Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-10-20
Fifty Years Ago
In The Star

"Have the people of Washington who
do not use tobacco any rights Whlcn
those who do use Il
Tobacco ought to respeet7" Thus
Nu;.orc. writes an Indignant
Nulsahce' reader to The Star ir
its Issue of October Is, 1879. lone
would suppose not, especially upon the
street cars. To many tobacco - moi
only disagreeable, but sickening. Wher
1 am forced to inhale the fumes o.
tobacco for only Q moment or two u
invariably affects me as II had taken
a violent cold, and If for longer time
it gives me q severe sick headache and
takes from two to four days to recover
from its effects. All are not affected
by tobacco in like manner with my
self, but to many 1t is more than un-
pleasant, especially to ladies. In the
open street cars the last two seats are
secured for those desiring to smoke, and
often ladies have been obliged to take
seats with the smokers because there
was no other seat vacant for them to
upon q box car from Capitol Hill to
the Post once. eight men and two little
boys came on the car with lighted
cigars; four of them walked into the
car with smoking cigars in hands and
took seats Two went through the car
to the front platform where they
smoked vigorously, the smoke blowing
back into the car. The remaining four
took possession Of the rear platform.
Thus it Is every day and upon
every car, are men smoking or chew
ing tobacco and splitting. the juice
over the floors. 1t is not to be ex-
pected men will be gentlemanly upon
a street car when they are not else
where, but in many cities smoking Is
not allowed upon the street cars and
the men, II not gentlemen, are forced
for a time in that respect to appear
as such. 1t is a matter of regret that
many men of Washington have so
far forgotten that they need to be
reminded that No gentleman will
smoke in the presence Of q lady without
asking and obtaining her consent"
k#
The subject of the misbehavior OF
boys in the streets of Washington
continued to be
The Police and discussed at live
the Bad Boys. ago az In The II Sta,
of October 10, 1879, is the following
letter from "a Citizen:
ST see considerable commotion has
been raised about the police for having
suppressed lot of rowdy boys. I have
lived in Washington for 20 years
and know something about this mat
ter, and, speaking from my own ex-
sympathies are all with the police. II
is burning shame to have a gang
Of boys from IL to 20 years congre-
eating at the street corners and in
front of residences, lighting, throwing
stones and making both day and night
hideous with their obscenity and pro-
family, and when spoken to about 1t
by citizens their usual course Is To
curse and abuse them and defy them,
Many times this Summer has this oc-
CURED in front OF my own premises TO
nor decent for my own and the neigh
bors' children to play in my own yard
within reach Of the flying stones and
obscenity. Time and again I have had
to apply to the police for relief, and the
only complaint have to make of them
is that they are altogether too lenient
with these young scoundrels.
IT am pretty familiar with nearly all
the large cities of the country. and In
no other is there so much of this sort
of thing as here in Washington. There
are 10000 boys in this District, black
and white, who are growing up in idle
ness, to graduate into first-class hard
cases, and they ought to be learning
trades and qualifying themselves to
earn an honest living. No respectable
citizen will permit his children to loaf
about the streets in this way, and II
they do, to the annoyance OF decent
citizens, 1t ought to be the duty Of the
police to put q summary stop to 1t. For
one, say put on the nippers or any
thing else that will teach them to be-
have themselves and stop annoying the