Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1899-07-20
GOOD AND BAD OF SMOKING.
Interview by George F. Shrady, NJ. D.
Who Attended Gen. Grant

J
Who Attended Gen. Grant.
/ Smoking even the finest Havanas
/ will not cure neuralgia. 1t may, how
! ever, make a man so cOntented that he
| fOrgets about the pain. No one can
| deny who has tried it that there's a lot
! Of solid comfort in a good cigar.
1T is only when we forget the law
! Of moderation that smoking becomes
| injurious. Then, when the appetite
! fails and the nerves are unstrung, it is
| time to stop A man when he reaches
! that stage, be he president or the
| humblest citizen, must learn self-de-
NAL.
I'm spite of the fact that President
McKinley's nervous trouble is said to
! be the result of excessive smoking and
that many persons have always be-
! Iieyed that Gen. Grants death was
caused by too great a fondness for the
! fragrant weed, I do not believe that
tobacco in moderation is harmful.
Smoking in it's way is a good thing,
/ out of its way very bad thing 1t
may be a comfort or it may be an in
jury. Every man must judge for him
| self. If it doesn't agree with him it
i, does him a gread deal of harm.
"The first symptoms that man is
smoking too much are loss of appetite
and nervousness, and then sleepless-
ness. When this train of ills falls
upon a smoker he had better call a
halt He is not using tobacco in mod
Grafton, but in excess, and paying the
penalty.
LAS we all know, tobacco contains
nicotine, extracted matter, and the
products of combustion, principally
ammonia and carburetted hydrogen.
THE ammonia and hydrogen are the
same that would be generated if we
burned any dry weed and are no more
hurtful. The nicotine and extracted
matter give the bouquet, and a cigar
is valued by the devotees of the weed
for the quality of this bouquet and the
quantity of nicotine and extracted mat
ter it contains.
when there is an excess of nicotine
. the cigar is rank, but when it is in
| the right proportion-well, then
lsmoke is about all man needs to
make him supremely happy. 1t
wouldn't be surprising if he did in
dulge a little too freely when he had
| cigars like that. The temptation is
almost too great to resist.
'The man today who inveighs
against tobacco is apt to be called
crank. If he confines himself to ar
guments against it's abuse he will be
listened to. But there he must stop.
Reformers are often extreme.
"Some have said that tobacco brings
on a craving for drink That is abso-
! lutte nonsense. Even at the risk Of
offending these well-intentioned indi-
viduals, I will say mat I think good
cigar one of the greatest comforts
known to civilized man.
Nearly all brain workers are great
smokers. Tennyson, Newton, Spencer,
Lowell, the greatest scientists, the
wisest sages, the most famous painters
and writer's and the successful business
men, have almost invariably been ha-
| bitual smokers ever since the cOurtly
Raleigh introduced the weed into Eng
lish society.
Neither do l believe that men have
often died from smoking. 1t is a case
where men have died and worms have
eaten them but not from smoking.
In Gen. Grants case tobacco was
not the initiative cause of his throat
trouble. 1t aggravated the symptoms,
for the smoke, passing over the dis
diseased surface, irritated it. Yet it
can hardly be claimed, even by the bit
terest foe of tobacco, that smoking is
entirely responsible for the production
of cancer Of the lip.
at must be admitted that cancer of
the lip is common among pipe-smok-
ers. The cause in this case is not so
much the tobacco or any particular
poison it may contain, but the persist
ent irritation of the lip by the pipe
stem. Clay pipes are particularly
dangerous. They are easily heated,
have a rough surface and are usually
held stationary on one side of the
mouth. The first indication of this
dreaded disease is a warty patch on the
lip at the usual point of contact with
the pipe-stem.
ct is impossible to estimate the
amount Of mischief caused by cigar
cite smoking. l have no word of
apology to offer for cigarettes. I'm
afraid there is nothing that can be
said in their favor. There are no vital
functions that these pernicious little
things are not liable to injure. But a
good cigar-that is another thing.
"A good cigar has inspired many a
great poem, brought to the musician s
brain the melody that would make him
famous, woed for the artist glimpse
Of the ideal he sought, and stimulated
many a heroic deed"
, ABOLITION OF THE HELLO GIRL. ~
Success of the Automatic Telephone
Switchboard.