A LADY SMOKERS TRIALS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11825, 30 November 1901, Page 5 (Supplement)

A LADY SMOKERS TRIALS.

BOYCOTTED BY LONDON HOTEL GUESTS. A sensation* has been caused at St. Ermin'fc Hotel, London, by a well-known society lady —an "honourable"—who strolled into the lounge about four o'clock on a Sunday afternoon and sealed herself comfortably in a Louis Quinze fauteuii. When her long, undulating dachshund was arranged at her feet the lady lit an Egyptian cigarette, which she held in her mouth by means of a pretty amber gold-tipped holder. Dismay spread through the ranks of. the guests, who dated their ideas on etiquette from the early fifties A deputation was appointed to call on Mr. Richardson, the manager,- and acquaint him of the distressing fact, and also to intimate gently that the lady must put cut her cigarette or trouble would ensue. The manager felt that he stood in a position of a man who is threatened by a ;'dal wave on one side and a prairie fire on the other.

A bright idea suddenly struck him. He wrote a polite letter to the honourable lady, intimating that the quests objected to the presence of the boa-like dachshund, in the hope that she would sooner leave than give up the dog. On receiving the note the lady invited Mr. Richardson to come to her sitting-room and discuss the question on a friendly basis. For some time the manager evaded the summons by making various visits to all parts of the hotel, but at last the ordeal had to be faced, and he went up with that cheerful spirit with which a man fords an unknown river at midnight.

The fair delinquent opened tip the subject by stating that she could live without the dog, and would be pleased to have him sent into the country. Then, in a tremulous voice, Mr. Richardson said that the dog was not the only objection. Smoking cigarettes in the lounge was far more serious. On hearing this the lady became indignant. "I will leave this hotel at once, ' she said, " and never darken the doors again. The idea of anyone objecting to ladies smoking in a hotel!" She rang the bell, asked the waiter for her bill, and called to the manager, who was making a hurried exit: "I never heard of such a thine; in my life. The custom of ladies smoking" in hotels is now well established through Europe and America." The lady left with her luggage, maid, and dog in less than thirty minutes after the interview with the manager.