HE BEGAN SMOKING AT 5. ~ But This Boy Didn't Take a Chew Until He Was 6.

April 19, 1908
HE BEGAN SMOKING AT 5.

But This Boy Didn't Take a Chew
Until He Was 6.

When Harry Kersey, a runaway boy from Quincy, Ill., was brought to the detention home yesterday afternoon and admitted to being 16 years old, Superintendent J. K. Ellwood looked him over and said:

"You look like 12 to me. Why didn't you take off a few days and spend it in growing?"

"Too busy," replied Harry.

Ellwood then chanced to glance at the boy's fingers and, seeing cigarette stains, remarked:

"No wonder you didn't grow. You have been smoking."

"That hadn't nothin' to do with it," retorted the midget. "I never smoked a cigarette until I was 5 years old and never chewed until I was 6."