Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1919-02-04
ANOTHER LETTER FROM CARTER
j. JOHNSON
U. S. N. Training Camp,
Pelham Bay, N. Y,
9th Reg. Barracks, 8 L.
January q, 1919.

9Th Reg. Barracks, 8 L.
January q, 1919.
Wausau Pilot,
Wausau, Wis.
Dear Editor:
Since the war our old enemy, the
cigarette, has become quite popular
and justified. Many of the boys ac-
CURED the smoking habit, while in the
service. 1t is not looked upon as
sin and even by many men and women
as not a very bad habit. During the
war cigarettes were given away free
to men in uniform by all organiza-
lions and it has become more COM
mon than chewing gum or camoufiaged
dinners, OF course, l consider the
giving of cigarettes to the fighting
| men, as was done by the various war
relief organizations, with the consent
of the whole American people, during
this present war, as absolutely justi-
fed. In fact, l considered it a very
fine and appropriate thing to do for
the tiny roll of tobacco, known as
Tags by those who inhabited the
trenches and faced the damnest of
Kaiser Bills, has been a most wonder
full blessing to thousands and thous-
ands Of wounded men in hospitals or
upon the battle field. Now the war is
over and we must look upon it in
a different light.
toe, learned to smoke while in the
service and 1 want to tell those of
you, who missed your calling, what
| wonderful, clean, healthful habit it
is and how nice it is to see your
| money roll up to the ceiling and
| through the ventilators. l also want
to tell you why 1 quit smoking. I
smoked cigars for two full months.
l always had a faint desire since child
hood to puff on a pipe or cigar.
Strange, wasn't it? l thought that
| it would be company to me when
alone and enable me to be more soci-
able with other fellows and mix in
with them better. 1 found it to be
very true. In fact, one need not exert
| himself very much, the mixing part
will come naturally if you carry a
bunch of smokes in plain view. While
in France, l bought my first cigars
and voluntarily | started to smoke 1t
was a great sensation. / was very
inefficient in rolling my cigar from
one corner of my mouth to the other.
noticed that old veterans of the
art often cast a wistful glance at
me, and l wondered if 1 looked more
! dignitied or business like or just what.
Some people told me, it didn't look
| natural
Smoking didn't make me sick,
though l made my cigars look sick
before l got through with them. l
learned from the start to smoke my
L
sible. In my own words, which sounds
rather peculiar, 1 wasn't smoking. /
| was just simply giving the art a try
out to ascertain whether it was all
that / thought it was and if it would
| deliver the goods. | meant business,
l guess,
So long as 1 had cash on hand, I
carried out system of smoking one
cigar after each meal and one before
bed time. Then is, when 1 liked them
best. 1t was some system. Being a
man in uniform 1 was given many
cigars. l rejected pills, and what few
L had to buy in order to keep up the
system, l didn't mind. All the while,
l was studying myself and my cigars
and the people around me. / was
| studying myself to see how it was af-
| fecting me and what comfort, pleasure
| and good l was getting out of it.
studied my cigars for their smoking
qualities. 1 didn't always receive or
buy the same brand, and to see how
they used up cash. And / studied the
people around me to see how they
took it. l didn't want to acquire
habit that wasn't worth while.
weighed the art of smoking in the bal
| ance of good judgment and discovered
| that was being cheated.
l told you that cigars didn't cost
| me very much being man in uniform
and treated often, but when 1 did buy
them, 1 bought on the average of four
seven cent cigars per day. When 1
was real good to myself, bought ten
| centers. The ten centers were real
good smokes all right, but forty cents
a day with a possible chance of be-
coming more, didn't sound very good,
but it didn't worry me or influence
me to stop smoking.
| l soon made another discovery even
more important than the wastefulness
of smoking. After finishing my cigars,
l always realized the most disagree
1 able and horrible taste in my mouth
one could ever imagine. 1t came from
| the tobacco leaves and smoke of
course. This inexplicable, hideous and
most unhealthy taste, went into every
opening hole or passage in my head
and staid there. 1t predominated the
| regions of my mouth and breathing
| apparatus from one meal to another
After meals, the offensive lasts dis
appeared somewhat, only to come back
after l had finished my systematic
smoke. AT night l went to bed after
having finished taking the last Whit
or my cigar but so all night long ]
had this same offensive taste in nv
mouth and all night long 1 was breath
ing pure, fresh air fumed by the to-
bacco leaves into my lungs. 1 began
to sit up and take notice. I was
never accustomed to keeping a spit
toon in my mouth, nor sending such
foul air into my lungs. 1 always had
more respect for my breathing appara-
tus.
Whenever 1 conversed with anyone
l heartily felt l was offensive. l know
that 1 was, and l further know that
in talking with others with my tobacco
fumed breath 1 was not showing any
respect for them. If 1 happened to
l ~ ~ INV plOoOhSS VI idulSS, WHICH has
happened, l felt it advisable to chew
on a stick of gum and that wasn't
very polite either. When spoke
close to other peoples faces / tried
to turn my mouth around to the other
side of my face so that they wouldn't
think / mad swallowed an ash can.
found smoking pleasant and a good
passtime. while / was smoking, but
when l wasn't smoking l paid the
penalty. l couldn't smoke all the time.
My greatest discovery was yet to
come. 1t was a discovery that put
the final mol" on smoking.
| Tobacco adyarfiSarc advort;Sa tha;v