The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1897-07-30

why ~ IA y AN
it's deadly work. A writer in the Angus
ia (Ga.) Chronicle Of the 22nd instant
has a long article on the Cigarette
Habit" He seems to be well posted as
to it's effects. We will quote some of
his statements:
IF they were purged from deleterious
substances very little would be left
but the wrapping paper. Cigarette
smoking is more terrible in its effects
on young boys than alcoholic drinks.
The whole nervous system is ruined
through this poisonous habit. Some
have been made deaf by their use. In
others there is undue twitching OF the
eyelids, a weakening Of the nerves of
the tongue, arms, limbs, etc. Som
lose their memory, are stupid mentally.
There has been cases where others
have been Sent to reformatories n
asylums. Tobacco heart is the name
applied by physicians to the deadly
disease produced by excessive use Of
cigarettes. 1t is impossible for those
who smoke cigarettes to be healthy.
Mentally they are less keen and recep-
tive, less refined. they lack power have
feeble digestion, often have weak eyes,
pallor Of face and general inability to
resist disease of my kind. An analysis
of tobacco used for cigarettes was
found to be strongly impregnated with
opium, while the wrapper which was
warranted to be rice paper was proven
to be ordinary quality Of paper whiten-
ed with arsenic, the two poisons COM
bined being present in sufficient guam
titles to create in the smoker a habit
of using opium without his being aware
of it and which craving can only be
satisfied by an incessant consumption
of cigarettes.
This is not a singular statement by
any means. The opinions Of chemists
and doctors have been often published
and on the very line of the above. The
cigarette is a poison, and a deadly
one. It's victims are counted in this
country by the thousands yearly. Not
less than 200 boys are sent annually to
the grave each year by this insiduous
poison in North Carolina. The
above writer says that leach man
ufacturer has his own formula
Of poisons which he adds to cheap
tobacco so that each user of a partic-
uIar brand soon finds himself welded
to it through the contraction Of a drug
habit, thus making him a steady GUS
toner. Each boy who smokes them
may be regarded as a prospective
drunkard, an opium slave or in dan
ger Of being a lunatic. No one can
indulge in this pernicious habit with
out becoming in some way wrecked. I
read of one brand called THE Devils
Own If ever the arch fiend excelled
himself in wickedness it was when he
tempted some soul to filthy lucre by
sale of cigarettes, and if there is no
other reason why their use should be
avoided it is that even the lowest hui
man should not want to be accused OF
serving his Satanic majesty"
There is a consensus of opinion
among men of science who have given
close attention to the tobacco habit
as to the deleterious and dangerous
effects Of cigarette indulgence. Among
those who have discussed it intelligent
ly, forcibly, is DR.. Leslie E. Kelley.
We make IN extract from his pamph-
let, n intelligent people should read
and consider what is said:
u OOoSSo SlIIOh l.
much more injurious than tobacco used
in any other form, and when to this are
added the fumes of opium, Indian hemp
| and other drugs the results are infinite-
ly worse. It Will readily be understood
therefore, that the real danger Of Gig
arctic smoking arises from the inha-
latiOn of carbon mOnOxide, which is ex-
tremely poisonous on account Of its
strong affinity for the h~emagloblyin OF
| tho h1onI which h~iv0c about oor1;o-
inhibition, or heart paralysis. In an
adul the disturbance of the nerve
functions is shown by more or less
mental confusion, t~remulOuSneSS, loss
| OF vigor-mental as well as physical
disorders of digestion, and ultimately
by irregularities of the hearts action,
and not in%frequently by structural
changes in that organ which result in
the development of tobacco heart now
SO widely prevalent as a consequence
of nicotine poisoning.
The young cigarette smoker soon &C
quires that pale, waxy color, that
~blOOdless, sapless appearance, which
brands him as a devotee, without ener-
gy, n generally retaining few of the
moral impulses which. should direct
ambition, patriotism or virtue, and he
is easily led in the direction of moral
and physical corruption. In time he
i oppiiSS W q pm SlSldh, ulS uCdII pun
safes irregularly, his pulse intermits,
the action is feeble; and too late he
realizes hat he has become a physical
wreck, with little hope of recovery
A habit that breaks down the phys
ical system and superinduces disease
is a very bad habit, and should be at
once abandoned. When it is so danger
Gus and sure to kill thousands who in
dulge in it, it ought to be banished
from the land. Many writer's say that
it is as bad or worse than the drink
habit. But you will find people in the
churches all around the land almost
cranks in their zeal against the liquor
traffic that have nothing to say against
cigarettes, and nan really like their
manufacture.
SNAPS.