The Portland daily press., 1895-07-23
FREE TOBACCO INA CHUcH.
Inducements Offered BY London Clergy
man for Attendance at Services,
(From The Daily Telegraph. J

(From The Daily Telegraph
The following printed notice is said to
have been plentifully distributed in the
Whitchapel neighborhood for week past
II you want smoke, (free), come next
Sunday afternoon at 3 o'clock to Christ.
church Hall. A free cup of tea if you like.
Tobacco gratis The hall is question is
| a square and commodious building lofty
and-a not unimportant feature when
| considered in connection with tobacco
| smoking-with ample ventilation in
the roof. The walls are cheerfully paint.
ed and adorned with. Scripture pictures
and quotations, and chair seats are proyid-
ed for the whole floor space. At one end
Is raised platform with a table, behind
Which the Chairman sits, and there are
two instruments for musical accompani-
ment-a planoforte and harmon icum
Somo time before 3 O'Clock the congre-
CATION began to muster pretty thickly,
and 1t became apparent why the line on
the invitation, tobacco gratis, - was so
conspicuously displayed. The men were
the poorest of the poor. HaDbury street
is IN the midst of registered common
lodging houses, and Enthusiastically it is
for the most needy of the dodgers that
these pleasant Sunday afternoon ser
vices" have attraction. A few were
smoking when they came in, others car
rled pipe in their mouths, but with
the bowl from many ragged waistcoat
pocket protruding pipestem proclaimed
the owner a candidate for the gratuitous
distribution of the weed. They came
trooplng in to the number of 200 or more,
| OF which two score or so were women,
who occupied side seats, and when it
| seemed that there would be not many
more arrivals the gentleman who was to
conduct the service and who himself
''blew cloud'' from briar root, COM
menced to distribute tobacco. 1t was
done economically.
| A quicker way would have been to
hand to each smoker a half-ounce packet,
say, but the commonest "shag'' costs 3s.
| I'd. pound, and, it was stated, the fund
for the purpose is at low ebb. The sup
ply was contained in bag, and each re
cipient was given enough to fill two
pipes. Not that they had all come pro-
ylded with pipes A good many of the
poor tatterdemalions, shock-headed and
with broken shoes, affected the more
dand1t1ed luxury of cigarette, and
were prepared with little book of papers
to make the same. By the time ali were
served, and plentiful wreaths of blue
smoke were curling roofward, several
ladies who were to assist in the service
were on the platform, and the religious
part of the proceedings began.
First, there was a prayerful exhorta-
tion, and, though apparently it was at
tentively listened to, it was curious to
see pipe bowls and tobacco smoke but
half screened by the hand, while the eyes
were reverently covered. Then there was
a hymn, in which the female portion of
the congregation joined but not many of
the men it being difficult no doubt to
smoke and sing at one and the same
time, though it must be said for them
that they We're as quiet and orderly as
| could be desired. But after that came
| what they evidently enjoyed more than
| all, and, that was a hymn sung solo and
| with much sweetness by lady who
| played as well. Probably they would not
have ventured to applaud it, but on the
Chairman (who still puffed on his briar)
clapping his hands they all followed suit
with great vigor their faces testifying as
to how much they were in earnest Then
| a chapter was read from the Bible, and
the Chairman taking up the theme lit
was the miracle of the six barley loaves
and two fishes delivered a simple and
| excellent discourse on it that lasted half
an hour
By that time the limited allowance was
presumably smoked out, and after the
crowning hospitality of cup of tea with
slice of bread and marmalade for all who
chose to partake of it, the proceedings
came to an end, the congregation dis
persing as decorously as any that emerged
| from church or chapel that same Sunday
afternoon