JUVENILE SMOKING.

Otago Witness, Issue 2649, 21 December 1904, Page 90

JUVENILE SMOKING.

This column is for boys and girls, and it might well be asked,- What have girls got to do with smoking? Not much, I hope;

but the question of smoking has been brought" under my notice by a gentleman, _- ;who_ sends me three or four clippings on the subject. The holidays are coming on, and boys will probably think that the extra amount of freedom accompanying holidays gives them a license to smoke, and 1 , therefore, to . cultivate or , to harden- a habit already much too common. "There may or xaay not be an objection to adults smoking, but there can be no that it is ■injurious to growing lads. Many boys are ' Blunted in growth, and it is quite possible : jthat, in the' future, girls' -will have a better . (physique than -boys: - And this is where girls are interested.. Do you, wish to see a Vlwarled, wizen-faced race of- meai? If jiqt, '{wUI you use your influence with boys^'and persuade them to abstain from smoking .either cigarette or. pip©? One; writer says : /'Tobacco in any form is injurious, to, the • Ibririn and nerves of the growing youth, besides being Hurtful -to his digestion, his throat, and his lungs. If,, he must smoke^ when he comes to the years of discretion •he may then be able to decide. "on his own Account if it is worthw hile to, try." I would say, then, to boys: "Read the two following selections, and ask yourselves - whether it is worth your while running- any risks." - , , • X the article "What- Cigarette-smoking /Will Do." is a true statement of affairs, it is no wonder that colleges, business firms, «nd naval and military authorities- take the stand stated in "The Deadly Cigarette." It may interest some of you to know that the two selections we're .read by the - toys in the upper, standards of. one .of our ' schools, and ,that the' tabulated' matter was entered xip in an exercise-boofc as a lesson an writing and tabulating.