The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-02-08
SHALL I SMOKE OR NOT :?
DIR. JAY ". SEA VERBS TALK AT
 HOWARD AVENUE CHURCH.

w CHI AAtsONA hb9OCANeC 0AANSeSh o- tAA~
 Yale Gymnasium Spoke of the Evils
 ofthe Use of Tobacco Last Evening
 Strong Argument AgaiHst tho Use of the Weed.
 At the Howard avenue Congrega- tional church last evening Dr. Jay W. Seaver associate physical director of Yale university, gave strong and con- vincing address on the evils of the use of tobacco In any form. The address was one of a. series now being at this church by men who have given the art of Living" their attention for years. Dr. Seaver spoke in part as follows: Every youth standing on the threshold of life begins to feel the responsibilities | that he must bear when he becomes an independent actor in the great field l-that he is so eager to enter. Youth is not all enthusiasm and restlessness; it l is pre-eminently the period of thought l fitness and high ideals. Ambition is tempered with a careful regard for the conditions that make for or against success, and a study of how to adapt to the causes that will be helpful in pro- ducing an ideal life.
 Boys are quite as willing to impose extra burdens upon themselves as are mature people.
 I believe, then, that the young man is not only willing but anxious to face the questions that relate to the future, and Twill settle them rightly if he has the facts to deal with. There is no possi- bility of a choice of depravity when the path to honor and respect is pointed out.
 l One of the questions that every thoughtful young sman will ask himself will be, What position shall take re- garding the use of tobacco? Shall I smoke or not?" Let me try to present some facts that will help in forming a correct answer to this important in- quiry.
 | The use of tobacco is so expensive that there is a presumption in favor of it's utility to humanity, and many young men begin it's use without considering any argument for or against the for nation of the new habit.
 I Now, I believe we may in all fair ness claim that habit which entails so great expense on person should be lrequired to prove that it gives some re- turn for the outlay. I have inquired of the smokers whom I have met profess sionally for the past fifteen years what return they get for the expenditure. The almost universal reply is that they feel social satisfaction from smoking. Tt gives a fellow something to do when he is with others" or is company for him when he is alone A. very rare answer is that smoking makes him feel better physically
 A young man contracts a habit that The cannot follow in the presence of ladies or in refined circles, and finds that when he is with others of his own age and condition of life he must con l tinue the habit or he is i'll at ease. Will
 not this apply to any habit, offensive
 or otherwise? If a person acquires a
 habit of using snuff or morphine or all Icohol, does he not feel the lack of it as a depression of his sociability? Does he not feel this same need of "some- thing to do?'
 Again, does it not argue rather !poor mental equipment and lack of ann
 bition if a young man needs a pipe to keep him company? How would it do
 to substitute a pocket volume of play k of Shakespeare or essays by Emerson
 or poems by Tennyson? Does the mind that has real desire for culture ever lget it's satisfaction, it's companionship, l in smoke?
 The physical welfare side of the case should be noticed
 It may be interesting to know that among college students the gain in growth is in general 12 per cent. greater lamong those that do nto use tobacco . than among those who smoke It has also been proved by actual laboratory
 tests that dose of nicotine secured by
 smoking a fairly mild cigar reduces a mans muscular power from 25 to 40 per
 cent. How many young men feel that
 they can afford to reduce their vital
 processes to any such extent? Another phase of the question that
 every young man should consider is the financial one. When we buy thing we want to have it return to us a
 value, utility, that is appreciable. Is
 this the case with tobacco?
 There is another point that will ap-
 peal to the thoughtful young man, and
 that is the fact that smoking inevitably lowers the standard of cleanliness, and
 begets diregard for the rights of oth-
 CTS that seems to have it's root in sell
 fish indulgence.
 The effect of smoking on mental
 power cannot be measured directly, but
 it is fact that the percentage of to-
 bacco users among the honor men at
 Yale is small, while among those who
 do not receive honor grade the per-
 centage is ten times as high. We may
 interpret this in two ways: either the
 use of tobacco has reduced mental ac-
 tivity or the kind of mind that permits tits possessor to become addicted to a