These are but few of the largest fires
originating in the causes under consider
alton, accounts of which have come I'M
der our own immediate notice within
three or four years only. We think it
unnecessary for our present purpose to
make mention of more, though we haze
a considerable list Of such occurring since
we commenced to collect statistics on
this head and we do not presume our
list contains nearly all, accounts Of which
have been publishcd-pcrhaps not the
half Of them. How many othor greet
fires occurring within the same period,
the causes of which are chronicled az
unknown, had the same origin, who can
tell |, is even surmised by some that
the late great fire in Boston was kindled
by match which bad been used by
some laborer to light his pipe and this
is not improbable.
To the above might be added the
amount spent for pipes, and tobacco and
snuff boxes. This, it might be perhaps
said, is not much. 1t is still, in the ag-
gregate, large sum especially that
spent for pipes. A large proportion of
these are of foreign importation. There
are large establishments in Europe, some
times whole towns, devoted almost en-
tirely to their manufacture which turn
them ont by thousands, costing from one
cent to some hundreds of dollars each
Much of the money spent for pipes goes
out of the country. and is just so much
distracted from the permanent wealth of
the nation.
We have not yet taken into the ac-
count the value Of the time spent in US
ing tobacco. To be sure there is not
much time lost in chewing. n Yankee
is a man who must do :wo or more things
at time, consequently he chews tobacco
and attends to his business at the same
time. But with smoking it is somewhat
different. a man most usually suspends
al other business to attend 70 that. And
so too of snufling In order to give our
readers some idea of the amount of time
spent in this titillating operation by
moderate nuff;aker in the course of
lifetime, We offer a single example : Mr..
Edward {. Delavan says: IL once cross
ed the Atlantic with a venerable eea
captain who had been snuffer of tobac-
co for about fifty years. One of the
passengers had the curiosity to ascertain
the time he had consumed in the opera
ton of taking the pulverized poison
Much to the amusement of the passen-
gers and the mostification of the captain,
it appeared that more than one year of
the time allotted to him by his Maker
had been occupied in plying his thumb
and finger in supplying his nasal cavity
with this odorilercus powder. and i'll
taking care of the disgusting drippings
it expelled from his nose-which had
grown to the size of a knurly, pink keyed
potato, from the heightened abuse OF tha,
organ
The Earl Of Stanhope once made the
following curious calculation Every
inveterate and lucurab!e snuff taker, at
moderate computation, takes one pinch
every ten minutes Every pinch, with
their agreeable concomitants and their
incidental circumstances, consumed II
minute and half Deduct a minute and
half out Of every ten and allow sixteen
hours to every snuH takers day, and
it amounts to two hours and twenty four
minutes out of every day, or one day ont
of ten, and tbirty-six and half days i'll
year-morc than one twelfth Of per-
sons whole lifetime Then there is tho
! time spent in making purchases, and ii
going to make purchases. When all
these items are footed up they make no.
a triAing sum -
1t would be impossible - tell in dol
lars and cents just how much our tobacco
does cost us. But if We add 10 the di-
rect expense to consumers the indirect
| loss which results from 80 much land,
capital and labor diverted from other
branches of productive industry, the loss
in deterioration Of land, losses by fire.
and loss of time, it would amou@t to an
immense sum. We hardly dare to even
guess at it. If, however, we should ven
ture on a guess we should say that the
expense to TIE people OF these United
States, directly and indirectly, Of the
tobacco they consume is not shor: OF
500, 100000 annually What ar i'm
mense sum to be spent yearly by a pro-
fessedly Christian people on vice, for it
is nothing else
And yet the greatest element in the
calculation has as yet been left out alto
gether. That il, the damage to life,
health, and morals IF this could be
turned into figures. it would amount an
nuallv TO a sum greater than our national
debt
ITO DE CONTINUED.
If you would render your children
helpless all their lives, never compel or
permit them to help themselves