The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1875-03-25

Gen- Comfy, editor of the Columbus
Journal. was in Washington City recent
ly, and in letter written to his paper,
records the following incidents:
There some little reinements of table
manner which might mitigate matters little,
notwithstanding all this. great many of us
have doubtless grown indignant over "Ameri-
can Notes. and "Martin Chuzzlewit," yet defy
any one TO match from these an incident saw
at the Benwood feeding station: mild look
ing old man, who was extremely afflble and
kind to his fellow passengers, frequently leav-
ing his own seat in the Pullman Palace to sit
with them and relieve the tedium OF travel by
copious discharges of conversation and dogleg
tobacco juice,-sat down TO the table with an
earnest desire, apparently, to accomplish his
seventy-five cents worth. When his coffee
came, he found that he had no spoon. Skir-
mishing over he table with his eye, he saw
that there was a spoon in dish of fruit near
by. He took the spoon out, gravely licked of
all the juice, and then shoveled out sufficient
quantity of sugar for his coffee, stirred the eof
fee, licked the spoon again, and replaced
If, in the most affable manner, in the fruit
dish, subject to the public use, smiling bland
Iy and with modest pride upon all. By
Jupiter, saw this with my eyes, precisely
as described, and you needn't ask me to doubt
Dickens any more.
word, by incident that occurred at Zanes-
Vile, where some of the passengers got out tor
dinner, but many remained in the car, indus
triouSly operating their lunch baskets. An
old gentleman, II learned afterward that he was
old settler from Chicago,) took advantage of
the situation TO make himself comfortable also.
He had stuffed his feet into a number fourteen
pair of boots, much too small for him, out Of
compliment to that prejudice of society which
evidently hurt him dreadfully-I had seen him
tenderly caressing bunion which lowered up
on one foot. While the rest of were laboring
at luncheon, he tugged away at his boots and
got them Off; then removed his stockings, and
went TO work on his toes with an expression
which makes rapture feeble word, and left
him no time to wonder why all the lunch bask
cts were SO suddenly shut up.
What strange creatures of education
we are 1t was no doubt disgusting to a
refined person to see that man lick the
spoon and put it back into the fruit; but
his attention had never been called to
the improperly of such an act. Gen.
Comfy, or any other man, can observe
nine-tenths of the men who consider
themselves decent, refined gentlemen,
commit every day, acts ten times more
disgusting and sickening than the man
licking the spoon and putting it back
into the dish. Persons who saw the act
could refrain from using that spoon, and
then no harm would be done, only the
preventing of others from exercising
their right to eat of that particular dish
of fruit But how is it when you go into
any public place, where you have right
to be, such as car, public office, court
room or hotel and you are compelled to
receive into your lungs, and consequent
ly into your blood, the filthy, disgusting,
sickening, poisonous smoke from the FL
thy mouths of score of drunken loafers.
man may have rotten teeth, liberated
lungs, mouth blistered, raw and bleed
ing from the poison of tobacco. beer and
whisky. He sends out from this mass of
corruption a volume of tobacco smoke, in
itself virulent poison, and then i'm
pregnated with all this disease and cor
ruption, and you must take this poison
Gus filth into the delicate air cells of your
lungs, and there is no remedy, either in
law or public opinion, or public decency.
Talk about a man examining a sore toe
in publicl 1t is impolite and disgusting,
of course; but what could be expected,
when we think of the contents of spit
toons seen in all public places except
some of the churches. Look at them,
heaped up with ends of cigars, quids of
tobacco, Shiny saliva mingled with tobac-
co juice, and corruption thrown up from
the diseased lungs of the slaves of evil
habits Compared with the contents of
these spittoons, seen in all public places,
the corruption from the head of horse
with poll evil is as nectar. Talk of ex-
hibiting a sore toe, or licking a spoon
What creatures of education and habit
we are.