St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-07-09
IN A THRILLING VEIN.

1 had half demoralized a delicious and
starchy ice in popular cafe the other night.
when my attention was attracted to a very
light, yet plainly visible, cloud of blue smoke
issuing from the top of IL private COX, from
whence came also unmistakable notes of
hllarlty-in the form of a strong laughter and
delicate giggling. l didn't have to tip the
waiter or peep into the box to know that the
party consisted of two men and two women
and possibly pug dog. OF course there
was nothing extraordinary in the pair of
couples taking a late and jolly suppersto
gether and the only thing that bothered
me was that blue cloud of smoke.
wondered if it were possible for
two men to manufacture such San
extensive cloud. Soon a waiter parted the
curtains to carry in another bottle. and [
took advantage of the opportunity to make
an instantaneous survey of the interior. l
wasn't shocked at all when discovered that
my interesting blue cloud had four persons
attached to its lower extremity The raw
material from which the said cloud was
manufactured consisted of cigarettes-and in
my moment of observation noticed that the
dear girls were putting quite as industriousiy
as the men.
A few minutes before midnight l was
standing in the entrance of the cafe when
the jolly quartette departed, and then 1
knew their names Don't be alarmed girls.
m not fool enough to print your names,
although you do live on st. Anthony hill.
And then, probably you consider you were
quite justified in smoking cigarettes bv
the public precedent recently established in
this country by the Infanta Eulalia. But
YOU were not.
l don't know that there is anything ma.
terlalIy harmful in woman smoking a
cigarette now and then. 1t has been quite
general custom in this country for many
years. Yet there is no doubt that it is ex-
tremely bad form. II doesn't look well, and
1t is certainly degrading. No mau eutertains
the same respect for d woman after he has
had social-clgarette with her. There is no
genuine reason why ne shouldn't, but the
fact remains that he doesn't There is a
very strong prejudice against cigarette
smoking among the women of this republic.
and it will TAKE more than the exhibition of
one toregl. ncess to overcome it,
~
When observe the enormous sales of sa-
lacious literature an forced to the conclu-
sion that society is becoming more and more
degraded every day. Some time ago l
learned from an authoritative source that
New York weekly increased it's circulation
about tenfold by infusing plenty of salacious
reading matter and some highly coIored and
suggestive pictures into its constitution. The
man who sells papers books and cigars at
the Ryan hotel told me last week that he
sells many more copies of this saucy New
York publication than of any other \ dealer
up on the hill told me the same thing. and
added the remark that most of his customers
were women of the aristocratic circles. A
dealer ont on East Seventh street, where the
trade comes from The lower strata of society.
Informed me that the sale of the New York
paper had not increased materially on his
stand Therefore l am inclined to think
that this publication has gained its large in
crease in circulation almost wholly through
the patronage of what we commonly term
society people
But, society" wants to be smart, witty
and saucy. 1t ought to be. probably, to
make it endurable. And | don't know but
what The salacious New York paper is coed
educator in its way.
~
Queer studies of human nature could be
made in the pool room down on Robert
street. In the early morning the dead
game sports are invisible. A few seedy-
looking individuals stand round, alternately
consulting newspapers and the blac kboard
Say. Jimmy" from one of the seediast
"Crossfire colt i'll the fft IS dead sure
thing
Rats replies Jimmy. My wqd goes on
Roland Reed
Your wad." says seedy. sarcastically
You'd tink tort youse had Il wad be the way
yer tar& Yer gimme PAIN
About l2:3) the advance guard of tie
dead game, variety begin to come in They
are easily distinguished by the enormous
size of their feet. 1t seems 10 be matter of
honor among sports to wear the largest shoes
money can buy. Another thing BY which
they may be identified is their propensity to
make atmosphere bets, such as: 'Er hun
dred ter two you're way oil" and IN go
fifty yer don't know er horse from hole IN
the ground"
AS the time for the first race approaches
the place rapidly fills up An air of intense
mystery settles on every one. Utter strang-
ers whisper to each other as if they had
been friends for life.
i've got $40 on Airshaft What do you
Think" from one.
We'll" from the other. II don't think at
all. You might as well throw your money
down the sewer You haven't got sense"
A pleasant little way of answering a mar,
and stranger, who simply asks an opinion,
but they SAY such things in the pool room"
II
Everywhere are the touts. These festive
individuals. when there are seven horses in a
race, go to seven men and try to persuade
each one to play different horse After the
race is over the winner no sooner gets his
ticket cashed than voice from behind him
says:
Say, boss what do 1 get for the informa-
tion?'
II