Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1886-01-13

learned that young Clarke had sue
ceeded nevertheless in getting the Gig
arettes and smoking them alone in the
apartments which he and his mother
had occupied. He then gave up attend
ing school to- devote his time to his
daily cigarette Smoking, and it was
through this last custom that the sister
he had taken the feather
pillows and mattresses from his dead
mothers house and sold them for .
trifie in order to secure the means of
gratifying the craving of his in
sat:able appetite. At last finding her
young brother had become q perfect
slave to the cigarette, the sister deter
mined on having him placed where this
remarkable weakness could be cured.
With this purpose she went to Agent
Henry E. Stocking, of the Society for
the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.
and through the efforts of that official
secured a warrant for the lads arrest.
Officer Mccormack, of the Twentieth
Precinct, early the next morning went
to West Thirty-ninth street with the
warrant to get the boy. When con-
fronted with the charge of having
taken his mothers bedding and sold It
to get more cigarettes, young Clarke
began to cry, and admitted the charge
was true. The lads eyes were greatly
swollen, and the pupils dilated, while
his nervous system appeared consider
ably impaired. Even on the way to
court little Clarke's weakness asserted
itself, and officer Mccormack was ap-
pealed to by the boy piteously to pro-
cure him cigarette.
A prominent member of the medical
profession and chemist of known re-
pute was questioned as to the case, and
he attributed the craving and symp-
toms as described, to the presence of
opium in the cigarettes. "That many
of the cigarettes upon the market con-
tain some extract of opium in a tine
tured or light FORM" said the gentle
man." goes beyond question, for at al
most any place of public entertainment
where smoking is allowed, the we'll
known smell of the drug Is at once
distinguishable. In these low dives
and concert halls the very atmosphere
is heavy with the fumes of the drug
from the cigarettes smoked there.
OcaSOo AAC IAd1 VI tAAS DOy nA0 AAOAO
and more frequent each day, and I
would also add the same habit Is noted
among females. With these it first re-
veals itself in the eyes and complexion.
The skin becomes ashy and sallow,
while the eyes grow dull and dilatsd.
You see these symptoms are identical
with those of the opium habit. I had
case of boy not long ago like this
lads you mentioned. But he was of
wealthy parents. This little fellow
first contracted the habit through COM
papions at school. When his mother
discovered he was smoking she took
the precaution of sending servant to
and from school with him each day.
found the boys system badly shat
tered. was at first surprised to hear
him tell me how he had tried to smoke
cigars to get off his cigarette practice
and could not. Like your boy who has
been locked up, he only felt the pleas
ure in the paper-rolled article. I got
some of these cigarettes, and found
il two lots different qualities Of paper
that each contained arsenic and faint
trace of opium in diluted form.
Officer Mccormack in narrating his
experience with young Clarke, said:
1.-The boy seems to be cigarette fend.
On the way to court he actually begged
me for Gods sake to buy him cigar
cite. He could not get along without
one. He acknowledged selling his
mothers bed things to get cigarettes.
and in the neighborhood he was never
known to be without one in his mouths
have, myself, noticed lately boys con-
stantly smoking the things, and the
candy stores around some of the public
schools, to supply the demand, have be-
gun making them special part of their
stock"
Said an inveterate smoker who was
asked his opinion on the boys case;
Il was always smoker of cigarettes
until here about two months ago be-
gan to experience the exact symptoms
and effects that the boy Clarke did.
Then my presence among some people
was complained of as obnoxious. When
questioned on this point some of my
gentleman friends even went so far as
to intimate that l was q smoker of
opium. My clothes always smelled of
the cigarettes. then concluded to give
up cigarette smoking, and now since l
have stopped the practice, after tough
battling, I feel thousand per cent.
better and free from all craving"
A visit to several small candy and
cigar stores showed that there is no
restriction whatever put upon the sale
of cigarettes to boys.