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Connecticut Young Women Discard the Seductive Cigarette.IT DRIED UP THEIR BLUB BI.OOD.The Halilt Introdaoed by a Hashing Naval JLIrut«*n*ut— Now Hundred* of Stratford, Itrl*lg**port and Danbury Olrla Ha-wlong to the Antlclgaretto league.again, and no I liegan Hooking cigarette# di^iH-nit. ly. in order to let him tlmt I had taken kindly to hi* fascinating !mldt, 8m enough, in a few days lie did call aud brought me a Iraut iful cigarette cams which I still keep In remembrance of Kim, fur just now he i' out In «'hlim soniew here.We still correspond, and he is aiming backTlio Puritan daughters of the “land offsteady habits” havo sworn off on olga-rotfcea. This is interesting, not so much because these Connecticut maidens have sworn off us that they ever smoked at all. The cigarette habit, It is well known, hat for some tliuo been affected by the flu do sloals“new'’ young women of tho wicked,MISS HAITI* MOKGAN OF STRATFORD.pleasure loving metropolis. Put not-even the most imngiuatlve of Action writers, the sternest of moralists, the bitterest ono-my of degeneracy would over havo thought that the vice would peuetrato tho laud of sternly habits aud take Uproot in tho prim old town of Stratford, which has been, it now surprisingly appears, the hot bed oi clgnrotto smoking by youug women fora tier of southern Connocticut. towns and cities.Now, Stratford is pno of the old colonial towns of Connecticut. A year ago It celo-bratod its two hundred and fiftieth anniversary. There was a street pageant, in which heap8of colonial and It evolutionary relics were displayed. Tho old families are In tho ascendant, and there Is great pride In old traditions and the maintenance of the blood of the forefat hors.But tho deadly cigarette slipped in undetected, and its telltale aroma Ailed the boudoirs of the Stmt ford belles. Tho girls smoked and liked It and tho vice became matter of common rcjiort.The credit of this Important soclologlo discover}* and of its sudden stamping out belongs to tho Woman's Christian Temperance union, which convinced the young women of their sins collectively, put its foot down on the tempter and enrolled the girls In tho Antlcigarctto league.Today If you ask a Stratford, or a Bridgeport, or a Greenwich, or a l)anbur)*, or an Ansonla, or a Sherman young woman to have a little rice paper weed with you, even if filled with fragrant Egyptian, she ■will say: “No, thank you. You see, I don’t smoke now. I’ve Joined the Cigarette league.”It is now considered qnlto as correct to say “I’ve sworn off” as it need to be to say “Givo mo a light,” or “Let’s have a ■ little smoke.Let one of theso fair smokers tell her own story in her own way. Among Stratford’s most attractive girls is Miss Hattie Morgan. She is proud of her blue blood, and her blue blood stands foi?h In every line of her clear out face and asserts Itself in her independence of thought and her sense of what is right. A New York World reporter saw Miss Morgan at her home.Bhe was reclining In a hammock swung nmlcr two immense elms. Bhe laughed pleasantly and said: “Yes, it Is trued lie-long to the league, with a lot of other girls, but 1 hardly think it fair that I should give you their names for publication. I will tell you aliout myself, however, and if it is worth your wbilo to say anything about lt.yoti may do so.”“It was three years ago I smoked my first cigarette. I remember It so well. It was at the time the white squadron anchored off Bridgeport, and a lot of us girls watched the beautiful ships.“One day gomo of tho officers came ashore. • Now don’t laugh—hut wo fllrtVd with them. Ono stunning looking fellow leaned over our gate and asked It he oould have a glass of water. I asked him in, and he sat upon the porch while I drew the water from tho well. After he had accepted a glass he asked if he might rest for a few moments. Wo girls all said, ’Oh, yes; certainly.’ We all chattered for a time, and when his companions camo back he beckoned to them, and there was a sort of introduction all around.“He was Lieutenant Littlefield, and he was paymaster on one of the cruisers. The officers asked us all to go aboard tho ships. My mammn would not let me go, so the rest of the girls and the other offioers wentfijt*9 , . . , : ■ .“Lieutenant Littlefield remained. He smoked cigarettes and after ntime offered me one. I hesitated, but he told me lots ofagain some day. After he hud gone I smoked InOQtfntltiy, always the Egyptian brand. Borne little time ago I noticed that my ohcst was growing thin, aud that I was beginning to shrink. This alarmed me. 1 knew my uaval officer would not like to find mo all shrivolcd up, and while I was deliberating as to what' ailed mo Mrs. Bart ram's Atttlcignffctto league was formed. I road somo of tho circulars describing flic effects of narcotics on the system, and I decided t«r Join tho hand and also to stive all tho other Stratford girls who were smoking and drying up.“The result, as you see, 1ms been Ixmefl* clal os far as I am concerned. Wo of Stratford prido ourselves on our blood, you know. We trace our ancestry hack to the colonial days without the slightest difficulty.. Wo cannot afford to dry up that blood. If it bad not been for tho visitation of the white squadron, we girls of tho present day might Imvo escaped tho contaminating^ fltioncos and effects of tho cigarette, But then perhaps It is just as well, for now wo havo a league lu Stratford that will prevent in A measure the further use of the cigarette.*’As the Interview closed Miss Morgan gracefully swung herself out ot mo nam-mock, ami with a smile added: “I hope what 1 have said will !o a lesson to other girls living along the coast where navy officers may liappon to lahd. A cigarette in their hands Is Irresistible. One officer wit If a package can in five minutes counteract the workings of tho longue fora whplo year. ”The extent of the cigarette habit among tho girls of Connecticut was first suggested lu Bridgeport recently at tho twenty-first annual mooting of the Woinau’e Christian Temperance union, B2uch year tho workers of the union undertake some especial bit of reformat ion and at tho mootings announce either the success or failure of their work. This year Mrs. George Bart ram hod tho satisfaction of springing u]oii the convention tho announcement of an antiolgnrutto leaguoof 100 members, all of the staid old town of Stratford, all girls am! ull former smokers.A general discussion followed which brought out the fact that a similar movement was on foot lu Greenwich, Danbury, Ansonla, Sherman and Bridgeport. Mrs. L. P.'Hubbard of Greenwich reported ananticlgnretto league of 170 members. Mrs. H. K. Comes of Danbury reported a league of 440 membors. Mrs. F! K. Mott, president of the league for tho out ire county, spoke of the progress mode in Bridgeport, which exceeded in reformations the total number for tho county. This, it was explained, was largely duo to the fact that tho major part of the population In Bridgeport Is composed of factory operatives, and tho majority of the operatives are of the feminine gender.In an interview with a World reporter, Mrs. F. K. Mott, president of theW. U. T. U., said: “Our work originally was that of temperance but of late there have been added a numtmr of side tomes, and one ofofillsiattnPiXvKftirulits*Hiinca8AWJWdrpublithwlblanui:anettovTrofabtinanthlt;da:olabisnufolt;w!terhnlsolbnyolIontuiag*•or1HoblnbcrlngPiscellStrnxxamcellto tanttoaudJteaHa1boxclotabxInph»Whtoft?on i dUlMISS JEN NIK RKARDOLKY OF BRIDGEPORT.the most important is narcotics. We got A bill through tho legislature whereby children in the public schools shall bo taught the effects of narcotics upon the system. If women oould only vote, we would stop the manufacture of cigarette#. We cannot stop tho ’cause,’ and we have to deal with the ‘effect.’“We want to get at the fery best women in town. We want to stop this cigarette smoking. Only just let us know who are smoking cigarettes, and we will be after them. In order to counteract home influence we have boguu with the school children. We want to save the girls first and the boys afterward. There are somo people we cannot reach, and we prefer that they would die off. Oftentimes we get the children to tel! us of their sisters and mothers who smoke, ami then we visit them, distribute tracts and get them, If wo oan, to sigu a pledge never to smoke again.“Of course, any one eligible to join the leaguo must necessarily tie a cigarette • smoker; otherwise there would be no sense in belonging to It. Two of our best and dearest mem tiers are Miss Jennie Boards-ley and Miss Clara Travers. They began smoking cigarettes while away at fashion-aide seminaries. We learned from their little brothers that their fashionable sister* were smoking cigarettes, so we called on these young girls, and they not oflly signed the pledge, hut they Joined our leaguo and havo Influenced others to stop the horrid practice of smoking cigarettes. Both girls are now away at their seminaries, where I hope they will Influence other girls against the practloe.“We have about 600 members in our league right here in Bridgeport. Thai Include# men, women and boys.”Mrs. George Bartroin of Btrotford said: “I was first to form an onticigarotte band, and I announced It at tho oonventlon. I sent for 120 button badges for members of my league to wear. The badges are all gone, and they want more. I began with mon and boys, but there are quite a lot of girls In it too. I give them all little oards with the law on it against selling clgn-W it isweamixingever is, o exocAmadaluuprusiThe;stiff,theyfluiuItsuhti os to and caseabouTiof h« otiotrottes to minor*. This does for the bow. Some of the boy# wlwi joined my leagfiohave backslidden. They are bad, Incorrigible boys, but all tho girl# have remained Ann.” • i• MU# CUJIA TRAVERS OF BRIDGEPORT.fashionable women smoked, and somehow he wss so handsome and bewildering hi bis uniform that I was led to try ono. “It was delicious. It was on Egyptiana-otto and made rot fwd drowsy and so [htfulhr buy that I tried another. The second one made me sick, sod then the naval Officer went away. The fleet Wapt down to New London, but I felt suremj ofllori would tun dam* **•Whet Me Oeve Prom ft# Of. 1“ A ugh-waugh I”It was the baby. He had repeated the remark 60 times in tho past hour.Mr. Newlolgh’s hair, such os it was, stood on end. .“Gwow shwb wowbdgwow fllwnughf!*'slmplbittedplate, swer iout b srdltulittle ' •upphadded tho baby, whllo people living acroe# tho street got up and closed their windows.Mr. Newlclgh took a whetstone out of the table drawer and ground his teeth.• ITo think,” he groaned, burying bis face in the pillows, “that I should grow op to beoome the father of s union depot train crier.”—New York Recorder.A ibattleor cn range i qualltplaces outers the on
Newspaper Details
Kingston British Whig
Kingston, Ontario, CA
Thu, Jul 04, 1895
Page 6
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
CA 13 Apr 2023
Other Publications Near Kingston, Ontario
Kingston Upper Canada Herald
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Kingston British Whig
