The Potter journal. [volume] (Coudersport, Pa.) 1857-1872, 1866-08-07
Drunkenness Among Women.


article on therevival Of intemperance,which
has lately taken place. and asserts that the
ravages Of the vice are particularly notice.
able among women. 1t says:
Drinking is again becoming fashionable
aud the ladies are responsible for this retro
gression. Two weeks ago we had occasion
to notice the prevalence Of drinking among
4 ladies at the watering places; butlt is not
3 .alone at the watering places that the ladies
thus indulge. Attheir own homes, at the
stores, and at those public nuisances called
ladies' restaurants they are accustomed to
drink liquors. The 81 ght of tipSy or intox-
icated women is not uncommon at the sea-
side, and it is by no means extraordinary
upon Broadway. We have the best author
.ity forstatiug that some Of the most elegant
ladies of our leading cities will pass this
summer not at Saratoga or Newport, as
usual, but an asylum for inebriates. And
we assert upon the same authority that the
vice of fashionable drinking is now more
prevalent among the ladies than among the
gentlemen of this country. sE q
~ In support Of these statements instances
Of the most distressing character have been
brought to notice. Some women trace their
degradation to Il natural appetite for spirits
and Others to a habit formed during long
- illness, when they were ordered to drink
fduors as tonic. Once developed, the
taste seems less comfortable in women than
in men. The ladies drink in secret They
have private bottles hidden about the house
sin spite of the vigilance Of doctors, nurses,
thusbands,and fathers. Certain dressmakers
make it point to furnish their customers
with drink, and some of the NOSE fashionable
neaisoaS des modes are, in fact, fashionable
drinking houses. In some stores bottles Of
wine are also kept on hand for la.ty shop
"a pers, and in Others the merchants allow
Their boys to besent to the nearest bar-room
for LIQUOR when ladies desire it. Atthe So
called ladies' restaurants all sorts of fancy
drinks are as freely ordered by and supplied
to women as creams and ices used to be and
anybody who will take the trouble to visit
one of these resorts may see well dressed
fashionable ladies enter unattended and
call for liquors at all hours of the day. ..
These are startling facts; but there are
Others still more surprising and equally true
g Our fashionable female drinkers do not care
- SO omuch for wines, and ciaret punches and
sherry cobbers. They can obtain such bev-
erages at dinner or evening parties and
when left tothemselyes they prefer stronger
spirits Whisky and brandy are the favor
ite drinks with these, ladies' - 1t may be
true that a woman is very far gone upon
the downward road when she eau order and
drink such stimulaAts in a public saloon
but still hundreds of women i'll our best So
ciety do this every day. Somesof the sa-
looms which they frequent do not have the
stronger liquors upon the bill offare, but a
neat little gn,which reads, "lf you do not
see what you want, ask for it" gives the
hint to the initiated. @ -z - y 80 p
In dress-makers bills the significant item
"sma trimmings" often covers up the ex-
,.pense of liquors whieh-th the lady has ordered
through the modiste who panders to her
vltiated taste. At the watering places a
bribe to the waiter procures secret supply
of the Igor, which, by the conniyance Of
the landlords, is charged as "extra lunch
eons.'' Thus the poor infatuated women
find no difficulty in. obtaining the means of
intoXcation, and often the man of business
eugrossed with his cares and thoughtlessly
unsuspcious Of the serpent that has crept
into his Eden, discovers to his horror that
his wife or daughter has become confirmed
drunkard, and that his efforts to reform
her are utterlguseless.
e- live could unroof the houses of this and
other cities we would exhibit to the readers
instances of female intoxication that make
angels weep. Mothers of families are break
ING the hearts of their husbands and daugh-
tcrs by this vice. Girls of eighteen, the
daughters ofour most respectable merchants
have been seen grossly intoxicated in Broad
way stages and upon the pubic streets
Many home, apparently most elegant and
attractive, is rendered perfect pandemo
mum by one Of the lady, inmates, through
this weakness. The bellies at fashionable
watering places, this summer, who sit upon
the piazzas late at night, and think it very
amusing to be made funny by. drinking
with a gentleman, little know the fate thai
is in store for them. The painted courte
sans who hauntin low groggeries and nerve
themselves for Their foul vocation by glasses
of gin are hardly SO much to be pitied as
these respectable ladies' who secretly indulge
the same craving for stimulants, bat who
are unable to conceal the effects Of theil
indulgences. e. r
ES-By the late act to amend the posta
laws, it is provided that Postmasters shal
return to the writers, free Of cost,all letters