The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-06-01
SHOULD WOMEN SMOKE?
A CORRESPONDENT THINKS 1T
RATHER FETCHING
II Is a Foolish and Senseless Habit for
Women to Smoke-Riding Without
Hats Is Harmless and Very Pleasant.

Dear Marie: 1 wish you would say
what you think about cigarette smok
ing for women and girls? 1 saw a
girl smoke one the other night and
took quite a fancy to it. There does
not seem to be any real harm in it.
l am told that it is quite a fad in
St. Paul. Have you noticed how
many women drive and ride in automo-
biles without hats? Isn't it rather bad
form?
A Girl Who Wears Her Hat.
Since you put the question squarely
about smoking / will answer you fairly
that 1 consider smoking a very unde-
sirable habit for women or girls. This
is, however, merely my opinion. l
doubt very much whether it is a fad
in St Paul. I have only known two
women with whom smoking was a
habit and neither of them live here
now. In countries where it is the Gus
tom for women TO smoke, 1t might be
tolerated, but when American women
take to smoking cigarettes they have
taken several steps down in the scale,
in the opinion of the writer.
What's the sense of it, For men
TO smoke is an entirely different mat
ter. There does not seem to be any
particular harm in it for them, if they
do not smoke to excess. But for
women it is undignified and disgusting.
I believe the woman in this country
who smokes and likes it is very rare.
A few may consider it faddish and do
1T to be different and what they call
smart, but the woman who habitually
smokes becomes deInoraIized. Ask any
man you may happen to meet if he
likes to see women smoke. I'll ven
ture to say that he will tell you that
he has no objection to seeing women
smoke if they want to, except the
women he may be interested in, and
he would certainly not like to see them
do it. The very man who would en-
courage a girl to light a cigarette
would be Mortified if he saw his sister
do it. There is something exceedingly
fast about smoking for women, and it
is a senseless and foolish practice.
AS for automobilfng without hats, it
strikes me that my correspondent
strains at gnats and swallows camels,
TO like cigarette smoking in a woman
and be shocked at riding without hats
If she has ever done any automobiling
she must know the unpleasant effect of
with a veil closely tied it is not as
agreeable as to ride with the uncov-
cred head There seems to be a fad
everywhere just now for going without
hats; in street cars, automobiles, and
walking, and for once a fad is sensible
and comfortable. 1t is difficult to think
of anything more delightful than to
spend an evening automobiling without
the encumbranee of a hat. This for
men as we'll as for women. The mil
liners don't like it, but we cannot live
for them. In the daytime in town a
woman should wear close hat with
one Of the automobile wells which
come expressly for this purpose, and
make it possible for her to ride without
holding her hat on. The number of
automobiles driven by women now in
st. Paul is quite large, and when one
sees a large touring car going like mad
with feminine chauffeur, ones first
thought is to make for some safe spot.
Say what you win, those large cars
should be driven only by men, and
without the least desire to croak one
fears an accident, for women are more
likely to lose their heads in an emer-
gency than men, and some Of the fair
drivers of these large machines go
faster than the law allows. One
crosses Summit avenue at the peril of
ones life these days However, there
are a few women who manage their
autos very we'll, so let US hope for the
best.