The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1876-05-25

breathe tobacco smoke in my air, simply
because no likes it; any more than he
would have q right to compel me to
drink alcohol in my water by going to
the water cooler in a hotel and pouring
glass Of whisky into it, simply because
be likes whisky; any more than he has
right to go to the common taIle Of a
hotel and put garlic into the several
dishes Of food, from which all must eat.
1t may ve said that the cigars and
pipes are in the majority and that ],
therefore, must submit. But this wrong
would not be diminished, but rather in
creased, If every man, woman and child
in the world should come at me with ci-
gar or pipe in mouth. But it is not true
that the smokers are in the majority.
Perhaps tenth part Of the men, all the
young children, and, in this country, We
may say all the women, are uncontami-
mated, except so far as the air about
them Is contaminated by others, so that
the smokers are really in the minority
Chewing may be thought to be worse
than smoking but this is. questionable.
The chewer compels nobody else 10 chew
but the smoker everybody about him,
and compels them to smoke or to breathe
smoke.
Air Is necessary-nay, much more con
stantly and absolutely necessary to life
than water. We require to drink water
only occasionally, one or two pints in
twenty-iour hours. But we must drink
AIR Perpetually, pint at a draught, max
ing 2S,OOO pints in twenty-four hours.
Now, would il be considered very plea
SAINT or polite for me to wash my teeth
IN cup of water, and then offer it to
you to drink But the tobacco smoker
. n. Il
obliges me to take into my mouth, and
down my throat, the fumes that have
been strained through his own foul
mouth and rusty teeth. Suppose | am
a chewer, and insist on splitting my to.
baccoJuice into the water that you must
drink. / should DO doing no more filthy
or impolite a thing than you are doing
when you squirt the tobacco smoke from
your mouth into the air that / must
drink. One is as indecent and unman-
nerly as the other, and the custom Of the
whole world cannot make il otherwise
IL Is only custom and the invisibility of
the air that make US at all patient under
such outrage upon our natural rights.
Finally, l will say to the proprietors
and managers of the street railroads that
they are doing me, and all persons of
natural tastes and habits, an Injustice by
permitting the practice Of smoking on
the cars. They advertise on the cars
No Smoking" get on the car with
that condition written out in large let
tiers. l fulfill my part of the tacit con-
tract by paying my fare. They. on their
part are bound to supply me with room
and natural air to breathe; and to de
lend me against tobacco smoke. as they
agreed TO do by the words mo Smok-
I Of he II L
not do it they are guilty Of wrong, and
should be liable to prosecution and dam
ages by law; and it is only custom and
prevalent Ignorance that prevent the
recognition, in law, of our natural rights
in regard to the air we must breathe, as
IN regard to the water we must drink,
the soil we till, or the houses we occupy.
Suppose should choose to smoke assa-
f@tlda or Gcllic on tie cars. would il be
tolerated. Yet this would probably not
be more repugnant to the natr al taste,
or mo poisonous. than tobacco smoke
is. And one of the strongest arguments
against to. eco is, that except with chill
dren who have inherited the love for il
fromA smoking parent, or inhaled the
odor from their infancy, the first use Of
| It excites nausea; for we cannot believe
that an infinitely benevolent and wise
Creator would make an rrticle necessary
for the highest welfare Of his creatures
and yet maze it repugnant to their nat
ural appeti,es, so that the stomach shall
at first rebel against its use, and strive to
cast it out.
1t is incumbent on those who indulge
in any abnormal practice 10 see to it that
others are not annoyed thereby, as in
certain States the law requires that those
who keep swine shall fence them in, and
not oblige all their neighbors to fence
them out and if people will smoke and
/ fill the air with nicotine and other poisons,
they should be required to do il where
nobody else will be annoyed by it. Eve
ry man who will keep a skunk should be
obliged to keep it in his own private
bedroom.
Now, would suggest to the managers
Of the street railroads the propriety Of
labelling onehalf their cars (say every al
ternate car, or every third car), "Smok-
ing Car, for the accommodation of smo-
kers and those who wish to ride with
them, while the rest shall be kept abso-
lutely free from the fumes Of cigars and
pipes. X.