The old rule of good manners: "A gentleman does not smoke in the presence
of ladies," is many times violated in these modern times. There is a story
of an elderly woman who, being asked if smoke was offensive to her,
replied: "I do not know. No gentleman has ever smoked in my presence." The
woman of today is more likely to answer "Oh, dear no! I love the odor of a
good cigar." The truth is the cigar has become such a constant and
apparently necessary adjunct to a man that to banish it is in effect to
banish the man. And women prefer to endure the smoke rather than have the
man absent himself. There are very few cafes and restaurants where men do
not conclude their repast with a good cigar, even when entertaining
ladies.
[764 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]
Where Not to Smoke.--Nevertheless, there are times and places when and
where a man should not smoke. When he is about to meet a lady he knows he
removes his cigar before removing his hat and bowing. If he wishes to join
the lady, walking a short distance with her, he throws away his cigar
before doing so. He does not smoke, when driving with a lady, unless
possibly in the country. He should not smoke when walking with her--but he
often does, with her full consent and permission. In fact, women, as has
been said, are responsible for men's lapses in the way of smoking.
A guest does not smoke in his host's house unless especially invited to do
so, by his host, not some younger member of the family or another visitor.
At a dinner party at which ladies are present, men do not smoke until the
ladies have left the dining-room.
It is a bad form to smoke when anyone is singing, unless in those
free-and-easy places of amusement where "everything goes."
About Expectoration.--No man should smoke, anywhere or at any time, who
cannot smoke without using a cuspidor. It is a practice so much worse than
smoking, so thoroughly abominable in itself, that no man with any claim to
good breeding or good manners permits himself to indulge in it.
In most homes, nowadays, men are permitted to smoke "all over the house."
It is better, wherever possible, to let the man have a "den" where he may
smoke with his friends. The practice of smoking in bedrooms is
reprehensible; the air one will breathe through the night should not be
vitiated.