The daily chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Ind. Ter. [Okla.]) 1898-1902, 1899-03-03
swEARING-oFF STORIES.
The Moral of which Is That But Few
Pledges Are kept by Those
who Make Them.


II once swore off smoking" said the
clubman. "That was when was young
and did not know myself. i swore Off
with friend, and the penalty was
suit of clothes to cost $50. The condi-
tion WAS that we were not TO smoke in
town. When travelling or hunting or
fshing-out Of town. in fact-we would
be allowed to smoke. The scheme
worked well for some time; then be-
gan TO want to amoke. l battled with
desire for several weeks, each day OF
the period becoming q harder trial
than the preceding. At last, when the
longing became too great, / went TO
see my partner in misery to tell him
that we had better call the contract
off, as l could not stand it. He was
not at home. He had gone out Of town
week before and would be absent an
other week. Then l broke down. The
thought of the party Of the second part
smoking himself blue in the face while
l suffered was unbearable. So, with
the fine of $50 staring me in the face,
bought cigar and smoked It, 1t was
worth $50, thought. But ! did not die
for a lamb only; / smoked vast guam
tity of cigars before he came home.
Then I went to him and told him TO
order the suit, that had broken the
contract. He smiled quietly, as if to
himself, and then said: All right, old
fellow; but do not be disturbed about
the suit. kept the contract just three
days"
Another man said: There were two
raen in this town who swore off, the
breaker of the contract to pay the other
for a ten-dollar hat. Finally one of
them weakened, saying 10 himself he
did not mind giving ten dollars for q
smoke. While he meditated over the
matter, however, he thought out
He went to the hatter's and bought
ten-dollar hat and had It charged to
the other fellow. Then he called on
the other fellow, and. pointing TO the
lat, said: See that hat. old boy? 1t
is one have Just had charged to you
on that swear-off contract The other
fellow cried out: How the dickens
did you And out I had been smokingT
Never mind said the other. "A little
bird told me-"
81 swore of once" said another club
man. land 1t was just as eesy as any
thing you ever heard of. l did It by
logic. found was smoking one cigar
after another and never getting enough,
20 said 10 myself that II had to de-
prive myself at some time might as
well begin with the first as with the
steenth cigar. Thus l convinced my
self that would have no greater DIFF
ficulty than in refusing the steenth
cigar, and such proved to be the case.
l had not the slightest longing for
tobacco after had made up my mind
that l had quit. kept box of cigars
on the mantel, for I said l might want
, to smoke, and did not intend to treat
myself as one In whom l had no con-
fdence.
Now mark what happened. About
a month after l had stopped smoking
began to have periodical Indigestion
followed by cramps, which came on
at a certain hour Of the evening of each
day and grew worse and worse until
they were quite serious. tried all
kinds OF diet, and even starved myself,
but without relief. At last, on the
night of q strikers ball, was actually
unable TO 60 out, although had made
a great effort and succeeded IN dress
ing for the entertainment. I lay In
bed and groaned for several hours. The
next day was New Years, and Of course
there was holiday dinner at my house
Said I: 4 have dieted and starved my
self, and II 10 doing no good. will eat
one good square meal and then die.
So I sat at the table and ate everything
in sight-made regular feast of it
Then, as l was booked for the grave,
or thought was said would make
a complete job of it and smoke cigar.
I did not feel the want of cigar. The
taste had not plagued me in the slight
est all that time. But smoked now
Just to go out of the world in decent
style, like a good diner should. Then
| / smoked another cigar Having done
my duty, 7 patiently waited for the
pains to begin. They did not do so.
nor have they at any time since done
so. I have not had trouble from that
/ day to this. Mobile Register.