The New Bloomfield, Pa. times. (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1877-188?, 1880-05-18
THE MAJORS CIGAR.
hIIOW are you, Quartermaster p"
Ill "Well, Major is that youp How

III "Well, Major is that youY How
are you 7"
We met at rail way junction, and, If
he had not spoken first, should not
have recognized my Virginia comrade of
'64. It was not merely the disguise of
silk hat and shaven cheeks, but-as
told him, after we had chatted little
about each others ups and downs since
the war was sure this was the first
time / ever saw him away from the ta-
bic without q cigar In his mouth.
Haven't smoked for five years."
was his reply. Pm down on tobac-
co as thoroughly as you ever were."
"Good Tell me all about it,"
We locked arms and sauntered up and
down the platform. Dropping the dia-
louge, this was the substance Of his
story:
1t was q sudden conversion. / new
er was quite so easy in mind over the
habit-when you used to banter me
about iL-as pretended to be. intend
ed, all the time, to taper off when l got
home from the army, and not smoke so
much. But one summer 1 went off on
some business for our company, which
kept me up in the mountains, among
the charcoal burners, three days longer
than l expected. L got out of cigars,
and couldn't get any, for love or money
In forty eight hours was more uncom-
Portable and unstrung than l ever was
before in all my life. act ually borrow
ed an old Irishman's filthy clay pipe
and tried to smoke it. thought of that
miserable summer we spent crawling
about the trenches in Virginia, and l
wished l was there again with cigar
in my mouth Then l began to realize
what shameful bondage was in to a
mere self indulgence. Ia fellow who
secretly prided himself on bis selfcon-
troll and nerve and manllness who
never flinched at hard fare or rough
weather-a downright slave to II bad
habit, unnerved and actually unfit for
business for lack of q cigar. 1t made
me mad at myself despised myself
for my pusillanimity.
Going into the matter little further,
found that the money had spent for
cigars in dozen years would have paid
for my house and furnished it; would
have met all the bills for my wife's little
summer trip to Europe with me, which
has been her one air castle so long. L
saw that had actually smoked away
more money that had laid out for our
library, or periodicals, and our intellect
ual culture generally. Cigars had cost
me nearly twice as much as had given
to church work, missions and charity.
My conscience rose up at the record. L
knew l could not prove any equivalent
for the outlay. 1t had not fed me, it
had not strengthened me; it had SIM
ply drugged me. Every cigar had
made the next cigar little more neces-
sary for comfort. To use a mild word
it had been a useless expenditure.
My detention up there in the noun
tains was calculated to open my eyes to
my domestic shortcomings, and [ saw,
as / never had before, how selfish, unso-
cial, tobacco had made me at home. L
smoked before 1 was married and my
wife never entered any protest against
my cigars afterward. But our first ba-
by was a nervous thing, and the doctor
told me 1t would not do for it to breathe
tobacco smoke. So got in the way of
shutting myself up in the library, even
ings, and after every meal, to enjoy my
cigar. AS look at it now, nothing is
more absurd than to call it social hab-
it. It'sa poor pretense of sociability
where man is simply intent on his
own enjoyment My wife owns up now
that my tobacco tainted breath and to-
bacco saturated clothing were always
more or less of trial to her. The salts.
faction it has given her to be rid of
tobacco atmosphere, and the thought of
my contemplate, selfish indifference to
her comfort all those years, have hum
bled me, l tell you. And wouldn't ex-
change my own daily satisfaction now
a-days in being cleaner man-inside
and outside-for the delight that any
body gets of his cigars.
didn't need to go out of my own
doors to find reasons enough for giving
up the habit, but 1 think found still
stronger ones, after all, when / went
away from home. The more 1 thought
about the harm tobacco does in the
community at large, the more sure felt
that it was time for me to stop giving it
the moral suppOrt of NV examnle