The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-05
From the Louisville Courier-Journal. TNHE New York Times takes up cuo-
 gels for the many who do not ap-

From the Louisville Courier-J ournal.
 TNHE New York Times takes up cud- gels for the many who do not ap-
 \ prove of smoking in restaurants and belabors smokers whose idea or the eniovment of their rights clashes with the views of persons who do not wish to dine where smoking is in progress
 Says the Times:
 "Out in Kansas movement mas peen started to make smoking in trains UT street cars a penal offense. Good ehousn Il AS far as it goes, but why forpid sihohihs on cars and allow it in restaurants anu hotel dining rooms? No lady, unless she is one who is committed to the pipe' would nrefer to eat breakfast or dinner ln haze of tobacco smoke.
 .Think how quickly this custom or smoking during meals would be oriVeh out of the average American nome 'ii'nN of eating strawberries or vanilla or choc- olate ice cream or sliced peaches or grape fruit salad or anything else that IS ht to eat all smoked up, simply to please the fancy of the idle and minimizing young sters who imagine that they are'in the stvle, when they are making other peo- nle who do not smoke uncomfortable.
 The movement in Kansas will probably not get far if 1t aims at abolishing smoking cars. And it would be difficult to a"ohsh sn,o,sins in hotels or restaurants ct meals, hut if would be practical and unfair to nobody to consider the nonsmokers as well as the smokers and restrict users oi tobacco to certain dining rooms. NOW adays a majority of the hotels ana res taurants catering to patrons who nave lime and the inclination, to smoke dur- ing meals serve their guests Tn several dinine. rooms. It would be easy enough to label one room Smoking and another No Smoking" If the smokers proved to he A majority they could have the larger allotment of space, and vice. versa.
 Tho hitterness of the recurrent discus s;ons in the New York papers as to whether women shall be allowed to smoke in restaurants should result Tn such a solution. The friction is due to causes similar to that created by the difference of view between the street car passen- ger who wants his window open in Waiter and the passenger who fears ventilation or dislikes cold air. Perhaps there will come lime when there will be persons who are oppressed by the heat of crowded cars with closed windows. or who do not wish to participate in such cars. But at pres ont there are so few militant fresh air advocates that they are, like other mili- tant minorities, overwhelmed and ignored by the majority. There are only few women who want to smoke in restaurants. If they were an isolated minority they would be ignored. The support they re- ceive from men who like to smoke at meals gets them a hearing The men and proportion of the patronage of restau- rants. To end the squabble by providing equal accommodations for the two fac 1 tions would be somewhat simpler than Colomon's plan of bisecting the baby. | Assuredly persons of both sexes who do not like their peaches and cream, or the air they breathe, saturated with to- annoyingly affected by the thick blue haze | that is agreeable to others, are entitled to consideration But inasmuch as a com paratively inexpensive partition will solve the problem more effectively than legisla-
 tion why inaugurate crusaoes and en- courage pickering between those who do
 and those who do not wish to smoke at
 table? Men did without quarreling for
 many years while smoking was allowed in | the dining rooms set apart for men. and
 not allowed in those in which men and