The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1889-11-10

GOSSIP BY TIE lATe OR. MOTT CON
/. CeRNlNc SMOKERS AND SMOKING.
Dangcrs of the Weed, aud some Of the
Public People Who Tempt Them-rres-
fdepfs. Statesmen. Authors and Editors
nj tho shrino--Some Good Advice.
Especial Correspondence

at tho ShTino--Some Coed Advice.
Especial Correspondence
New YORK, Nov. IL is o curious
thing" said the late Dr. Alexander Mot
a short time before bis fatal illness car
ricd one OF the best all round New York
crs 10 the other shore, "that we doctor.
rarely agree on the subject of tobacco
Because nicotine is the active principle
of the weed, is poisonous in is isolated
form, the inference has been broadly
drawn that the man who Gmokcs OF
c.,ews must be injuriously affected. The
experience Of mankind. however, does
not confirm the conclusion. Ask any
consumer to state distinctly what kind
of pleasure or Kind Of injury the daily
use Of tobacco produces, or why he con.
tinncs the indulgence, and not one in ?
hundred can give you satisfactory an.
swcr. Who ever heard a man say he en-.
joyed smoking when he couldn't see the
smoke, or attributed his shake in the
morning TO the smoke Of the night be-
forel
Another point worth noting" contin.
ued the doctor, lis that geographical lati-
tude and constitution have much to do
with tho popular habit In New Eng.
land, for instance, there is large and
conscientious body of men and women
who would suppress the use Of tobacco
if they could by legislative enactment,
while from the cosmopolitan city OF New
York southwark, one Is brought in con
tact with the habit in its most offensive
forms. Chief among these IS the cigar
cite. 1t is but a short time ago that a
physician was suddenly summoned 70
attend one Of the brightest young men
in the metropolis. While saying good
by to his hosts one evening he dropped
like Log, and then followed succession
of spasms, jerks and uncomfortable mus
cular motions that lasted for nearly three
weeks. The doctor had all he could do
TO save the young mans life. and it will
be months before he RECEIVERS anything
like his former health. Inquiry deyel-
oped the fact that on the day Of the at
tack he had smoked forty Of the poison.
GUS pests. Now, if the nicotine stains so
often seen on the fingers of a cigarette
ymoker can 50 easily disccior the outside
. what must be the effect on the more deli
cate membranes OF the throat, lungs and
blood vessels. The truth is, more insidi.
Gus harm is done 60 the system by the
indiscriminate and habitual smoking Of
cigarettes than by the use of bad liquor
"This brings odt another thought
There is danger in being lniscellaneously
NJ I'M Among the patients OF friend
- mine is a gentleman who is threat
encd with the loss Of his arm from
poison which he is supposed to have
absorbed by handling a cigar after il
had been returned 20 him by a stranger
Who had borrowed it for light. The
after was probably engaged in some
business in which poisonous substances
are used, and. negloctmg TO wash his
fingers, had unconsciously left trace OF
The poison that produced the disaster
If smokers could see the filth that sur
rounds nine-tenths of the men and wo
men who manipulate the weed, their
careless and unclcan habits, and observe
the nasty fingers and sometimes lips
that put on the finishing touches Of a so
called Regala, there would bo larger
demand for cigar holders, and instesAl
of biting before lighting, they would use
knife to clip the folded end
There are, doubtless. cases." contin-
ued the doctor, "in which cancorous af-
fections of the lips and malignant dis
eases of the stomach are traceablc to the
abuse of tobacco, but have found few
among the records, compared with the
extraordinary number of people in pub |
lie and private life who use tho weed, |
that illustrate the idea Of permanent in
jury to persons in general good health, /
any more than would result from the in
PRODUCTION into the system of other dele |
ferrous substances. Fancy your German
philosopher working out his problems
without his piper
Take some of the best known of our
own people, especially those engaged in
intellectual work; the majority are great /
smokers James Gordon Bennett is ad- /
dicted to cigars and cigarettes, and
happen to know, can use up pile OF I
them during a night. Charles A. Dana
is an admirer Of the bricr root. Pult- /
ger, Joe Howard, Willie Winter and Still. |
son hutchins are exceptionally abstem- /
ious. for most newspaper men smoke /
pipes. The night editors find in them I
their chief soiace. Senator Sherman
smokes the best Havanas, but his broth |
or Tecumseh enjoys dry smoke.
Judge William ID. Kelley, the pig iron
protectioniSt of Pennsylvania, INDUCED
in the habit for two generations. Gen.
Grant, as we all know, smoked inces-
sanity, and is pointed out as an example
Of the evil; yet he SAYS in his memoirs
that he tried for years after leaving West
Point to acquire the habit before he was
successful.
Chauncey Depew formerly could get
away with twenty or thirty cigars day;
now, his after dinner cigar is a luxury.
Grover Cleveland enjoys smoking while
at work. and if you happen to meet him
on his travels, ten chances to one but il
will be in smoking car or on the smok-
ers' side of a ferryboat. Bob lngersoll is
a famous patron of good cigars, but
many of the reverend gentlemen who
occasionally handle him without gloves
could smoke him out of house and home
Randolph, Of Roanoke" when he
went abroad. carried barrelful of Pow
hatan clay pipes and corncob pipes with
cane stems. Henry A. Wise was an in
yeterate chewer of tobacco, and in his
own home devotee Of the pipe. Alex.
ander II. Stephens, Of Georgia, would &C
10 bed smoking, and his long stemmed
pipe was his first COMPANION in the morn.
Ing. Andrew Jackson was famous fol
his corncob pipes, and Chief Justice
for his snuff box and excellent
while the records tell us that
the two Adamses. father and son. CLAW
nj Webster, Calhoun, Benton, ana 10
act nearly al the carly great lights of
he republic, were addicted TO the use OF
obacco in one form OF another Sta
istics show that the majority Of our
.rasapt LEGISLATORS state and national