The evening world., 1921-06-06

At The moment there Is no more III
tercsting question Of social ana con-
e'vial usage, and the question ~ not
sci definitely answered. The struggle
B. Oh. In 10 days news we may read
o, an advance by the anti-smokes;
IN tho headlines OF tomorrow the
pro-smokes are as likely to register a
gain. One unusually interesting fea-
Sure about the battle OF smoke, 80 CHI
scurcd by the smoke Of battle. is that
There arc shock troops OF women
lighting on either side.
Probably the most earnest and on
trseuc of the various agencies OF re-
form which would purify the atmos-
rhere by rendering 1t smokeless are
ne thousands and thousands OF mem
kers of the woman's Christian Tenn
berance Union
Women smokers. on the other hand,
have increased enormously In the last
Aecade. have taken the cigarette into
nlaces where II was never known
before and have given 1t q new pres
kiga
One of New York's most conserva-
Nvc and exclusive clubs, the New
York Athletic Club, has just DECIDED
n allow women TO smoke undisturbed
vithip its precincts. To do this the
club had to rescind resolution
sdoptcd last January, and the actlon
shows the power OF the feminine
smoker and her friends. They point
"a out to the conservatives that in
sbe hest hotels women smoke as a
matter OF course, and that III wo-
mems clubs ash trays and special
brand OF cigarettes are as much
part of the comforts of home as
powder puffs and mirrors
Yet only a few months ago, at W.
G. T. u. convention, the embattied
delegates declared anew their unre-
aeuting hostility TO tobacco IN any
form. for male or female, old or
young. Here are samples or such
snti-smokes propaganda;
Tobacco not only robs life, but 1t
binders advancement"
nicotine is not only an enemy 10
hfe, scholarship and attainment but
A. is hostile to nearly every avenue
II thought"
Tobacco robs families OF food and
bther necessities The cigarette fiend
Nill steal money from his mothers
purse, rob his fathers till or pawn
books from the family library in
order To secure cigarettes. The to-
Ibaooo sot will buy tobacco 10 feed
his degraded appetite while the bread
u,in N depleted, the sugar bowl empty,
she mill supply Inadequate, the
cookie jar desolate and the children
sliffer for sweets"
The thoughtful pcrson who reads
ebis dire dIatribe cannot but wonder
contains TWO cigarette fiends-Mr.
and Mrs. Probably such a family
viii end in the poorhouse 49, and.
wherefore It behooves US TO enlarge
our poorhonses, since in many
household two cigarettes are now
burning where one burned before.
Women are not the only new pro-
smoke propagandistS There are the
young men. millions OF them, who
were in the Great War. There. in
deed. q cigarette often served as
food. drink and anodyne for pain.
During the war, most OF the blucSt
yeforners stopped traduciug tobacco;
end there is oven recorded the tllc
VI Clergyman who, with no
matches, smoked all night for tho
first timc in his life so that he might
apply the burning tip Of his cigarette
70 the flags" demanded by tho
wounded boys under HIS care.
MoEt older mon have smoked for
nrears----evep II they bad to sneak ont
of the house TO do It and even II
sfIca regulations merely tolerated tho
chewing OF an uplighted cigar. With
the impetus given TO their fhvorile
ind ulgence by the conversion TO ii OF
younger aud older women and OF the
FORMER lighters, the ''wicke ed weed
would seem to be safe at least for
generation
Yet look at Utahl Just this past
winter, Brigham YounS's VIGOROUSLY
pure State passed 4 law prohibiting
khe sale OF cigare cites and forbidding
smoking in public places. Cigarettes
are coptraband in a number of West
ern and Middle Western states, al
though some others, notably Tcaues
0sa and ArkansaS, have repealed laws
torbidding tho sale OF coffin nails"
Tho blue" point OF view of anti
tDbacCo crusaders is admirably eS-
pressed In Gustavus Myers's "Yo
olden Blue Laws" just published by
tho Century Company
&c TIE ministers pleasure Us G.
Invention OF Satan" explains Mr.
Myers. writing OF old Connecticuts
legal taboo on tobacco. when a
man smoked alone. there was not the
inducement to finger and succumb to
convviality that there was when ne
smoked in company. Smoking In
solitude was not inconsistent with
meditation and deoOrum. whereas