The San Francisco call., 1910-07-30
LADY NICOTINE
IS CLUBWOMAN
Exclusive Organization Is
Committed to Smoking
For Members

~ MOKING for women has come TO
y stay. There is no doubt about it.
- Even the fashionable Francesca
club. that hotbed of exclusiveness and
straightIacedness. has sealed 1T with
the stamp of its approval
Within the gray and gold boundaries
of the clubrooms those Of the social
elect who are ranked among it's mem
bers may pass a pleasant hour or two
with friends and books and cigarettes
in jolly, comfortable fashion, untram-
meled by conventions and unrestrained
by public narrowmindedness.
In the big hotels and cafes of this
city no woman can smoke unmolested'
she is politely requested TO cease should
she make the attempt, so if you are
woman and really can not get on with
out a smoke to break the hours OF
your downtown shopping. and do not
want to indulge in public, why have
your name. if you have sufficient social
pull, put on the waiting list of the
Francesca club. and you will some day
be enabled to have delightful smoking
| room in the shopping district with all
the comforts and privacy of home.
Not that you can smoke all over the
club. Far be it from that But there
are spots set aside just for the pur-
pose. as bear witness the mute placards
on the walls that, to an old fashioned
mind, bear this shocking mandate for a
ladies' club:
"SmOking is only permitted In the
cardroom and i'm the gray ROOM"
And if you ask any habitue of the
club which is the most popular room
hereafter you will understand doubtless
her prompt reply. with the accompany
| ing smile that in itself speaks volumes.
Smoking has come to say. along with
motor cars and aeroplanes At least.
the upper crustaceans Of HiIlsbOro and
San Mateo and the local 400 have made
it feature and an. attractive one of
their club life. so it must be the proper
| caper.
| But do all the Francesca club ladies
| approve of it? oh. dear, no, You
should see some of the shocked faces
| of those who are still a little behind
/ the times.
At Iuncheons in the club. as a matter
/ of course. the maids pass the cigarettes
and matches after the ice, in much
the same spirit that they would pass
| the finger bowls. And some of the old
/ ladies who never have and never will
approve have looked askance on the
| whole affair. 1t is a study to watch
| them. They may be having delicious
/ time over big piece of gossip or a
/ deIirious scandal, the kind of which
| you can not afford to miss a word or
they may be deep in a literary discus
b nT . "a
I tic economy. when they are startled by
| the obsequious voice of the we'll trained
! English servant at their elbow, and
/ horrorsi-a tray with cigarettes, of
more than one brand, and matches are
| there at hand.
Some dramatic pauses. more elO-
/ quent than speech have followed and
/ a few of the really puritanical men,
| bers have issued mild protest But
will 1t go down? Bless you, no. They
may all be smoking yet at the Fran
| eesca club.
! 1t may be nerve resting or it may be
! mannish; Ii may be simply en- regle, or
/ they may have all irrevocably acquired
the habit. History does not state. The
/ necessity of a frequent smoke is felt,
/ and so the club has had to accOmmO-
/ date itself to its members needs.
Presto! The pink of exclusivenesS,
/ with a cigarette between her lips and
the air blue with smoke, The know
| ing ones say that the library and re-
/ ception rooms are now deserted as a
rule but the eardrOOm and the gray
| room are full TO OVerfiOwing and a
/ mass of haze
Not to be outdone. the hotels will
soon be forced to build smoking rooms
! for the ladies', or else permit the filthy
weed in the lObbies. The Francesca
/ has set the ball in motion. Who is
| going to follow?