RUINOUS “FAG” BUTTS

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 51, 23 May 1927, Page 7

RUINOUS “FAG” BUTTS

THE WEST END OBJECTS TERRIBLE MODERN YOUTH Hostesses in the West End of London are becoming annoyed at the careless habits of cigarette smoking young men and women. After a number of dances and parties hundreds of cigarette-ends are to be seen trodden into the carpet, thrown behind cupboards, and roughly hidden in plants. No room escapes except the ballroom. Notices such as “Please put your cigarettes here,” and “Remember the carpets, please,” have proved ineffective. Lighted cigarettes have been left on a mantelpiece or table while a dance is in progress, with the result that the furniture has been badly scorched. Many houses are lent for dances, but the damage done is so great that the owners are now refusing to lend their houses. One of the best-known hostesses in London said: “The habits of the modern youth with cigarettes are terrible. They treat a private house as a public house. Their attitutde is, ‘lt is not mine, so what does it matter?’ It is quite dreadful the lack of regard they show for other people’s property, with no regard for the amount of damage they do so long as they enjoy themselves. I do not think that the girls are quite as bad as the men. “We have tried all manner of notices, and put ash trays in every possible corner, without the slightest effect.”