Evening star., 1898-12-17

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There has been great deal written
about the troubles our army had in Cuba
in consequence Of the scarcity at times of
chewing and smoking tobacco" remarked
an officer Of the regular army to Il Star re-
porter 'aui every word of 1t was true. but
/ have not seen anything about the diff
cuties the men who used chewing gum
had when their supply ran out. II is Won
derfU how many soldiers chew gum. The
popular opinion is that chewing gum Is
used only by girls and boys and occasion
ally by a few women folks. ! had that
opinion myself until after / arrived in
Cuba but soon ascertaIned that l was
seriously mistaken. Many tobacco chew
ers resort TO gum as Il substitute for to-
bacco and the habit grows them 50 that
hey look for it, especially after meals, as
The tobacco chewcr bankers after his weed.
The theory is that it aids digestion. But
whether that Is 50 OF not. ! was IN a posi-
zion to find out how many there We're who
Use chewing gum. for. being in the COM
nissaTy department, such demands came
20 us. and / assure you they were numer-
ouS ami pressing. l am tobacco chewer
myself. and while ! do not smoke much, |
ind great comfort from an occasional cigar
and now and then hit the pipe also. The
aI~riitt OF tODdttb from q man "ilp - dC-
cuetomed To Use it in any form is a great
deprivation. But though we ran out now
and then, il was only Tor a few days that
ne We're actually out of il entirely, on ac-
count OF the nOn-aTrIVal Of the supply We
had ordered We had not ordered any
chewing gum. however, and We're unable
to furnish it. numerous IS We're the appH-
cations for il. So far chewing gum plays
no part in the soldiers ration, though |
have no doubt il Will in time for the gum
chewer Is i'll AT ease unless ne can have his
chaw. The kind of men who asked for
chewing gum were. a rule, the most in
tellgent Of the volunteers. The regulars
have not been able TO advance beyond to-
baCco and seldom asked for it. even when
tobacco was rather scarce. The chewing
gum man makes no defense for his habit.
He says he Acknowledges he has the habit
and has no desire to break 1t off; that he
thinks 1t more of a benefit than disad-
vantage. and that if man must chew
something il is better that he should chew
gum than tobacco. 1t was many years be
fore the government regarded tobacco d
necessary in connection with the ration for
the soldier or sailor, and while arrange
nlentS have been made TO issue II to those
who desire it, il is issued at the expense of
the man who receives il, who is required to
pay cash on delivery, though an account is
kept with officers The government charges
the recipient the cost of it, which includes
in many Instances the cost of its transport
tatiOn: 50 that. while Uncle Sam in a meas
ure furnishes tobacco. it is done at the
Il
chewing gum attachment to be made to
the ration it will be made in the same way,
the chewing gum man paying the bill The
cummisSary department furnishes tobacco
as an accommodation only. and does not
bond itself to have a supply on hand under
all circumstances. though practically it is
always ia stock
= s. = Z:
1T must have been that We were in
error in om young days in celebrating
Christmas eve" observed an old resident
to a Star reporter, but We had great fun
just the same and never knew that il was
not the proper thing. My children, years
ago, eudeIvnred to convince me that we
oid-fasnioned boys did not know how to
have fun. and now my grandchildren are
rubbing IL in where my own boys left off.
They say that no notice should be taken of
Christmas eve, except in an incidental way
III preparing for Christmas, and that all
the sport has to come off on Christmas.
We had an exactly opposite idea of 1t in
my bOyhJod days Christmas eve being a
feature in all fun, instead of an incident.
OF course. We celebrated Christmas, but all
OF our parties and gatherings took place
ON Christmas eve. The little boys went 10
bed early To dream Of Santa Claus: but the
big OLeS-the fellows Who were old enough
10 have night keys-Jud the big girls sat
up pretty late and danced in Christmas al
ways. After the dance was over and we
took the girls home the Young men kent
the fun going until daylight. The fun gen
orally took the form Of visiting around,
Servnading our friends with Christmas
songs and carols. Those who could play
any musical instrument generally carried
II with them. AT daylight the boys went
home ami took short sleep, Contenting
themselves with a late breakfast. In my
boyhood days IN this city tirecrackers and
pistol and small cannon firing were spe-
Cially the sport for Christmas, and we sell
dom cared for them the Fourth of Ju Y.
The boys generally fred off few packs OF
freCrackrTs before they turned in for a
sleep. the larger boys shooting their pis-
tolls and Cannons The idea OF Christmas
then was 10 make as much noise as pOssi-
bic, Ny grandchildren tell me we were
VT ing AMI that the time for firecrackers
and explosives is ON the Fourth of July, but
We never knew it. and in our ignorance en-
joyed ourselves wonderfully. Throughout
the entire south Chris tu1dS is the frecrack-
er day. and the Fourth of July for tOrpe-
does. sky rockets and pyrutechnical dis
plays generally. one thing is very certain.
and that y that Chris; mas is not sung in
or out as IL was in the bOyhOOd days Of Us
old fellows Probably the boy of the pres
ent knows more than We did. but he doesn't
express himself by singing, as We did"
'NiHe-,raths Of the trouble that people
have with la,robes and furnaces" explain
ed a stove and furnace repairer 10 Star
reporter, can be avoided by using ordi-
nary common sense in connection with
them First and foremost, a latrobe or fur
race Will not give out heat unless there is
Pl -nty Of coal used But by plen-y of coal
d" not mean that there shall be coal
enough used to burn out the stove or fur
mace There IS a happy medium, and that
medium can be asccrtained by any intelli-
gen, Uh>ervant person in two or three days
Too little coal as we'll a. too much coal in
tures q iatrobe or furnace. When the right
supply Il dScertaiued the next Thing is TO
see that The debris, the ashes is removed
very frequently, and unless the servant
who has 10 look after this matter can be
madc 10 understand how and when to at
tend &" it, II will be paying investment TO
replace him by some one who can and will
There should be posted orders that the