The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1876-09-21
TOBACCO.

The aim of the writer is to do a little in
the way of exposing a manifest evil. and of
aiding a much needed reform. Severe he
may be, when the exigencies of his arcu-
ment demand it. But severity may not be
unkindness. 1t may be the truest- kind
ness. Said the great apostle "Am be-
come your enemy because tell you the
truth ?" A friend of Robert HallAa fel-
low minister-once asked him for glass of
brandy and water Git was more fashiouable,
fifty years age, for clergymea to indulge,
than it is now. "Call things by their
right names, ' said Hall, ''and You shall
have as much as you please ''Why, don't
L use the right name? | ask for glass
of brandy and water That" said Hall,
rs the current, but. not the proper name.
Ask for a glass, of liquid FIRE and distilled
damnatlun, and YOU shall have gallon"
The poor man turned pale, and for amo-
ment seemed struggling with anger but
knowing the Hall did not mean to insult
him, he gave his hand and said; 'aBrother
Hall, | thank you from. the bottom of my
heart That blunt kindness saved the
man. = He drank no more Many of the
writer friends, and some of his near rela-
tives, are victims of,a bad. habit One good
aud great mah-for5 whom his admiration
rises to reverenee-it is said uses the vile
weed What then Must we be silent
plato is my friend Socrates is my friend
but Truth is more my friend Noble
! sentiment, fit to be engraved on every heart.
a FEW ARGUMENTS AGAINST TOBACCO.
It IS huftW to health. 4 book might
/ be written on this pregnant topic Suffice
1t to say, there can be no doubt that many
are killed outright by tobacco. Il is said
on good authority, that large part of the
mortality in Germany-whcre tobacco is
universally used-is due directly to it. The
writer has no doubt two of his near rela-
tives sank under It's banelul effect and he
is not alone in that belief. And where
death does not result. it produces host of
discomiorts, strange ailments aud disorders
of vital functions. No intelligent person
will deny this. How could it be otherwise?
y deadly narcotic cannot be safely tampered
with. 1t will, it must tell upon that or
ganiz .tion so delicate, so fearful, so wonder
full, in which the human soul dwells. -
II IS ncstg cad ofensiice. This is not a
pleasant topic, but the truth must be told.
/ Tobacco has come to be an intolerable nuls-
ance in regard to these very points. 1t as
sails one everywhere, like the frogs of
Egypt. In the cars, what horrible puddles
of yellow slime you will see, from which
sickening odors exhale, poisoning the air.
In all public places one meets the inevitable,
omniprcsent pest. No matter whose sense
of decency is shocked. or whose unperverted
senses are disgustcd, it is taken for granted
that tobacco is a chartered libertine." Re
gardless Of the sanctity of Gods house, Its
floors must bear the stains Of the abomm-
able expectoration, and not seldom is the
nauseous quid itself deposited there. Need
one wonder that Mr. Moody said "There
4 is but one text in the Bible in favor of to-
bacco-'.Let him that is filthy be filthy
still, or at the sharp, witty saying g-gThey
that expect to rate as gentlemen must not
expectorate tobacco juice
II is q dead uaste A book has been
written on /" Ou ,eosted resources" in re-
lation to ls7uor drhAing. 1t is well, let it
be scattered, and carefully studied. BY and
by tax payers will come to understand that
whisky rolls up taxes, and then the pocket
nerve will be touched, and that will arouse
them, perhaps, more than regard to higher
considerations. IoJacco also, demands a
book What a'theme is offered by just
| this phase of the subject-itss enormous
,roste. Many have not looked at this thing
at all. Consider a few facts. The North
american Rerie,o for 1862. PIP. 400, says ::
In S5l the city of. New York spent S3,-
654.0O0 for cigars, and only S3,102,5O0
for bread Excess for cigars, over half a
million dollars" at is perfectly safe to
say, said the New York Times, "that there
is more spent in New York for cigars than
for bread" The clever author of "John
Halifax, " in her capital book, "a Woman's
Thoughts about Women" at page 215, tells
of young men habtually spending thirty
guineas (Sl50) in cigars, who yet could
not afford to get married. No wonder
There are clerks in the city of New York,
it is said, who spend for cigars three dol
lars day, some of whom have sisters who
can hardly afford themselves the bare ne
cessaries of life. Take another case = In the
June number of the National Temperance
Adrocate, page 81, is the following: "a
pastor of a church Of 267 members, relates
that 81 of them, use tobacco, He asked
each one what it cost. The aggregate was
SS45 One of the number confessed he
spent for it S145. His contribution to the
| church was &C cents. Another one spent
s9l, who gave to the church 81. The whole
| church. with the aid OF outsiders, gave for
all purposes s841, which lacks 81 of what
the G7 wasted for tabaccol In strongly
marked contrast with the above, take the
following, from the Illustrated Christian
| Wcehy of Jan. 3, 1874 The Rev. ..
LII Wilbur, who has for twelve years labored
among the Yokima Indians in Oregon,
states that there are about 400 converted
Indians under his care. and in every case