The Deadly Cigarette

JNo single articie, pernaps, nas grown ato more general use since its introluction about 10 years ago, than the igarette, and no vice has ever taken i ürmer hold on the boys than that of igarette smoking. Their cheapness )rings them within the reach of the' Doorest urchin of the street, and many i mother in Lansing would rest less sasily if sho knew thatthe nickel given ler ten-year old boy for bonbons was leposited with the tobacconist for cigarittes, to be smoked with his companions n souie secluded place over their plays. 5Tet there is much truth in such a statement. Only a few days ago two little boys, the eldest not more than ten, the other probably two years younger, were playing horse near the Capítol, when one of them exhibited a nickel. The play stopped, and af ter a few moments, consultation they went to a cigar store and inquired for cigarettes. "For whom do you want them?" asked the dealer. "For my big brother, he sent me," said the youngster, who was evidently the purchaser. Upon being asked for his "big" brother's name he gave it, ceived the cigarettes, paia lor tnem, ana they went out. Five minutes later those two urchins were standing in the rear 'of that store, each with a lighted cigarette in his mouth, pufflng "to beat Grant." Another instance was related to the writer, of a boy about 16 yesrs old, home from boarding-school, who sat in one place in this city for about four hours, rolling and smoking paper cigarettes incessantly. He stated that he had smoked 50 in a single day. This evil is not confinedto the boy of Lansing - nor, indeed, of any other locality. The habit is growing among his elders - the men and women of toUay. lts prevalence in New York city attracted the attention of the press, and a reporter of the Tribune recently interviewed Drs. Vm. A. Hammond and Lewis A. Sayre on this subject. Dr. Hammond stated that smoking was áoubtless highly injurious for children, whose nervous systems are not devel oped, and for women, whose nervous organizations are more delicate than those of men, and they are consequently more susceptible to sedative or exciting influences. He regarded the practice of cigarette smoking, as usually carried on, as injurious, and had seen the effects of it in the production of facial neuralgia, insomnia, nervous dyspepsia, sciatica, and indisposition to mental exertion. In France the difference in the standing of pupils in the polytechnic schools, as between smokers and nonsmookers, was so great that the use of tobáceo has been absolutely prohibited in the government schools ; and Commodore Tarker, superintendent of the Naval Academy at Annapolis, has thought seriously of taking a similar step in that institution. There is the best of evidence that the use of tobáceo by children causes functional diseases of the brain, calculated to destroy mental forc, and actually interferes with physical development - stunting their growth. Speaking of paper cigarottes, Dr. Hammond says they are vileness intensified. The paper produces empyrematic oil, which contains creosote in large quantities. Dr. Sayre says that cigarettes were worse for boys than pipes or cigars. The i,i:otine absorbed fromthem hada very bad effect on the nervous system, weakened the heart's action, and diminished the f orce of the circulation of the blood. This necessarily impairs nutrition of the tissues and of the brain itsself. independent of the speciflc tonic effect of the nicotine. It also impairs the vocal organs, and no boy who expects to becoafè an orator should smoke, as the hot air, impregnated with these poisons, destroys their power to produce sweet and liquid tones. The doctor is also of the opinión that cigarette smoking impairs the memory and induces paluy. He believes' paper cigarettes to be worse than any other. Both of the medical gentlemen above mentioned express the opinión that adults may use tobáceo - especially males - in cigar or pipe, to a moderate degree with beneficial effects. With due respect to the medical gentlemen, and their higii standing in their profession, this statement is contradictory. They admit that tobáceo is a poison, and as such is inimical to the Ufe and health of children. How can that which is a destróyer of lif e be a preserver of health ? True, poisonous medicines are sometimes used, but never as a luxury to be indulged at all times. As medie ines, poisons aro taken for a speciflc purpose, to be stopped short when that is obtained, else the remedy might. be worse than the disease. It may be wrong reasoning, but it would seem to a man unskilled in the technicallties of the schools, that a poison was a poison at all times, and the only reason why men are not affected as injuriously as children by its constant use is because they are fully developed and matured. They possess a larger amount of reserve force, and as their vitality is consequently greater than a child's, so are their powers of resistance. The amount of poison that would kill a child might be thrown out of the system of an adult without serious inconvenience ; but its effects are there, and by a repetition of doses at proper intervals, the man would at last succomb. Nicotine is no exception to this rule.