The Weiser signal. [volume] (Weiser, Idaho) 1890-1904, 1903-02-28
A SMOKERS SYMPOSIUM.

very readable article eulogistic c
the joys that come to the votaries c
. jolly Bacchus, che that first, fror
} out the purple grape, crushed til
sweet poison of misused wine, speak
as one who knows-eveL as the vet
eran speaks of wars, forgetting
wounds. So far, tbs we'll; but VIII,
should he drop his song to mino
chords and speak IN such disparag
ing terms of mans chief solace-To
bacco-and PROFOUND the question
Whoever heard poet write or rhymel
sing of the joys of the smoker?
Where have you been reading, Bob,
that you have overlooked the mum
berless tributes paid to this sweet
comforter by poets, rhymers, philos-
ophers and divines, men who have
placed their offerings, humble or
pretentious, on the altar of the spirit
of the weed the use of which is con-
ducive of quiet meditation, retro
spection and lntrospection, and re-
solves the mental faculties into calm
condition, best fitted to forecast fu-
ture possibilities; and which, above
all, is prime leveller of social dis
tinctions. Under its influence the
potentate forgets his rank and the
peasant his predjudices. Now let us
turn over the leaves a while, and, as
the smoke wreaths are curling round.
pull our chairs before the cheerful
lire (for it is zero weather here in
Welser) and see if poets or rhym-
sters have ever sung or told. of the
Joys of the smoker.
Going back more than three hundred
years, we see, in the smoke wreaths,
'he room in the Mermaid Tavern.
London-a goodly company-pipes
ire brought in after the second one
Ben johnson, expressive of his en-
oyment, (they have been discuss
ng the merits of Shakespeare says in
lls quaint way: Tobacco, | do assert,
without fear of contradiction bv the
AVON skylark, is the most soothing.
overeign, and precious weed that ever
'ur dear old mother earth rendered
o The use of man. " And the mugs
we're drained to the health of Sir
Walter Raleigh.
The Arab writer's say the plant
omblnes within itself 'the poison of
ne serpent and the compassion of
be prophet"
Another old poet, nearly as anti
uated, speaks from his heart and
avs:
With pipe and book at close of day.
On what is sweeler, mortal say?
AZ matters not what book on knee,
Old lzaak or the Odyssey,
III matters not meerschaum or CLAW.
And this tribute from another
ncient.
Weed Of the savage, weed of each no,e
comforting soothing philosophy s soul,
Come in the snuff box, come in cipar
Ia otrasourgh and Kings, come from {
still thou art welcome the purest, the
best, '-e
JOY OF earth's millions, forever caresstl
Another, in happy humor, says;
When | am broke I take smoke
Comfort is my aim
Likewise when ''flush''-ot mavbe ]
lush" 10
l gently nurse the flt me. AS
And Byron sings,
Tobacco which, from East ton
West. "'' Wy
Cheers the tar's labor or the Tnrk- l.
man, S restl n"
DIVINE In hookas glorious in pipel
When tippd with amber, mellow rich
and ripe, "
al then the story of the two maid
danes of sixty-two, "who together0
1g had dwelt, "---one suffered q :
we're attack of toothache, and the :,
pc was resorted to as means Of
lief, and proved success: the Y,
luel, in the last verse, shows an. ;, :,
ler cause of appreciation of the :,
ed. One says: =
Let me request favor pray .,
III do it il | cam "
oh. well, then. love, smoke every 7
day, every n
lou smell SO like manr' y
Again tbs told in verse how vii. "a
N the Testy, who ruled New I'll
nsterdam, issued his edict forh;, y