A SUNDAY SMOKING SERVICE.

Evening Post, Volume L, Issue 54, 31 August 1895, Page 1 (Supplement)

A SUNDAY SMOKING SERVICE.

«, A " smoking service " is the latest novelty in the religious world of London. The following invitations are upw widely circulated in Whitechapel :—": —" If you want a smoke free come next Sunday afternoon at 3 o'clock to the Christchurch Hall. A free cup of tea if you like; tobacco gratis." The experiment of making tobacco an ally of religion promises to be AsucoiEsinthe estimation of those who have undertaken it. A London despatch 1 of July 23rd mentions that at a chapel in the East End, arrangements were made on a recent Sunday for the congregation to smoke. More than 2000 men,' among them the poorest of the poor, attended. A few came smoking; the others carried pipes in their mouths with the bowls inverted to denote emptiness. The gentleman who was to conduct the service, and who himself blew a cloud from a briar, commenced to distribute the tobacco. The supply was contained in a bag, and each recipient got enough to fill two pipes. By the time .all were served many wreaths of smoke were curling roofward. Several ladies who were there to assist in the service took seats on the platform. First, there were prayers, and it was curious to see the pipe-bowls and tobacco smoke half screened by one hand, while the eyes were reverently covered with the other. Then there was a hymn, in which the female portion of the congregation joined, but not many of the men, it being difficult to sing and smoke at the same time. After that came what they evidently enjoyed more than all else —a hymn sung with much sweetness by a lady. Probably they would not have ventured to applaud, but as the chairman, who still puffed his briar, clapped hjs hands, all followed' with great vigour, arid their faces testified how much they were in earnest. A chapter was read from the Bible, and the chairman then preached on the miracle of the five barley loaves and two small fishes. He delivered a simple discourse of half-an-bour's duration. By that time the limited allowance of tobacco had smoked out, and after the crowning hospitality of a cup of tea with a piece of bread and marmalade for all, the proceedings came to an end. The Sunday afternoon smokiDg .concert is likely to become a permanent institution iv Whitechapel.