The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-02-16
POPULARITY OF THE CIGARETTE.
An Immense Quantity Consumed at
Prese ont

An Immense Quantity Consumed at
Present
From the Providence S,udny Telegram.
"Gi' me a cigarette, culyF'
"Wbat forT'
ITO smoke of course. Go buy some. you
have plenty of DOODLE"
This was the conversation of two boys
neither of them more than ten years of age
as they hurried away from one of our city
schools one day this week. One of the lads
was pulling vigorously away at a cheap
cigarette, while his companion continued to
plead with him until he too had obtained
one of those villainous products of modern
times. But new difficulty now arose.
The boy who is smoking had allowed his
cigarette to become extinguished while he
dickered with his companion about museum
visitation they had been planning for. A
well-to-do man was strolling along the
street about this time and Immediately this
was what he heard as he approached the
lads:
''Strike the bloke for match, jimmy
"Naw, you hit him. He'll give you
one"
"Give's match, mister" said one of
the boys with boldness that was astond-
ing.
| IN a SulpTlSetl, YET hllllO, UJIlN
! YES, we smoke "A cigarette once in
while" confessed the boy
| Smoke manyr
"Bout two punches week. "
| That's forty, unused the inquisitive man.
Glow do you buy them-singly, or by the
packageW
I'VE buys 'em one at time. But some
days, when we get SC, we get box and
| divide EN- up
The stranger had by this time given the
boys match, and then continued his inqui-
| rieS by asking:
"Domany Of the boys up to your school
use cigarettes"
Yes, nearly all the felers in our class
smoke now. And Mamie -, and Susie
- mentioning the names Of two of the
girls of their acquaintance-''they got so
| they can smoke 'em, too"
What, you don't mean to tell me that
girls are learning to smoke.'
"Why, that's nothing, mister They like
it Just about as well as we do. We buys
the cigarettes for the girls if they give
us the money, because the stores will not
sell to them, or they're 'fraid to go for
| them"
Az this iuncture formidable guardian of
the peace hove i'll sight, and the cigarette
youth started away, but not before their ell
DERBY questioner had given them some pretty
| emphatic advice.
The information he had accidentally
gathered startled him. Here were a couple
| of boys who related with considerable glSto
| their ability to smoke these disease. breed
ing, eyesight-killing articles. And moro
| than that, they said that their companions,
both boys and girls, were acquiring this
| perniclOus habit Surely this could not be
true! Probably few girls holder than the
average maiden whose natural instincts
would not allow her to pollute her chaste
lips with the doctored and drugged material
enclosed in so-Called rice paper and called
cigarettes had been led to try to Smoke them.
| Here was another opportunity for inquiry
so the pedestrian asked the officer of the
law if he noticed the boys that he had just
| been talking with
Them school boys" replied the bold and
valiant policeman They probably wanted
match, and | see them smoking again so |
guess you took pity on them. Why. sir,
some of these little toughs have the nerve TO
| ask us policeman tor light sometimes. l
always refuse it and / wish every other
man would do the same thing. What we
should have is a law preventing the store
keepers from selling cigarettes to boys.
That would keep some of the boys from
early graves. First they begin to smok q
these paper cigars, Al for no human being
to put into his mouth and then the next
stop is initiative of their older brothers and
! they begin to patronize beer saloons From
beer they want something stronger and
| that's the end of it, | am talking about
those who smoke and are generally tough
while at school, or rather while they are
supposed to be at school, for when they get
this craze for smoking on they begin to run
away from school Oftentimes II is the boy
who is the pet of the school teacher, the idol
of the home, who turns out the worst. His
| early life was q model, but as soon as he
breaks away from the refining influence of
| home he goes pretty rapidly one way or the
other. | have seen some of the effects of
this cigarette business. A little boy who
! lived over in the Fifth Ward went regularly
enough TO school until one day l caught him
with couple of older lads pulling away at
one Of these dude cigar. There he was a
! roSy-Cheeked, handsome boy. | drove them
! home and somehow Didn't see him again
/ for a year. 1t was the following summer,
and assure you, sir, | didn't know him.
| He was pale and somewhat euaCiated, and
! 10 my astonlshment he did not look uD at
me a frankly and honestly with big bright
! blue eyes rs before Now his eyes were
! covered with spectacles. | asked him what
was the matter with his eyes and he said
! they got blurred at school and he could
| hardly see. What did the doctor say to
/ him. SIR Do you know. sir, | don't be
| leve that doctor, whoever he was, knew
what had weakened that boys lungs 70
! SAY nun nh Oh tlle phIllhl lbsH OF MS eye
/ sight That IL one case. | have seen other
/ instances OF the terrible effsnts Of these
things. bat that IL probably the worst"
DO sou notice more boys smoking cigar
/ cites now than formerly
Indeed do. There seems 10 be about
/ five times as many cigarettes smoked now
! as couple Oi years ago The b0yB buy
/ many of them 20 get The pictures that 30
! with each package
DO yon think many glrls smoke themF
u couldn't nay as 10 mat. ~, bat think
I there are good many school, shop, and
I mill girls who smoke them now
'liow many cigarettes DO you smoke
! nsked tiia writer ~ "a dude a. ha l0uu4ad
| aloug Tine fIanfssa lol,ltu s..llntt,... 49, -