CONCERNING THE CIGARETTE

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9306, 5 August 1908, Page 2

CONCERNING THE CIGARETTE

NOT BY AN ADMIRER. "The only thing that a man can smoke in the presence of ladies is a cigarette^" This was said to me once by a member of Parliament, and is a proof that the highest authority may be discovered eveu for the most pernicious doctrine. The cigarette, under the sweet name of ( 'fag," is the joy of the riff-raff. The Belgian chauffeur, when he takes out the lady's-maid in his master's car. seldom forgets to place a cigarette in bis unseemly face. Dirty pernicious boys smoke cigarettes only. The cigarette is the means by which the seventh-rate actress expresses her exact position. The bricklayer's labourer has long ago discarded his decent clay for " Honey-Pearls " at threepence the packet of ten — with two chromos and a chance of a Limerick prize given in. •It may further be observed that the cigarette makes the hand of the devotee unpleasant to touch or to see. As he always inhales, he is certain to injure his health, and, in consequence, hi* efficiency. Then, the manufacture of the cigarette may be considered. The one thing thafc can be said definitely is that every cigarette is partly made of paper. To this may be addod a certain amount of bronze ov gold ink, some gum or paste, and some tobacco or other material. The last of those may be chemically treated to insuro quick combustion, and to this I make no objection ; the sooner a bad tiling is over the better. lam aware that in theory the interior of the cigo rette consists of tobacco only, but in practice— well, in practice a great part of the cigarette-making industry is in the hands of Greeks. The patrons of the Egyptian and Turkish cigarettes must be a sanguine people. So this cigarette, unpleasant in its associations, doubtful in its manufacturej malodorous in use, and_ uncleanly and unhealthy in its effects, is the only thing that a man may smoke in the presence of ladies 1 If that were true then feminine suffrage would be put back another fifty years, so strong would be the implication against the feminine intelligence.