Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-12-29
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. .TRACEWELL.

Our oldest reader, "a years young,
heaps Goals Of fire upon our head
by sending the following letter, in
reply to the recent article in which
we begged her not to be alarmed be-
cause we had taken up the habit of
smoking.
well! Well, My Dear Sir: You
have effectually pilloried me on q
lowered wreathed column, but don't
think that at least I shall not try
to defend myself.
Correct your view, If you think
me a cantankerous old Puritan who
sit in his own home or his office and
enjoy his pipe, without being nagged
continually. My late husband was a
smoker Of as good tobacco as could
be procured and my favorite brother
followed suit. Both eminently intel
lectual men, with whom it was a
treat to converse on any subject from
'cabbages and kings up. Never once
was either asked by me to lay aside
his pipe, even though my eyes and
my throat smarted and stung.
II had neither the right nor the
desire to limit q habit that gave them
so much enjoyment. My husband
gave up smoking before he passed
away, by his own strength Of char
acter, bless him.
Engaged in large and important
business, he found that his mind
was clearer, that he had quicker per-
ception, If he eliminated the weed, and
SO he set an excellent example to men
who were injuring themselves by ex-
cessive smoking as they grew older.
And here Is a noteworthy example
of the same Self-control. Chauncey
Depew, a fine instance of that adj
mirable quality, gave up tobacco first,
then brandy, and even champagne,
and is a living illustration of the
beneficial result.
with the privilege Of age and its
garrulity, let me continue. That fine,
high-minded young gentleman. whose
delightful essays add luster to our Star,
is contracting a habit which such men
as Herbert Hoover, Secretary Mellon
and others equally eminent have been
able to resist!
''This young gentleman, who has
been so useful, entertaining and adj
nirable in all ways, who has shown
that he could live without yielding to
the Seductions Of Lady Nicotine, vol
UNFAIRLY now pays court to the hussy!
well, that is his own business,
and one friend at least hopes he will
live long enough to renounce his al
legiance to the Lady Nicotine, she
who Is true siren, now enticing
even women to worship at her shrine.
LAS a liberal In all matters I do
believe that certain amount Of ex-
perfence is needful to be judicial and
we'll balanced. And that this virgin
planet, the earth, was conquered and
developed by primitive men who
needed stimulants like tobacco and
liquor to reduce 1t to subsection, to
cultivate and refine it. They have
not yet attained that end. Witness
the wars, the ignorance the only
SATAN, the coarseness, the immaturity
that covers the major portion of hui
mainly. None of us has attained real
maturity.
Therefore, there is no use In re-
Wiling and complaining. The pipe has
ameliorated many sad conditions. The
trouble is in the excessive use Of any
thing for which one hungers, pro-
vided 1t does not injure or debase or
wrong others and ourselves.
Pardon my length. On Christmas
morning please give Jack Spratt an
extra pat, and imagine your friend of
the armchair and footstool Is giving
you the most suave and kindly ges-
ture Of approval in recognition of
your pilloring. Yours, Mrs. H. M. Pr
X X X X
Our correspondent has covered the