Delaware tribune. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1867-1877, 1868-10-01
INEBRiATE AsYLUMs.
BY JAMES PARTON.

INEBRiATE AsYLUMs.
| BY JAMES PARTON.
Mr.. Parton has given, in the October mum
Der of the Atlantic Monthly, the third 0
! his series of articles on stimulants. His
subject is tsslnebriate Asylums and Visit tt
One, which is treated In a very interesting
and readable manner. His knowledge o.
the matter is derived from visit to the mos
extensive institution of the kind in the coun
try, that at Bipghamton, New York, under
the superintendency of DR.. Albert Day, who
| formerly filled q similar position at the
Washingtonian Home in Boston, and whose
success In treating inebriates has been great
/ er than that of any other person who has
attempted a similar task.
A considerable part of the article is de
voted to classification of drunkards, de-
scription Of their symptoms, the result oi
their excesses, and the nature of the desire
they have to supply themselves with alco.
hol. The division into regular and occasional
drunkards is obvious The one Graves the
siimulant continually, requiring certain
amount every day to acquire the necessary
| tension of the nerves; the other refrains fol
long time, but on periodical occasions can
not resist the temptation to drink, and then
and excess of mis- debauch. Mr.. Parton ac-
curately describes the daily life of the regu-
lar drunkard-his waking in the morning
stupefied with ths effects Of the debauch Of
tue night before, his absorption of liquor to
| give him control over his muscles. his f0rli-
| flying himself with bitters 10 give him an APP
petite for dinner, mole drink to help him TO
digest his food, the excess of the night, the
reeling home, and the stupid sleep, to be fol
lowed by repetition of the horrible routine.
OF the cure of such persons Mr.. Parton says
with regard to these steady, regular
drunkards, the point to be noted is this:-
very few of them can stop drinking while
they continue to perform their daily labor !;
they absolutely depend upon the alcohol to
rouse their torpid energies to activity. Their
jaded constitutions will not bulge without
the spur. Everything within them gapes
and hungers for the accustomed stimulant
This Is the case even in literal sense for
1t seems, from DR.. Days dissections, that
the general effect of excessive drinking is to
enlarge the globules of which the brain, the
blood, the liver, and other organs are COM
posed, SO that those globules, as 1t were,
stand open-mouthed, empty, athirst, in
famed, and most eager to be filled. A man
whose every organ is thus diseased cannot
usually take the first step toward cure with
out ceasing for while to make any other
demands upon himself. This is the great
fact of his condition. If he is true drunk
ard, !. e., if he has lost tie power to do his
work without excessive alcoholic stimula-
tion, then there is no cure possible for him
without rest. Here we have the simple ex-
PLANTATION Of Mrs. Stoves fine remark just
quoted, that many drunkard has expend-
ed more virtue in vain endeavors to break
II nh, ftaat, tsNa xrdi
Christian to heaven This is why SO many
thousand wives spend their days in torment
between hope and despair-hope kindled by
the husbands efforts to regain possession of
himself, and despair caused by his repeated,
his inevitable relapses. The unfortunate
man tries to do two things at once, the
easiest of which is as much as he can ac-
complish; while the hardest is a task which,
even with the advantage of perfect rest, few
can perform without assistance"
Although apparently widely different, the
case of the occasional drunkard is much the
same. The physical effect, the physielogi-
cal change of the blood globules, and the ir
resistible nature of the craving for drink are
precisely the same. 1t is found by dissect-
ing the bodies of those who after a long Pc
riOd of such occasional relapses, have re-
formed and lived soberly for years, that the
unnatural enlargement the blood globules
continues, showing that the temptation re-
manned as strong as ever, that 1t needed
constant struggle to refrain from drinking,
and that the swallowing of single drop of
alcoholic liquor might re awaken all the pas
sions which had been supposed to be quieted
for eyer. From its very nature this class of
drunkards is harder to treat than that which
is composed of men whose daily life in
state of sobriety is a constant struggle. The
mode of treatment is the same with both
cases. The victim must be brought to un-
derstand his helplessness against excess If he
INDUCES in the first glass, and must be taught
t, exercise all his self control against the be-
ginning Of course that inevitably restores
him to his former level as drunkard.
The history of the institution at Bingham
ton, which is told in detail, need not be re-
peated here. 1t is sufficient to say that the
asylum was founded by an adventurer who
collected much more money than was ap-
proprated to the erection Of the magnificent
but as yet unfinished structure, that he OBJ
tanned control OF the institution and its funds,
and nearly made the experiment failure by
bad management and unwarrantabe appro-
priation of the money given to reclaim ine
briates, and not to support him In lille luxu-
nv. It was not until DIR. Albert Day took
charge of it that something like order was
brought out of confusion, and the asylum
begun to perform the office for which ii was
built, in an efficient manner. Dr. Day had
already proved himself competent for this
duty by the management OF the Boston
Washingtonian Home, and has continued
his success in the new position to which the
choice of all concerned assigned him. AS
is well known, he was not educated profess
sioually. but entered upon medical course
with view simply to fitting himself to take
charge of the Washingtonian Home. Mr..
Parton writes:
81 once heard DIR. Day relate the occur
renee which produced in his mind the con-
viction that drunkards could be rescued
from the domination of their morbid appe-
tite One evening when he came home from
his work, he heard that certain Jack
Watts, the sot OF the neighborhood, was
starving with his wife and three young
children. After tea he went to see him.
In treating this first patient, Albert Day hit
upon the very method he has ever since pur-
sued, and so beg the reader will note the
manner in which he proceeded. On enter
ing his cottage he was as polite 10 him, as
household, as he could have been to the first
man of the village. Mr.. Watts said he,
after the usual salutations, i hear you are
In Strengthened circumstances. The man,
who was then quite sober, replied 81 am ;
my two youngest children went to bed cry
ing for food, and had none to give them
l spent my last three cents over there,
pointing to grog shop opposite, and the
bar-keeper said to me, as he took the money,
says he, Jack Watts, you're fool, and so
am Here was chance for fine moral
lecture. Albert Day INDUCED in nothing of
the kind. He said, Mr.. Watts, excuse me
| for few minutes; and he went out, return
ing soon with basket containing some
-four, pork, and other materials for sup
per. 'Now, Mrs. Watts, cook something
and wake your children up, and give them
something to eat. Ill call again early in the
morning. Good night
| Perfect ciyility,-no reproachcs, no lee
ture, practical help of the kind needed and
at the time needed. Observe, too, that the
man was in the condition of mind in which
patients usually are when they make the
confession implied in entering an asylum.
He was at the end of his tether. He was
to use the language of the bar-room, dead
beat.
"When Mr. Day called the next morning,
the family had had their breakfast, and
Jack Watts smiled benedictions on the man
whom he had been wont to regard as his