DEAR ABBY: In the past you have encouraged people who are trying to kick their addiction to tobacco to "quit for a day" by participating in the Great American Smokeout. You have given many smokers the inspiration they needed to quit smoking.

This year, we at the American Cancer Society are urging all smokers to stop smoking, and stressing to young people the importance of not starting. Teens and pre-adolescents must be made to understand that there is nothing glamorous about smoking. Smoking and using smokeless tobacco products can, and will, kill them. Our message to kids is: Don't start using tobacco products of any kind!

Abby, please alert your readers to the Great American Smokeout again this year. Thank you for your continued dedication and help in the fight against cancer. -- JUNE K. ROBINSON, M.D., PRESIDENT, ILLINOIS DIVISION, AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY

DEAR DR. ROBINSON: I'm pleased to announce that tomorrow, Nov. 21, 1996, will mark the American Cancer Society's 20th Annual Great American Smokeout.

DEAR READERS: The Smokeout is a one-day campaign to encourage smokers to quit smoking for 24 hours -- to prove that they can do it. Last year, more than 11 million smokers quit for the day -- that's a giant step in the right direction!

An estimated 450,000 Americans will die from smoking-related diseases in 1996. That means tobacco will claim 51 lives every hour in the United States. An estimated 158,700 of them will die from lung cancer. These numbers are staggering -- more than the combined number of people who will die in one year from alcohol, AIDS, crack, cocaine, murder and fire. The total exceeds the number of U.S. battle deaths in World War II, is eight times the number of those killed in Vietnam, and is 10 times the number who die annually in automobile accidents.

For years I have implored my young readers, "If you smoke, quit now. If you don't smoke, don't start." Unfortunately, today one in five teen-agers smokes, and the number of kids using tobacco is growing. More than 80 percent of smokers report that they started during their teens; every day another 3,000 get hooked. Now I'm urging: "Be smart -- don't start!"

There was a time not too long ago when lung cancer in women was relatively uncommon. However, if women continue to smoke at their current rate, it is estimated that early in the next century more women than men will die of lung cancer.

Does secondhand smoke affect non-smokers? You bet it does! According to a definitive report issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1993, secondhand smoke is a Class A carcinogen on a par with asbestos and radon. The report also showed that children of smokers are more prone to lung problems and allergies than children of non-smokers. Secondhand smoke is also a significant risk factor in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Therefore, if you are an adult and you must smoke, don't smoke in the presence of children.

My readers tell me that while "cold turkey" is the most difficult, it is the most effective way to kick the habit. Those who need help or want more information about the effects of tobacco may call the local chapter of the American Cancer Society or 1-800-ACS-2345.

So, Dear Readers, if you're hooked on tobacco and have been saying, "One of these days, I'm going to quit," why not join the Great American Smokeout and quit tomorrow? It won't be easy, but it will be the best Thanksgiving gift you can give yourself, and those who love you.

For Abby's favorite family recipes, send a long, self-addressed envelope, plus check or money order for $3.95 ($4.50 in Canada) to: Dear Abby, Cookbooklet No. 1, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, Ill. 61054-0447. (Postage is included.)

DEAR ABBY: During the holidays, many communities sponsor programs in which people buy new toys or clothes for needy children. Many of these children come from homes where there are no books.

An ongoing cycle of illiteracy haunts children on the edges of poverty. When teachers ask their students to bring a favorite book to class to share, these children show up with an advertisement or a coupon book because they have no books at home.

Abby, please help these children learn to love books and reading. If your readers are buying toys or clothes for needy children, please ask them to consider tucking in one or two children's books. -- D.W. IN RENO, NEV.

DEAR D.W.: I'm sure many readers will agree it's a great idea. Books make excellent gifts.

DEAR ABBY: Whoever gave you the misinformation regarding dinner table protocol that you passed on to "Serious in Boston" needs retraining themselves.

I'm a former embassy butler, and please know that the signal conveyed to a trained server, as you described the positioning of cutlery and plate (knife and fork together diagonally across the upper right rim of the plate), would be that the diner would appreciate being offered another helping.

To indicate that you are finished and wish the plate removed, the cutlery should be placed straight upon the plate, perpendicular to the diner, as clock hands at half past six, with the knife upon the right with the blade edge toward the fork.

If you are being attended by properly trained staff, it can avoid embarrassment to know what signals you are sending to the server.

Most sincerely at your service ... RUGGLES OF RED GAP

DEAR RUGGLES: Thank you for speaking up. Concerned that I had misled my readers, I consulted several more etiquette books. "The New Emily Post's Etiquette," by Elizabeth L. Post, states: "When you have finished the main course, the knife and fork are placed beside each other on the dinner plate DIAGONALLY FROM UPPER LEFT TO LOWER RIGHT. (Emphasis mine.) The handles extend slightly over the edge of the plate."

"The Amy Vanderbilt Complete Book of Etiquette Entirely Rewritten and Updated," by Nancy Tuckerman and Nancy Dunnan, says, "Put your fork and knife across the center of your plate ON A DIAGONAL SLANT when you have finished eating."

Letitia Baldrige, whom I telephoned, told me that the flatware should be placed on the right rim of the plate, straight up and down -- not diagonally.

I can only conclude that the best way to signal that you have finished eating is to speak up and tell the server that you would like your plate removed.

Read on for a thought-provoking letter from a reader who offers a different perspective:

DEAR ABBY: While I have never written to you before, the letter from "Serious in Boston" -- whose English-born and reared ladyfriend criticized him for pushing his plate to the center of the table when he had finished eating -- really got under my skin.

In view of what is going on in this world today, just how important is it to place the knife and fork in a certain way in order to signal the server to remove your plate? Give me a break! I say, "Tell the lady to go back to England and eat with the Queen!"

I get a lot more upset about how few people have food to put on their plates, plates to put on their tables and roofs over their heads. -- MARY A. SLOAN, SACRAMENTO, CALIF.

To order "How to Write Letters for All Occasions," send a business-sized, self-addressed envelope, plus check or money order for $3.95 ($4.50 in Canada) to: Dear Abby, Letter Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, Ill. 61054-0447. (Postage is included.)

DEAR ABBY: My name is Petunia, and I am the pot-bellied pig who was featured in your Oct. 14 column in the letter from my neighbor who signed herself "Peeved at Petunia in Elgin, Okla." I would like to tell my side of the story.

I have lived with my owner since I was 1 month old. I am now a year and a half. I consider myself to be a neighborhood pig. I live on a dead-end road out in the country, and my owner would let me out every morning and I would go visiting. I have eight neighbors, plus four horses and various cows, and I would call upon them during the day and meet my owner at home at 4:30 every afternoon when she returned from work.

People would tell her about feeding me and how much they enjoyed me, especially the families with kids. I did venture across the highway into town once, but that ended very badly. I spent the night in an outdoor dog pound with big, scary, barking dogs all around. That certainly won't happen again.

As to the charges that I chewed the roots of my neighbors' melon vines and strawberry plants -- I was framed. One neighbor who thought I had been tearing up her yard and flowerbed told my owner a few weeks ago that she had caught an armadillo in her front yard, rooting it up. She said there had been two of them staying under an empty trailer across the road.

In my defense, I think the armadillos were partly to blame for the destruction of the strawberry plants. Yes, I love berries and melon, but I don't destroy plants and roots. It is a sad day in a pig's life when we have to stoop to eating roots. That armadillo visited during the night and destroyed the plants, and when I made my usual early morning rounds, I was caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.

My owner is a conscientious pet owner and tries to be a good neighbor. If anyone had complained about me, she would have kept me in the house, but no one did. When "Peeved" (who usually fed me biscuits) called my owner one night and said I had destroyed her melons and berries, that was the end of my freedom. I was under house arrest. I was introduced to my first leash and harness, and my owner called the fence company the next day. We were put off by three fence companies for a month, and finally, the third fence guy came out and fenced the back yard. I have not been out on my own since the complaint, with the exception of one time when I created an escape route -- which my owners promptly plugged.

I apologize for the problems I caused, but with my fence and leash, it won't happen again. (And someone needs to pull that armadillo in for questioning.) -- INCARCERATED IN ELGIN, OKLA. (A.K.A. PETUNIA)

DEAR INCARCERATED (A.K.A. PETUNIA): Your apology is accepted, and now that you have your own turf, everyone hopes your wandering days are over. Don't think of it as false imprisonment; think of it as a permanent alibi.

DEAR ABBY: Add this to your collection of random acts of kindness:

A boy in our town had three kidney transplants; two failed, the third was successful. When he was at his sickest, the local florist decorated his hospital room.

One might have expected flowers, balloons or a fruit basket, but the florist contacted some of the boy's favorite sports teams who sent him autographed pictures and posters. He probably still doesn't know who was responsible.

This happened several years ago, and the young man is doing very well and is a blessing to all who know him. -- PROUD IN PENNSYLVANIA

To receive a collection of Abby's most memorable -- and most frequently requested -- poems and essays, send a business-sized, self-addressed envelope, plus check or money order for $3.95 ($4.50 in Canada) to: Dear Abby's "Keepers," P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, Ill. 61054-0447. (Postage is included.)