The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1905-06-03
NEW YORK GIRLS NOT SMOKERS.

NEW YORK GIRLS NOT SMOkNRS.
From the Denver Post:
About ten or fifteen years ago." re-
marked the Man Who Knows. tho
question was asked everywhere
Does the New York woman smoke
And. slowly, reluctantly. but decisive
IL, the answer came, 'Yesl' Which. by
the way, was untrue.
And ever since then the belief has
been general. 1t has spread all over the
country. and in the smart set OF 81
wash City or Squedunk Junction, girls
say bravely, why shouldn't I smoke
cigarette If want to? All the New
York women do And ever since Wo-
man was arrested on Fifth avenue for
smoking a cigarette in a private aut-
omobile the smaller cities are moro
convinced than ever that the typical
New York Woman's pretty nostr1ls are
veritable chimneys for cigarette smoke.
Nov you can take the word OF an
old Gothamite that the New York wo-
man does not smoke The percentage
OF women in this big city who smoke
is not one atom larger than the per-
centage in Buffalo, Springfield or Glove
land.
when a few women. back in the
early '90s, thought they were pioneers
because they puffed strenously and
grimacingly on cigarettes that most OF
them loathed (andthat European wo-
men had smoked for centuries)
howl Of amazenyent went up from
press and society alike. This howl was
all that a lot Of silly women needed to
make them decide to join the ranks OF
cigarette burners. They forthwith be-
gan to smoke. Then the question was
asked, Does the New York woman
smoker The question was answered
In the affirmative, and then CATER Its
usual fashion when doubt or mystery
is once solved): New York gave the
matter no more thought.
LAS a result of this indifference the
girl who was learning to smoke, with
the idea that she was scandaliZing the
whole world, gradually decided that 1t
was no fun to smoke IL no one cared
whether she did or not. So, in nine
cases out of ten, she gave up the habit.
"Of course, there are a lot Of New
York women who still smoke; but not
enough OF them to Justify the claim
that the typical New York woman is a
smoker.
You see, for the first few months
smoking is not a pleasure, but some-
what sickening task. It takes nearly
year, as a rule, for either man or wo-
man really to learn to enjoy tobacco.
And the average girl who took up
the fad did not have that length of
time in which to practice it before she
found that her alleged addiction to to-
bacco no longer excited attention. So
very few women, by comparison. are
left in New York who really love an
afternoon smoke Or to whom it is
delight or a necessity.
when 1 see such woman I never
feel like laughing at her, as I do at
her foolish sisters who are making
martyrs of themselves in their effort
to seem at home with cigarette. The
woman to whom a smoke Is really g.
JOY or a solace can smoke till dooms-
day, IL she chooses, without losing
any Of my respect, as long as she does
mt offend public taste by smoking out
side her own boudoir.
But the funny thing about New
York's small coterle Of feminine Gig
arctic smokers is that not one In ten
OF the womenl who have honestly
learned to care for smoking can en-
joy a Turkish or Egyptian cigarette.
They almost invariably prefer one Of
the domestic brands that sell at s
cents for the box of ten. I don't know
why but I do know that Of the dozen
or more women of my acquaintance
who smoke cigarettes because It's a
habit with them not one cares for
Turkish or other high-priced tobacco.
They love best the cheap Yankee
brands, such as messenger boys and
office boys smoke.
"Queer, isn't it?'