of his favorite
Virginia; and that Morse figured out the telegraph with a pipe in
his mouth. I never could corroborate these statements, though I don't
doubt them a bit. But, be that as it may, the man, woman or child who
tries to deprive us of the solace and inspiration of tobacco, is like
the goat that tried to butt a train off the track. He is not only
trifling with one of the greatest factors in civilization, but he is
toying with a lost cause."

* * * * *

[Illustration: "No other man gets half the flattering attention given
the condemned."]

* * * * *

OUR FRIEND THE MURDERER.

"No, I don't believe in capital punishment," said the Observer, as he
rose from the barber's chair and adjusted his collar before the glass.
"It's less expensive for the government than to board a man for life,
and it satisfies the popular idea of justice, but I doubt very much
its efficiency in the suppression of crime.

"Take the average murderer, for instance. He seems to look forward
to his execution with happy anticipation. He may have been a hopeless
dyspeptic who killed his wife in an agony of indigestion, following
a repast of hot biscuits and flannel cakes, such as 'mother used to
make,' but as the hour of death approaches, he regains his appetite,
and, just before the solemn moment, partakes of a hearty breakfast.
His whole life may have been a record of flagrant cowardice, yet he
walks steadily to the scaffold and dies 'like a man'; he may have
been illiterate to a degree, yet in the very shadow of the gallows
he writes a statement for publication the depth and power of which
astonishes the world. From the sentence to the finish, the murderer's
life is one bed of roses. Every pretty girl who visits the prison
brings him flowers and sweets, and begs eagerly for his autograph;
great authors write books about him; great lawyers draw up petitions
from notable men and women asking for his pardon, and the governor's
secretary works night and day, declining their requests, writing
special permits and "standing off" tearful relatives, friends and
sweethearts, who spring up as if by magic to plead his cause.

"No other man gets half the flattering attention that is given the
condemned; no one else is given half the chance to make a glorious
finish. By some occult influence his faults are utterly effaced and
every latent talent is developed to a point of absolut