The morning call., 1894-01-17

.
shining light in spite of Mitchell's vapor-
ings Boys have been smoking cigarettes
because they liked to do il; because they
did not believe there was any harm in it :;
because men smoke. and becau SO there is
always an added zest in forbidden fruit
Now for the first time the physical terrors
of the practice have been brought home to
them. They don't want to stop growing,
to get pale and nervous, to be weak. old
men before they are 80 and die with the
prizes Of life almost undreamed of. They
want to be strong champions like Jim
Corbett or David Starr Jordan, and so
they are fiocking to sign THE CALLS
pledges.
Some of the names Of signers of the
pledges are herewith published and sum-
maries of the total results will follow.
David Starr Jordan. the president of the
great Palo Alto University, has a strong
opinion about cigarette moking. All boys
will like the true ring Of the following let
ter TO TRE CALL:
January 10. 1894
Editor Of The Cali: In response t0 your
Kind question as TO my views on the subject Of
cigarette-smoking permit me- 10 say:
All forms Of nervc-stimulus are OF the nature
OF a rick on the nervous system. The
pleasurabe or satisfying feeling they NAV
cause is a deception, and each deception
renders the future actions of the nervous
system less trustworthy. In proportion as this
happens the nervous system becomes de-
generate or "wears out" The pleasure de-
rived from the use of slmulants is therefore
oniya sembance Of pleasure and Is obtained
by the destruction of those structures on
which the feelings of pleasure and pain depend.
In acult life this Injury may leave no great
traces. In youth any injury to the nervous
system causes a permanent deterioration.
There Is, we know, a false notion of man
Illness current among bOys-a notion that mau-
nOo0 lies In the vices and dissipatlOns oil man
falner than IN the develorment OF mans
strength. BY carrying out this idea, in one way
or another the development Of true manhood is
often rendered impossible.
AS college teacher, my experience with
boys who have formed the cigarette habit is
somewhat limited. Ii. however. confirms me
IN the opinion that such boys are like wormy
apples; tDey drop long before harvest time.
Very few OF them ever advance far beyond the
hrst year. They rarely make failures In after
life. because they do not have any after life.
The boy VINO brgns cigaretre-smoking before
his fifteenth year never enters the life OF the
world. When the other boys are taking hold
OF the worlds work he is concerned with the
sexton and the undertaken.
There Is one grim argument TO be made for
the use of cigarettes by boys. 1t helps in the
survival of the fttest. The manly boy does
not take TO such things. He has life in him.
plays football steals watermelons, goes swim
ming on Sundays, hunts ducks-does anything
but deaden himself with narcotics
The cigarette boy does none of these things.
He becomes i'll when work Is laid upon him.
His friends are soltcitous because he studies so
hard ana looks so pale. He is Withdrawn from
school, and after a few years Of life with shat
tered nerves he passes nway, leaving the place
he might have filled 10 the 'deep-lunged Chill
dren OF the fatheTland."
But all vice Is corrosive and spreads from the
rotten TO the sound. Every year men whose
lives ale worth saving are wrecked through
loollsh notions Uf manlness caught from youth
iuI associates. 1t Is bad morals and bad
economies to permit this waste. No community
can aHotd TO "thTow good life after bad" in the
way tolerated In San Francisco
DAVID STARR JORDAN.
Parents, by individual dscrimination
ana careful watching, often arm their
boys against the insidious habit. Some
chlldren can be appealed to on their am
bltlouS side, others On their love of praise.
cleanliness, strength, health or even busi-
Bess instincts. One father sends the fol-
lowing instructive letter as to how he
stopped his boy from Notwithstanding:
When in bis sixteenth year my son wonld
occasionally bring home from school an odor
Of cigarettes. Realizing how iDiurious it
would be- / demonstrated with him He said
that it was "the thing 10 do if you want 10 be
In with the boys" proposed that in addition
TO his weekly allowance of so cents / would
add cents for every day that be did not use
tobacco in any form.
This contract was faithfully carried out, and
at the eXpiI alton OF the year he had just SIS 25
saved, besides having had more fun with his
pocket money than In smoking cigarettes. A
new contract was made for the second year an
adoubed rate, with The same happy results.
For the third year. entering my business at a
reasonable salary he wanted The contract re-
newed, but was Informed that my cigars were
always at his disposal. i am not aware that
he used any of them befors he was q.