The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1912-09-05
CIGARETTES ARE
BAD FOR WOMEN
Mrs. Woodrow Wilson Has De-
/ cided Views on Subject.
4 CONFUSION OF NAMES
wife Of Democratic Candidate S'VeS
Out Letter Taking Strong SeS"u :"
Smoking Habit.

Smoking Habit
Nov york-For the first time since
woodrow Wilson became the De1no'
cratic presidential candidate mas Mls
wilson appeared. She attended IN
narson her husbands daily conference
with reporters, although heretofore
she has made special requests tnae she
be not quoted nor written ABOUT y 'le
papers. 100. hovo
f,,1Iv understood was that II she pc
comes the first lady of the land sne
wi11 NOT as has been said in a WIDELY
distributed interview, have passages
Of cigarettes in her personal desk at
tbe White House and indulge IN smok-
inc them with her callers,
Through Governor Wilson, Mrs VIII
eon asked that publicity be given to
letter she had written to the editor OF
tbe state Journal at Columbus, o.,
renndiating an alleged interview with
ber in which she defended cigarette
smoking for women The interview
mad come to her in letter signed
"American Citizen" which said
.sDear Madam can scarcely think
of any greater calamity to the young
women of the nation than to read such
preachment as your interview offers
them. / am a workingman, and see
men lose their jobs almost every DAY
because they are incapacitated for
work by the use of the cigarette. II
smoking does this for strong men
what will it DO for girls and women"
The interview" was indeed q cor
dial endorsement of the woman smok-
er, Here are some of it's assuring
phrases, all credited to Mrs. Wilson:
"A woman writer for syndicate OF
Sunday newspapers asked Mrs Wood
row Wilson if she agreed with Ger
trude Atherton's opinion of the smok-
ing of cigarettes by women. She smll-
ingly exhibited three cigarette boxes
piled in the corner of her desk, all but
empty.
"'Why shouldn't a woman smoke II
she enjoys it.? she queried.
"Why hasn't she just as much right
to cigarette as man Certainly |
agree with Mrs, Atherton that any
existing prejudice against women
smoking is to the last silly and abb
surd
Smoking cigarettes is a question
of manners. not morals. 1t promotes
good fellowship.
Some women feel that a cigarette
Gains their nerves and helps their
brains into working order. Personally
smoking diffuses my thoughts instead
of concentrating them. l enjoy it as
enjoy after dinner coffee Both are
pleasant ways of ending and finishing
off; both add to conviviality and good
fellowship
The editor of the Ohio State Journal,
it was clear, had been much incensed
at the apologies for the cigarette habit
among women attributed to Mrs. Will
son, as he wrote on Aug. 10 an edito-
rial in which he called for the defeat
of Governor Wilson or a Reputation
from his wife. If there was no mis-
take about it, he wrote, Mrs. Wood
row Wilson shouldn't be mistress pf
the White House"
If the Ohio editor was emphati
Mrs. Wilson was certainly not less SO.
After the reporters had said they
would gladly publish her letter to the
Ohio editor she asked for an hours
tilne in which to write enc. This was
what she prepared:
Dear Sir-I have just received a
copy OF the Journal with your edito-
rial entitled Smoking Women and |
beg leave to deny Indignantly the
statement that l approve of women
smoking cigarettes The interview
upon which your editorial was based
is pure Invention. intensely dis
like the cigarette smoking habit for
women-in fact, so strong is my feel
ing on the subject that my real danger
lies in being unjust and unkind in my
judgment of those who differ with me
in this respect.
"But certainly no woman In our
household ever has or ever will smoke,
: ute apart from the bad taste of it,
believe with you that it has an es-
tremely injurious effect on the nerves.
ELLEN A. WILSON.
(''Mrs. Woodrow Wilson.nl
Governor Wilson, in approving the
letter sent out by Mrs. Wilson. offered
what he thought might prove an ex.
PLANTATION for the interview.
q do not think it was maliciously
invented" he said. There is a rather
well known writer who SIGNS herself
Mrs. Wilson Woodrow, and She no
doubt has been confused with Mrs
Wilson"
Mrs. Wilson Woodrow was formerly
married to a relative of Governor WI
son, and it is understood that her
views on the matter Of women who
smoke are different from those held
in the household Of the Democratic
ean;lidate.