Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1918-05-08
The Cigarette.

We have read with much interest
what some of our State exchanges have
said about the cigarette. The Union
Progress compiled list of prominent
non-tobacco users, and among others
gave the names of President Woodrow
Wilson, former President Taft, former
President Roosevelt, Charles Evans
Hughes, Thomas A. Edison, Josephus
Daniels, Joseph w. Folk, Hiram Maxim
and Senator Tillman.
The testimony of Senator Tillman
was reproduced. He says: "ln my
opinion it is very pernicious and un-
healthy habit, either to chew or smoke,
especially to smoke cigarettes. For
boys to learn this habit and practice it,
it means this: that they are stunted in
growth, their vigor of body undermined
before they know it or why. and their
nerves unnecessarily wrought up"
The News and Courier points out
that in the face of the example of these
worthless there has been quite an in
crease in the sales of the cigarette;
which sales have doubled in two years
and increased even fifteen fold since
1900. 1t says:
.In 1900 the sales of cigarettes in
this country totalled 1888, ZIG, 300.
They stayed around that figure until
1906, when they began to jump from
one 10 two billion a year until 1912,
when they increased to 1888, 393, 899.
Last year the cigarette sales were over
double this huge total, or 81, S32, 3S5, ,676.
Nor is this the end of the story. The
sales of 1918, it is stated, are continu-
ing the remarkable gain of 1917 that
was shown in that year over 1916. In
January of this year more cigarettes
were sold in the United States than
were sold in the whole of 1900. 1t is
estimated that probably $4,000, 900, 900
cigarettes will be sold in America dur
ing the present twelve months. -
This increase has certainly been re-
markable. The News and Courie asks:
'It would be interesting to know why
this is true. Does the example of the
great leaders cited by Progress count
for nothing?"
The Greenwood Journal is outspoken
in its condemnation of the cigarette,
and gives the testimony of an unnamed
professor. 1t says: "Only a day or
two since we heard a professor in one
of our institutions of learning speak of
this great evil. He is very far from
being fanatic, but is calm, level
headed man. He declared that in his
opinion cigarettes were doing more to
ruin the youths of this country than the
whiskey evil.
The Journal thinks that the next fight,
after the warfare against whiskey is
won, will be against the cigarette.
Perhaps so. But we must confess that
we have been somewhat dazed by the
triumph of the cigarette for the last
few years, and are at a loss to account
for it. Testimony that we must re-
spect places it among the unmistaka-
BILE evils. An observant college presl-
dent, who is guarded in his statements,
told us that in the course Of ten or tif-
teen years of college life, he had never
known cigarette student who held his
own either in the class room or on the
athletic field. Mr.. Edison has demon
strated that the cigarette contains a
very deadly poison. Mr.. Henry Ford
has published a pamphlet entitled The
Little White Slave" in which he has
gathered testimony against the cigar
cite from almost every source. He
proved his case and scattered his
pamphlet over this country by the tens
of thousands. But seemingly to nc
purpose. We cannot understand 1t.
Yet the day is sure to come, we be-
lieve, when saner judgment will pre-
vail.