208 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 15. 



Our Homes. 



Fear not them which kill the body, but are not 

 able to kill the soul; but rather fear him who is able 

 to destroy both soul and body in hell.— Matt. 10: 38. 



THE CRUSADE AGAINST CIGARETTES AND TO- 

 BACCO. 



In scanning the daily papers of late I have felt 

 like saying, " May the Lord be praised that the 

 United States of America is finally waking up 

 to the fact of what the cigarette business is doing 

 every day to kill off our boys, both body and 

 soul, where it is allowed to go on unrestricted." 

 The teachers of our public schools have become 

 so well aware of the fact that it kills the intel- 

 lect more speedily and surely than any thing 

 else that has ever started up that they are mak- 

 ing vigorous protests everywhere. Tobacco is 

 surely bad enough in its effects on the mind 

 of the boy in his teens; but cigarettes seem to be 

 tenfold more deadly. Perhaps one secret of this 

 is the fact that morphine or opium in some form 

 enters so largely into their make-up. For years 

 past we have had terrible stories of the baneful 

 effects of the opium habit in China, and among 

 the Chinese in this country. The manufactur- 

 ers of cigarettes are so devoid of conscience 

 that they have no scruple whatever. I have 

 sometimes thought that, even if they actually 

 knew the result of their work is death to our 

 boys, still they would not hesitate so long as the 

 traffic puts a few nickels in their pockets for 

 each boy killed. I am making terrible state- 

 ments, 1 know; but ask the teacher who has 

 care of your children and of your public schools 

 if I am not correct about it. Ask your pastor; 

 ask your family physician; and if the latter is 

 not addicted to the use of stimulants himself, I 

 think he will admit what I say to be true. 



One reason why cigarettes are used so much 

 more than cigars is becau'ie they are cheaper; 

 and the fact that a ^lery small amount of opium 

 put into each cigarette will teach the boys the 

 opium habit is one reason why they are afford- 

 ed so cheaply. It is a terrible thing for a 

 grown-up man or woman to be an opium-eater: 

 but how much more terrible is it to think of 

 starting children ten or twelve years of age in 

 such a practice! One State in the Union has 

 already, in view of these things, passed a pro- 

 hibitory law. They declare broadly that cigar- 

 ettes shall not be manufactured nor sold in the 

 State of Tennessee.* It ought to stir the heart 

 of every one of us to see the South taking the 

 lead in such reforms as this. A similar crusade 

 seems starting up all over our land. A letter 

 right before me gives us a glimpse of what has 

 been done: 



Mr. A. I. Root:— Your good friends Dr. Miller, of 

 Mareng-o, 111., and Mr. York, of Ravens wood, became 

 Interested in the great flg-ht our Christian Citizen- 

 ship Leag-ue is making against the tobacco habit. 

 I am now here in the interests of a bill absolutely 

 prohibiting the manufacture and sale of cigarettes 

 in the State of Illinois. The next issue of the paper 

 of which I am editor will be a special antitobaeco 

 number. Please write me briefly on receipt of this 

 your plan for rewarding abstinence on the part of 



* In answer to an inquiry, we have just received 

 the following- in regard to the stand the State of 

 Mississippi takes, not only in regard to cigarettes, 

 but to cigars and smoking-tobacco: 



^Thecode of Mississi)>pi imposesa tax of $50 on each dealer 

 In cigrarettes and cigarette paper. This law practically 

 exclude.^ cigarettes from the country stores and from 

 the villages. The code provides further, that If any per- 

 son shall sell or give cigarettes, cigars, smoking-tobacco, 

 or snuff, to a minor under the age of eighteen, without the 

 consent of parent or gnardian, given in writing, he shall be 

 deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and punished by fine or 

 Imprisonment. Code of 18!»2, Sec. 1005. T.S.Ford. 



Scrauton, Miss., March 2. 



tobacco-using bee-men. It will make a good point 

 for the paper. 



Should you be blessed with something to help us 

 in the expensesof gettingout our large specinl issue 

 it will be most gratefully received. You could find 

 no other avenue through which the monej^ could 

 do more for the cause which, I am told, is near your 

 heart. Yours for clean manhood, 



(Miss) Lucy Page Gaston, 

 Ed. Christian Citizen. 



Springfield, 111., Feb. 24, 1897. 



In answer to the above, permit me to reply 

 briefly, not only for the benefit of the writer 

 of the above, but that the older readers of this 

 journal may know something about the cru- 

 sade that Gleanings started against the use of 

 tobacco, and has kept up for almost twenty 

 years past. It started something in this way: 



I was visiting a young bee-keeper, and he 

 lighted a cigar before attempting to open one of 

 the hives. I remonstrated, and he said he was 

 not in the habit of smoking; in fact, about the 

 only time he used a cigar was when he wanted 

 to handle his bees. I told him if he would 

 throw away his cigar, and promise not to use 

 tobacco again in any shape or manner, I would 

 give him a nice new bee-smoker. In this he 

 could use rotten wood, and therefore would not 

 be obliged to have tobacco around in any shape. 



" But suppose I should get back to using to- 

 bacco again — must I then give you back the 

 smoker?" 



"No; but you may pay me the price of the 

 smoker." 



As there were several other bee-keepers and 

 others near by, this occasioned some merriment. 



Another young man said, "If I promise to 

 give up the use of tobacco may I have a smoker 

 too, on condition that I pay for it if I ever go 

 back to the tobacco habit? " 



I told him he could have one on the same 

 terms. If I remember correctly, a mother or a 

 sister gave me a bright encouraging smile at 

 about this juncture. The incident was related 

 in Gleanings, and I made the offer to all its 

 readers, that every tobacco-user who would 

 take a pledge similar to that above, and have 

 it published in the next issue of our journal, 

 could have a smoker on the same terms ; but if 

 he went back to using tobacco he was to pay 

 for the smoker, and also permit us to publish 

 his letter acknowledging his going back to the 

 habit. This was a very simple thing, but it 

 seemed to strike bee-keepers at large just right. 

 For many years quite a string of pledges was 

 published in each i«sue of Gleanings; and a 

 little later on we had enrolled a number of law- 

 yers, doctors, and ministers of the gospel; and 

 some pledges came from women in the South- 

 ern States, where it was then common for wo- 

 men as well as men to use tobacco. 



When the calls for smokers began to come 

 pretty thick and fast, some of the brethren said 

 I might get "swamped," and have to back out 

 of my offer of a smoker free of charge to any 

 one who would give up tobacco. I told them I 

 had no fears in that line: that the great God 

 above would provide as many of the smokers, 

 and stamps to mail them with, in such an enter- 

 prise for temperance and purity as I needed; 

 and as I look back over the years that have 

 passed I think I may truly say he has done so. 



Several years ago when we hunted up, we 

 found we had over a thousand pledges. We 

 have not kept the number of those who after- 

 ward paid for their smokers, but there were 

 very few comparatively. You see, when a man 

 makes a public statement through a journal 

 that is more or less read by his own family and 

 the neighbors, he feels a little backward about 

 going back to his old habit. As the price of 

 the smoker we have been giving away is only 



