TOBACCO.

White Ribbon, Volume 24, Issue 286, 19 April 1919, Page 8

TOBACCO.

“The tobacco plant and the potato belong to the same family. The one represents the black sheep and the other the white Why is tobacco the* black sheep ' First of all it c ontains nicotine which, next to prussic acid is the most deadly poison known. W hy in one < igar there is enough nicotine that if taken at once would kill a strong man not used to its influent e. “Thomas Edi v on is good authority and knows what he- is talking about when he »avs ihai. ac rolein is a most ternble drug in its effec ts on the human body and the burning of ordi nary cigarette paper produces acrolein. In smoking some of this poison is I round to l>e inhaled. lo show its strength he tells of one of his assistants who in making an ex|>eiiment develop'd acrolein. One- whiff of it was enough to drive him from the building, yet this is what a man <»r boy deals with when he smokes a cigarette. “Burbank says: ‘No boy living would commenc e the- u*e of the c igarettc if he knew what a useless, soulless, worthless thing it would make of him.’ Burbank has good reason for saying the as is shown by the statistics th« t have been gathered. Ninety-nine pc r c ent, of the 1 Inns who entered a certain reformatory school were cigarette smokers. Out of «><> boy s placed in the’ countv gaol all but two were cigarette fiends. Fifty per cent, of the rejections from the army is due* to the use of tobacco. Out of 412 boys for examination, only 14 were accepted. The * remaindei failed to pass because of weak hearts caused by smoking “Now what is the result of all this smoking in the I nited States. The figures are enormous. l'hv Lilians tell us that 20,000 people die annually from smoking tobacco which h.is weakened their constitutions. Of 70,000 lunatics in America, 15,000 were made insane by the use of tabacco. In one prison 600 prisoners testified that they began their downward caieer with the use of tobacco. The expenditure for tobacco in om year in tb ; s country b 1,200,000,000 dollars.

“Can nothing good be said of tobacco? Hans Schmidt, the meanest man in tie neighbourhood, was dead As his body was lowered in the grave* there was a breathless pause for

someone to sav something good of him. Then one: man stepped forward and said: “The onlv good thing I can say of H«*ns Schmidt is that he* wasn’t alwavs as nuan as he sometimes was.’ lam afraid there is onlv one* good thing that can be said ot tobacco. It is good for killing lice and ticks, and makes an ideal clip foi pigs and poultry.

“Here is the* boast the* cigarette makes for itself. I am not much ot a mathematic ian, sav s the* < lgaiettc, but, “I can add to vour nervous trouble

I can subtract from your physical energy l can multiply your aches and pains | <an divide* youi mental powers 1 can take interest from voui work And I can discount your chances for success."