Mother: Perhaps he did not know how much it had harmed him. Alcohol does not seem to hurt some people, and yet we have learned that it works mischief in every part of the body; and it is the same with tobacco. If such men do not suffer themselves, their children often suffer in their stead. Because a few can use these poisons without seeming injury, it does not make it safe for others to do so. While we are learning how to care for the body, we should not ask, “Will this do me harm?” but, “Will this habit do me any good?” Let us see what good tobacco does.
Percy: It is good to kill sheep-ticks and plant-lice.
Mother: That shows how deadly it is, and how unfit for any human being to use in his body.
Helen: I do not think there are many persons who would say it does them good.
Mother: We find that its first effect is to take away the appetite; and it hurts the stomach. Second, it does harm in the throat, making the voice coarse and husky, and men sometimes have a disease known as “smoker’s sore throat.” Third, it hurts the nerves, the wonderful telephone system; the tobacco-user is nervous, cross, and hard to please. Fourth, it weakens the eyes, and causes buzzing sounds in the ears. Fifth, it makes the heart weak, so a doctor can tell by feeling a man’s pulse whether he uses tobacco or not. His hands become unsteady, and they tremble, and his heart trembles just as his hands do.
Percy: I think that is enough, mother, to show that tobacco does no good, but a great deal of harm.
Mother: There is one more thing I wish you to know about this poison, and that is that it makes the master of the house weak. He feels so happy and rested while he is taking his smoke, that he thinks surely tobacco does him good and not evil. But the reason he feels rested is because his nerves have been put to sleep by the poison. Our nerves are like a faithful watch-dog. The first thing tobacco does is to put the nerves to sleep, just as a thief would kill a dog that would warn its master of his coming. You can see, I think, what a foolish thing it is for a boy or man to do anything which would put the faithful nerves to sleep so they can not warn him of danger.
Elmer: But, mother, do not the nerves wake up after a time?
Mother: Indeed they do, and then if the man can not get his tobacco, you will see how unhappy he can be; all his good nature and rested feelings have passed away. He soon finds this out if he tries to leave off the poison. He feels “all gone,” and thinks that he must have something to brace him up. He becomes thirsty, and so the temptation comes to use strong drink. A doctor who knows, has said, “Nine out of ten of the boys and young men who become drunkards, have first learned to smoke or chew tobacco.”
Tobacco makes that part of the mind which is called the “will” so weak that thousands who use it have no strength to resist the temptation to drink when it comes to them. Besides, the mind is so weakened that they can not stop using tobacco even when they know it is hurtful to them, but they say—