The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1890-10-10

RparOR 1.EnASux Exrnrss:

EnaroR LEBANON ExrRnss:
! wish in this communication 10
call attention TO the alarming prevA-
lence OF cigarette smoking and some
of the dangers that attend this horri-
BILE and disgusting practice in the
young and rising generation. So ren-
eral has this practice become through
out the nation, and 30 destructive and
deietetaous in its effects that already
IN some OF the States they have been
cufnpel1ed ho pass laws TO prevent the
sale OF this disgusting compound of
rottenncss and poison, and in some of
the cities to prevent the sale OF them
altogether. Numbers OF persons in
different parts Of the United States
have been killed outright by their use
and many have been rendered insane
and stkosac from the same cause.
And yet this cigarette smoking by
the young and rising generation Il
but the legitimate result OF the cigar
and the pipe and the auid i'm the
mouths of elder boys. What could
we expect but this terrible curse as
the legitimate outcome OF the nrevail-
ing and rapidly Increasing habit of
older persons inviting the young by
their example 10 have something
stuck IN their mouths to suck, and as
the inilsatery step 10 the cigar and
the pipe and the quid they commence
with the so-called poisonous cigarette.
But the young are not half so much
to blame as the older persons Eho set
them this terrible example, for older
persons are supposed to know more or
less of the terrible effects and tenden-
cies OF this degrading and disgusting
habit.
And the terrible effects which result
from this habit in the young are
shgnt IN comparison with what we
hehold In later life. Look around you
upon the face of society--in every
direction you behold laneerr-iawed,
spindle-shanked, radaverous, sallow
and hollew-eyed specimens of the
genus homo, and-oniy here and there
well-developed, stalwart form Of
perfect health and type of what a man
should be. Why all thisf Other
causes may conspire to bring about
this terrible condition aud state of
things, but an my seFnnion, among All
the causes that conspire to bring
about this deplorahle .coar6tion ~
suffering humanity, tobacco Is one of
the principal ,ssaBts which the devil
employs to destroy the race bv bring
ing into requisition the long catalocne
OF ills and evils that follow in lie
wake. There rs no reason why man
KIND, born IN a normal condition as
the Great Author of our being in
tended every man should be born.
should not attain 10 good old are
and come down 10 the grave IKE n
shock OF corn-fully ripe. free from
those aches and pains and the long
catalogue of ills that follow as the
natural result of the violation of ma
lures laws, and not die before they
live out half their davs.
Ii, then, the use of tobacce in any
form has tendency to impair health.
shorten life and superinduce leng
train of maladies, why will reason.
able men persist in its use when they
know that lts use as evil, and only
evil, and that continually, that at
bestsean do no one any good, and Is
only the qualification OF a yitiated
and unnatural appetite that makes
man more animal in his nature bv
unduly exciting the animal propensi-
ties, and rendering him less moral
and pure in his nature. 1t is re-
gartied by every person, even by those
who use it, as filthy and disgusting
habit, rendering the person offensive
in odor to those with whom they as-
sociate. For in whatever form il may
be used, whether in smoking or chew
ing, il is taken up and the poisonous
juice is absorbed, enters the circula-
tion and passes throughout the whole
system, even to the delicate structures
of the brain and nervous system i'm
fact the whole system is filled with
the odor of tobacco. Even his clothes
are filled with the odor, and If he goes
any considerable length of time with |
out bathing he smells very IKE the
striped animal have too much no.
llteness to mention in this communi-
cation. So that from every standpoint |
from which this suhjectcsrn be viewed l
there are cogent reasons why those
who are addicted to this vile habit /
should give 1t up forever and never
touch, taste or handle the filthy |
thing again, and especially why those
who are free from its leprous touch
should forever remain so.
In my next article / propose to |
touch the moral side of this question
and show the absolute incompatibility |
OF tobacco using and Christianity.