The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1898-08-21
CIGARETTES BANISnfD
RUSSIA'S ROYAL LADY PROHrH.
ITS THEIR USE AT COURT
GRAND DANES ARE UP IN ARMS
A Petition to the Tsaritsa to Convince
Her That Tobacco and Womanli..
ness Go Hand in Hand

Her That Tobacco and Womanl1..
ness Go Hand in Hand
| ST. PETERSBURG, Aug. 8.-(Special
Correspondence to The Herald.) AS un-
expectedly as bolt from the blue" came
the sad tidings, promulgated few days
ago in court circues at St. Petersburg,
that the gentle and gracious tsaritsa
would be greatly obliged to the ladies Of
her household if, for the future, they
would forbear from smoking cigarettes
| IN her presence. This unlooked-for inti-
nation, reaching the Russian danes ct
I.demoiselles dhonneur" from so exalted
quarter was unavoidably accepted by
them as command, and they have sum-
moned up courage to address humble
petition to her Majesty, entreating her
to revoke a request that is practically e.
decree. In this prayerful document they
have ventured to remind Alexandra Fe-
odorovna that ladies are permitted to-
smoke cigarettes at all the continental
courts; that among the august female
votaries of the narcotic herb, born In
the purple, are the dowager tsaritsa,
and her sister, the Princess ThysA
duchess of Cumberland, as we'll as the
l. A.
Irene of Hesse and the Rhine, own sister
to the reigning empress of all the Rus
sias. The petition also deferentially
points out that the Austrian kaiserin
and queen of Hungary, Maria Christina.
queen regent of Spain, Carmen Sylvia"
queen of Roumania, and the queen OF
Portugal, as well as many grand du-
chesses archduchesses and princesses OF
the blood are inveterate smokers.
To this category, moreover, belonged
Though the Russian court ladies may
not be aware Of the fact) the lovely
and intrepid ex-Queen of Naples. Maries
Won Wittelsbach, who took an active part
in the defense of Gaeta, wearing the I'M
dress uniforms of one of her husbands
crack infantry regiments. and who, es-
pecially under fire, was rarely seen With
out lighted cigar between her lips.
Her younger sister, the countess of TRAM.
was no less habitual cigar-smoker than
she, and so was the countess Of Girdenti,
by birth an infanta of Spain.
AS for the society leaders" and
"grandes danes de par la monde In
Russia, Germany, Austria Hungary,
Italy, Spain, and even in the realm Of
Britannia Grundy, their name is legion.
In the Turkish harems smoking is even
more "de rigueur" than in the selamlik.
for the wives and daughters Of the we'll
to-do faithful have few recreations be-
sides inhaling the fumes Of yellow
"Jenidje" or "Kiritschillar," and nib
bling what in the states is termed
candy"
AS far as Christendom is concerned,
the ladies of Russia are themselves main
ly responsible for the popularity which
cigarette smoking has lately obtained
among English and German women Of
the upper middle class. The cigarette
was first intCoduced into Britain at the
close of the Crimean war by British off,
GERS, who had found themselves under
compulsion to adopt Turkish fashions Of
consuming tobacco, seeing that there was
not decent cigar to be obtained for love
or money throughout the length and
breadth Of the Ottoman empire. Pipe
smoking was strongly discouraged ct
regimental messes forty-odd years ago.
indeed, it is scarcely tolerated at the
present day in some of the "tone-givings
military and noble" clubs in Germany.
Moreover, chibouks and narghillehs were
not altogether adapted to camp life and
trench work, being cumbersome in them
selves and requiring more skillful and
Intelligent preparation than they could
possibly undergo at the hands of the
average soldier-servant.
So the Crimean troops, having speed
lily discovered that Turkish tobacco was
excellent in quality and moderate in
price lit has lost the latter attraction.
unfortunately in late years., took to the
cigarette with characteristic steadfast-
ness, and took it back with them to their
native land when the fighting was over
and the "hurly-burly done" 1t soon
caught on in mess rooms and club "ta-
bagies," but it took long time to effect
secure Judgement in such strongholds
of the fair as Conservatives and bou-
DORIS.
Forty years ago few English ladies,
unless for the time being under the thral-
dom of Dan Cupid, could be induced to
tolerate tobacco smoke in any apartment
upon which they were accustomed to
shed the light of their presence. 1t was
their pleasure to taboo the cigarette, no
less vigorously than the cigar or pipe,
from dining room and drawing room
alike. In Russia, on the other hand, it
was even the custom, sanctioned and
encouraged by the great boyarins, "qui
faisaient la pluie ct lie beau temps" in
Muscovite fashionable society, that the
golden filaments of Levantine tobacco,
heaped up in costly Tuba bowls, or deli
cately encased in slender paper tubes
bearing the then unrivaled brand of La
ferme," should be served with the after
dinner coffee Often the hostess, desir-
ing to confer special distinction upon
some favored guest, would roll cigar
cite for him with her own deft fingers,
and even light it before handing it to
him