Omaha daily bee., 1916-02-15
JOHN W. THOMAS,
Editor The Alliance Herald.
Ethics OF Feminins ci~arst Smoking


OMAHA, Feb. Ito the Editor OF The
Bee: Anent this topic OF cigarette smok-
ing in the public dining rooms of one OF
out hotels which is just now a popular
society fad.
The management OF this hosiery is
quite right in prohibiting q harmless in
diligence which. TO the mieslle class OF
the middle west, IL most unusual.
think. though. II the individual so
shocked at the publicity OF a dainty
gold-tipped cigarette. held gracefully and
prettily between the well manicured
fingers Of a refined feminine hand, would
or could look back a generation or 50 and
see his or her grandmother sitting on the
doorstep watching the curling smoke
from her old clay pipe. or a great-aunt
dipping snuff with q dirty looking little
wooden stick, hs o. che Mlsht feel that
the race has progressed
How shocked many Of these straight
laced, good people would be could q
vision OF the past suuff-dipping. pipe
smoking aunts and srandmothers pass
before them.
Perhaps, too, ono OF these same cigar
cite smokers-so bold, brazen and i'm
AAo0cat-nog AAn0 uAAAoAAH NAC AAAAlAy HNAN~
looms, as l have among mine. an ex-
ouiSitely wrought gold snuff box set with
precious stones. a gift OF the royal Louie
PHILIPPE TO sreat-grandmother. Tobacco
TO be sure. only In a different form.
doubt II these people. who so right
eously condemn our cigarette smoking.
have ever been beyond the boundary line
OF the Mississippi or the Ohio. II they
have reached New York. they've had.
perhaps. q sightseeing. fleeting glance
at the upholstery and draperies OF the 81.
Regis, the Aator or the Knickerbocker.
Our women who have travelled and
lived in Europe and known the inner
eide OF the best, socially and materially.
have found the high-born. well-bred
woman much given to the Indulgence Of
the cigarette. both privately and publicly.
over the after-dlnner. black coffee OF
wine. why should We women over here
not follow the example OF the woman
who. generally speaking. 10 the superior
by right Of birth. culture and refinement
Of the average American traveller.
When the best fiction writer's Of Mnrope
portray their most virtuous. refined. cui-
tured and beautiful women smoking
NAMNA NtNI0-o-aAAsN a. ~ stAcH IA eAlC
privacy Of intimates. but often IN some
extravagantly elegant public dining
palaee-why oondemn thu American
woman and her cigarette. which is used
az much by the society SRI and woman
as her wage-earning sister OF the stage.
True. many women OF the stage form
the cigarette habit. but a great majority
OF them do not. Women OF the theater
are almost invariably OF nervous. tenn
peramental natures-their work is siren
uous and often nerve wraclSing--and the
cigarette soothes those tautly-drawn
nerves. reiaxes the whole being and IL a
rest that only those who know its In
fluencs can understand and It Is not at
all harmful unless used to excess.
There IL nothing coarse. nothing i'm
moral, nothing uneightly in ''Miladya
ooldJT1ppsd Trifie." but there is some
thing .decidedly vulgar and repulsive in
half 4 dozen meretriciously-garbed. fstu-
ous-iooking. half-tipsy danes sitting
around = table and publicly consuming
cocktails innumerable.
II, in the estimation OF the excellent
management Of this particular hotel. thi;
cigarette smoking IL a thing on which &c
place q ban. q thing TO be tabooed n
common, vulgar and not IN good taste
| offensive oven 70 the vulgar crowd-why
has It the effrontery to place the burden
upon the shoulders OF that much mis-
understood. gracious. intelligent and IN
dependent creature-oer actress-ant
please, Mr.. Manager. who is the Woman
out OF TOWN. "a GOLD TIP"
| -. -. xxysx1 n. n.