Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1885-10-24
SAN FRANCISCO LETTER.
THE SUBJECT OF SMOKING AND
SMOKERS DISSECTED.
Who May Politely Smoke and Where
The Terrible Blight and Wreck
Worked by Opium.
Correspondence of the RECORD UmoS.l
SAN FRANCIsco, October % 1885.

SAN Francisco, October %, 1885.
MY friend, l should be greatly obliged
If you would not smoke while we are to-
gether in the street" II was e youne
woman thus spoke TO young man who.
having just met her, turned to walk back
through Kearny street. He tossed away q
haIfconsumed cigar, and said: " Excuse
me, did not know tobacco was offensive
to you"
No, it is not, particularly in open air
In fact rather Ike the odor of cigar"
The idea expressed or his face was,
Well, Won are a crank, but he said, II
is fashionable now, you know, for girls to
be candid. VIII you oblige me by saying
.ohy you are opposed to my smoking?"
:" c Etainly, if you don't know. | mean
nothing personal, but it shows Il lack of
courtesy toward q lady, and is best summed
up in girls way by saying it is not nice
Oh, you surely are mistaken. Custom
regulates etiquette, and in San Francisco
you can see hundreds OF men smoking be-
side ladies. 1t seems to me that smoking
in lady's parlor, though private enough,
would be out OF place; at least far more SO
than in the street"
You beg the question, my friend. do
not believe it is the custom here to smoke
beside ladies. You will admit that good
criterions are such men as Colonel Stuart
n. Taylor DR.. 3. K. Swan, Crittenden
Thornton, Otto Greenwood and their con-
freres. They are club members and society
leaders, yet Bohemians, and ! never saw
one Of them follow the practice you up
hold"
Accidental, doubtless, that you have
never seen them do so. Now, I don't want
10 be thought boor in defending myself
for doing as | see others do, but if l am a
boor II is time to find ont. | PROPOSE that
we settle this by investigation You get
opinions from all your lady friends, both
married and single. This evening, when
the usual promenaders start on their strolls,
I'll stand in Nose Gunsts cigar store, on
Market and OFarrell, and watch how
many couples, with the gentleman smoking,
go by. Tomorrow evening | Will call and
compare notes"
At the appointed time he reported that,
in one hour of watching. twenty-five
couples, arm in arm, had passed the point
OF observation. OF these, fourteen men
were smoking. Then the topic was brought
up and discussed by several men-about-
town who were in the store.
DIsEsrASGLED DEDUCTIONS.
Az ANobib vi NIcit NttSltolls)lS " as lJldl III
New York and New England cities, where
people grow up under similar conditions
and training, they can establish for general
department set rules which merge into
stralght-laced observances ofetiquette Bit,
as Shakespeare says, Great virtue in if"
California has ever been law unto her
self. What is out of taste elsewhere is
apropos here. As, for instance: In New
York a woman who dons jewelry and
brlSht-hued gowns for street wear is con-
sldered vulgar. In San Francisco. women's
wear rivals the rainbow for gorgeousness-
street suits being constantly seen that
would elsewhere only be considered fit for
balls. Pick up twelve women from Kearny
street; set them down on Broadway. New
York, and seven of them would, by their
dress, be thought .fe1amcs du pave-yet Gus
tom on this coast condones their taste into
good form. People who gathered from all
chimes, with widely dissimilar ideas of pro-
priety, intuitively recognized the impossi-
bility of making model to which ali men
might aSSimilete. As a consequence, they
established no standard at all Every man
made himself comfortable in his own way,
granting the same privilege to others, A
ike freedom continues the criterion and
circumstances must decide courses of con-
duct. Smoking beside ladies in public
seems to be California custom, Should a
man neglect asking lady's permission to
light cigar, he would rightly be consid-
cred lacking in courtesy toward her.
Should she grant permission, he NAV pro-
coed under public and private sanction
but no gentleman will avail himself of his
privilege II satisfied that a lady is, at heart.
opposed TO his smoking, while she consents
through fear OF giving offense or being
thought pruGe.
FROM A GALAXY OF GIRIS
The party of the first part sought all sides
OF the subject by bringing the question be-
tore twenty women assembled at an after
noon " Tumble Bee" While generally
preterring the ee-and-easy individuality
OF the Pacific people the women incline to
preserve certain Atlantic Differences toward
themselves. The company sentiment was
this : Smoking indicates a relaxed condi
ton of mind and muscle belonging purely
TO the pursuit of pleasure. A man with
proper regard for himself and his com
panion would not assume, in public, that
state or appearance of dolce far 1ie,te laxity
with a woman who was only an acuuaint
ance, or not very intimate friend. Smok-
ing beside woman intimates to on-look-
ers " This woman and myself are so in
innate that she grants me privileges over
other men. Everything convivial must be
reciprocal, hence she has claims upon me
which, If unknown to you, perhaps exist"
Consequently he places the woman in a
position toward himself which no man
with a fine sense of honor would wish.
The falsity of such relations no man can
compensate, unless in displaying their ap-
parent intimacy he can at the
same time display his right
to protect her. Husbands, fathers and
brothers are the only men who should
smoke beside their own, not some other
fellow S, female relatives Cousins, real or
presumable, are barred out, except on such
occasions as BETTING beaux in general.
Among proper places for smoking are
walking home from theateIs, driving out of
town, riding on street-car dummies A
woman who goes into the smoking car
can not consistently object to cigars No
more can she on street-car dummies, be-
cause they are built for mems accommoda-
ton.
A BLOOMING BOY.
Some seven years ago two San Francisco
boys, then about 10 years old, learned the
song and dance business. They had
strong tuneful voices, not cultivated, but
pleasing; graceful gestures and good though
slight figures. The smaller one made up
very prettily in girls clothes. and the two
played well into each Others hands.
Mademoiselle Aimee had then just brought
out Pretty as Picture" The boys were
the first TO give it outside of French opera
and made a hit in the song with Emerson's
Ministries. Soon after their debut, conn
pany of which l was member, met theirs
in Portland, Or, and consolidated. The
little song and dance boy became favorite
with all, particularly the ladies. He
seemed to care nothing for being about
with men; was capital hand at dressing
wig and continually sought to make
himself helpful to the girls. who said his
girlish ways made him seem more like one
of themselves than like q boy. The team
went East.
For several years news Of them appeared
in dramatic paper as members of leading
minstrel organizations, and whenever two
San Francisco theatrical people met who
knew them, Little Danny and his Pard "
were sure of affectionate mention. The
world is small but the pair had for sorne