East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1908-10-10
CIGARETTES GROW
FAR TOO POPULAR
OVER FIVE BILLION
SMOKED IN LAST YEAR
Government Alarmed at Rapid In
crease In IIabk-Legacy Left by
War With Spain Say Medical Ex-
perts-Clgarcttes Have Been Ira
duced by Rcformers, But Their
Very Mlldness Is Harmful.

Enough cigarettes to reach from
the earth to the moon and 10000
miles beyond It were smoked in the
United States in the year that ended
June 80.
The moon Is 23S,O00 miles from the
earth. But II all the machine-mad,
cigarettes smoked I'm this country
were placed end to end they would
more than bridge the space.
The ordinary machlne-made cigar.
ette is 2 SIS inches long. As 5,402,-
336,113 Of these cigarettes went up in
smoke In this country last year that
makes a total of 1,463,132,697 feet
or 25s,169 miles of cigarettes.
The average cigarette weighs II
grains. The total weight, therefore,
OF these cigarettes would be 1853
296 pounds, or 5979 tons.
II would require nearly 200 freight
cars to carry them.
The London Lancet the greatest
medical journal in the world. said
recently than an ounce of cigarettes
yields in It's smoke two pints of pols-
onous carbon-monoxide gas. Accord
ing to this estimate the cigarettes
United States In the year just closed
yielded 23.9l6,592 plnts of this gas a
vast cloud OF poisoned smoke over
hanging this country.
These figures are furnished by the
internal revenue department of the
United States and are therefore cor
rect The government keeps careful
track OF all cigarttes made in this
country and imported.
But Uncle Sam keeps no record Of
the cigarettes rolled by hand. He
knows full well that these figures tell
only part OF the story. Along with
the enormous Increase in the con-
sumption Of machine made cigarettes
sold ready-made I'm the shops. has
come the longing for the personally
made and personally smoked paper
pipe Wherever you go you will find
the fellow with the maklngs." And
II his supply of the little slips Of rice
paper or OF the cigarette tobacco in
its little bag has become exhausted
you will find him busIly hunting for
more. and unhappy until he gets IT,
OF these personally made cigarettes
Uncle Sam has no record. But he
knows that their use is growing. per-
hape even faster than the use OF the
manufactured kind. for they are
cheap.
The great increase in the use of
cigarettes in this country is alarm
ing the medical experts OF the army
ana navy. "a
In some respects cigarettes have
been badly slandered. The testimony
Of the experts is unanimous that they
are not "doped," in spite Of the
charges of many VINO have fought the
cigarette business. Upon this poin,
Internal revenue officers are partlcu-
larly emphatic and they ought to-
know. The law requires that all to-
bacco manufacturers shall make peri |
odically sworn statement of the ma
terials which they have on hand, and
the revenue agents have ample means
of assuring themselves of the accuracy I.
OF those statements. The manufac- |.
turers frequently include harmless .
flavoring materials on their lists, and .
I'm the case of manufacturers of some
kinds Of chewing tobacco, rum and
the tonka bean are listed. But there
Is no opiate and no other dope"
Nor is there anything harmful about
the wrappers commonly used.
The cigarette is dangerous because
of its very mildness. II is made usu-
ally Of light-colored tobacco. which
contains comparatively small
of nicotine, and which is not
very lrritant Because II is so mild,
smokers are able to inhale it deep
down into their lungs. and there II
gets IN its dirty work. In the lungs
outdoors are very thin, and there the |
cigarette smoke has the finest sort of
opportunity to leave its harmful ele-
ments behind. It is seldom that
cigarette smoker is found who does
not inhale more or less: It Is seldom
that a cigar or pipe smoker can be
found who habitually inhales at all.
The smoke from pipe or average ci- {
gar Is too strong for any lungs ex-
Cept those made of leather This !
view Is reflected somewhat in the re-
cent report of Surgeon General Rix- I
ey. who talks about cigarette smok- S
Ing in connection with tuberculosis.
The belief Is that cigarette smoke, J
deep, weakens the lungs !
and paves the way for tuberculosis q
and other diseases of the lungs and 7
throat
Spanish War TO Blame. |
To the Spanish war the government |