Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1866-07-28
DRUNKENNESS AMONG WOMEN.


Astonishing Charges Against the Eew
York Ladies Dress makers Supplying
their Customers with Brandy-Wine
kept in Dry Goods stores for Fashiona-
/. Bile Females.
The Round Table of last week has an
article on the revival Of intemperanee,
which has lately taken place, and asserts
that the ravages Of the vice are particu-
larly noticeable among women It!says:
Drinking is again becoming fashion,.
BILE, and the ladies are responsible for
this retrogressioa Two weeks ago We
had occasion to notice the prevalence of
drinking among ladies at our watering
places but it is not alone at the water
| ing places that the ladies thus indulge.
| AT their own homes at the stores, and
at those public nuisances called ladies
restaurants they are accustomed to
drink liquors. The sight of tipsy or
intoxicated woman is not uncommon at
the sea side, and it is by no means ex-
tIaordinary upon Broadway, We have
the best authority for stating that some
of the most elegant ladies Of our leading
cities will pass this summer not at Sara
toga or Newport, as usual, but at an
asyIun for inebriates And we assert
upon the same authority that the vice Of
fashionable drinking is now more preya-
| lent among the ladies than among the
gentlemen of this country.
In support of these statements, instan-
ces Of the most distressing character
have been brought to notice. Some. VIC
men trace their degradation to natural
appetite for spirits, and others to habit
formed during a long illness, when they
were ordered to drink liquors ms a tonic.
Once developed, the habit seems less
comfortable in women than in men. The
ladies drink in secret They have bottles
hidden about the house, in spite OF the
vigilance of doctors, nurses, husbands
and fathers Certain dressmakers make
il a point to furnish their customers with
drink, and some of the most fashionable
maisons des modes are, in fact, fashiona-
| BILE drinking houses. In some stores bot
ties of wine are also kept on hand for
lady shoppers, and in others the mer-
chants allow their boys to be sent to the
nearest bar-room for liquor when ladies
desire it. In the so-caled ladies restau-
rants all sorts of fancy drinks are as
| freely ordered by and supplied to women
as creams and ices used TO be; and any
body 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. Our fashionable female drinkers
do not care so much for wines, and claret
punches, and sherry coblers They can
obtain such beverages at dinner or at
evening parties, and when left to them
selves they prefer stronger spirits. WINS
| XIV and brandy are the favo-ite drinks
with these ladies' II may be true that
woman is very far gone upon the down
ward road when she can order and drink
such stimulants in public saloon I; but
| still hundreds of women in our best socl-
ETY. do this every day. Some OF the sa-
looms which they frequent do not have
the stronger liquors upon the bill OF fare,
but neat little sign, which reads, > II
Won do not see what you want ask for it,
gives the hint to the initiated.
In dress makers bills the significant
item small trimmings often covers up
the expense of liquors which the lady
has ordered through the modiste who
panders to her vitiated taste. AT the
watering places a bribe to the waiter
procures secret supply Of hquc., which,
by the eonnivance of the landlord, is
! charged as extra luncheons Thus
the poor infatuated women find no diff
culty in obtaining the means Of intoxica-
ton. and often the man of business, en-
| crossed with cares and thoughtlessly un-
suspicious of the serpent that has crept
into his Eden, discovers to his horror
that his wife or daughter has become a
confirmed drunkard, and that all his ef-
forts to reform her are utterly useless.
! If we could unroof the houses OF this
and other cities we would exhibit to the
readr instances Of female intoxication
| that make angels weep Mothers OF
families are breaking the hearts OF
their husbands and daughters by
this vice. Girls of eighteen, the
daughters of our most respectable
merchants, have been seen grossly in
toxicated on Broadway stages and upon
the public streets. Many home, ap-
parently most elegant and attractive, is
rendered perfect pandemonium by one
of the lady inmates through this weak
ness The bellies at fashionable watering
places, this summer, whoN sit upon
piazzas late at night, and think it very
amusing to be made funny by drink
Iing with gentlemen, little know the fate
that is in store for them. The painted
courtesans who faunt in low groggeries,
and nerve themselves for their foul voea-
ton by glasses Of gin, are hardly so
much TO be pitied as these respectable
ladies, who secretly indulge the same
craving for stimulants, but who are un-
able to conceal the effects Of their in
dulpences -.rL ra-e. ...r.